DukeCity Posted February 16, 2009 Report Posted February 16, 2009 (edited) The Louie Bellson website is reporting that he died yesterday. He had apparently been hospitalized for a while after breaking a hip last November. When I was a high school kid (probably '78 or so) I went to a summer jazz camp in Portland, OR and Louie came in to do a guest concert with the faculty. He played great, and after the concert he was walking through the dorm and my buddy and I were hanging out in our room with the door open. Louie poked his head in the room and we invited him in. We were so excited to get a chance to "hang" for a couple of minutes. He was very encouraging, and exuded a very positive vibe. Those "Big Band Explosion" records were staples of our big band listening. Edited February 16, 2009 by DukeCity Quote
sidewinder Posted February 16, 2009 Report Posted February 16, 2009 (edited) Yet more sad news - RIP Louie. Nearly 30 years since I last saw him live with the 'Explosion' but it was a potent outfit, very well organized and with fine soloists such as Bobby Shew and Arnie Lawrence. Yet another of the 'old school' passes on, there can't be very many left now. Edited February 16, 2009 by sidewinder Quote
AndrewHill Posted February 16, 2009 Report Posted February 16, 2009 Man, more sad news. Just scored his VEE last year and was digging it a lot. What a drag. RIP Quote
king ubu Posted February 16, 2009 Report Posted February 16, 2009 Wow, I wasn't even aware he was still around! The VEE is nice! I happened to play a whole lot of Johnny Hoges from the mid 40s to the mid 50s over the weekend, and in the final period of Hodges' own band, Bellson did a great job! R.i.p. Quote
king ubu Posted February 16, 2009 Report Posted February 16, 2009 Btw, I've often wondered, was "Louie" just his preferred spelling or was he actually called "Louie"? Or was he just called "Louie" but would have preferred "Louis"? Quote
Teasing the Korean Posted February 16, 2009 Report Posted February 16, 2009 Wow, I wasn't even aware he was still around! That is my assumption with at least 50% of the artists I care about! When I find out someone is still alive, I'm pleasantly surprised. Quote
John Tapscott Posted February 16, 2009 Report Posted February 16, 2009 (edited) Yes, this is sad news. I really enjoy my Bellson recordings and fondly recall the time I saw him live with his big band. Quite by coincidence, I have been recently listening through the Count Basie Live Roulette Recordings on Mosaic. Discs 5-8 feature Bellson with the Basie Band live in Sweden (lots and lots of great music), and I have been reflecting over the past couple of days on how great Bellson sounded with Basie. He gave the band a slightly different feel (perhaps a bit more on top of the beat) but it was still the swinging and satisfying Basie groove and sounds wonderful. RIP Louie Bellson Edited February 16, 2009 by John Tapscott Quote
JSngry Posted February 16, 2009 Report Posted February 16, 2009 My favorite Bellson on record is perhaps atypical, but both albums show sides of him not readily available otherwise: A long and certainly distinguished career & life has finally come to a close. RIP, and thanks. Quote
BeBop Posted February 16, 2009 Report Posted February 16, 2009 I saw him for the first time in the mid-70s, and for the last time last year. A sincere and dapper man and a fine drummer. Thanks, Louie. Quote
Free For All Posted February 16, 2009 Report Posted February 16, 2009 (edited) Very sorry to hear this. I have had the opportunity to cross paths with Louie many times and play with him on several occasions. He was a great and respected human being and left us some great music. A long and distinguished career. I remember seeing him on the Tonight show several times way back when. Sadly another legend gone. RIP Edited February 16, 2009 by Free For All Quote
JSngry Posted February 16, 2009 Report Posted February 16, 2009 There's some footage of him playing w/Illinois Jacquet that is deep in the pocket. Couldn't find it on YouTube, alas.... Quote
Cyril Posted February 16, 2009 Report Posted February 16, 2009 Wow, I wasn't even aware he was still around! Me too! Rest in Peace Mr. Bellson Quote
BillF Posted February 16, 2009 Report Posted February 16, 2009 (edited) Saw him leading a big band of British musicians at the Davenport Theatre, Stockport in the 1980s. His work for Norman Grantz with Oscar Peterson was always good. Roy and Diz and Jazz Giants '58 are the first ones that come to mind. Edited February 16, 2009 by BillF Quote
Free For All Posted February 16, 2009 Report Posted February 16, 2009 I've always liked this one, largely because Carl Fontana is on it. Quote
Lazaro Vega Posted February 16, 2009 Report Posted February 16, 2009 Bellson played Blue Lake with Pearl Bailey, Milt Hinton and Remo Palmeri in the late 70's early 80's. He returned with his Chicago big band in the 1990's and was just hollering. He and Larry Novak came by the station and he spent almost an hour talking and playing records. Great guy. Bellson with Ellington, The Hawk Talks. Quote
oneofanotherkind Posted February 16, 2009 Report Posted February 16, 2009 What an insane bummer. This really knocks me down. From everything I've read and heard and experienced , Louie was a truly extraordinary person , not just as a musician , but on the higher level that jazz music speaks of and to. When Louie was in the hospital I tried to add to his site's guestbook but it was broken at the time , so Louie never got to read my thoughts. I guess I'll post it here now : Dear Louie, I have not written before, but perhaps this reminder of life's fragility suggests I better do it now. I'm one of your biggest fans ever ... and I'm not even a drummer ! Since I was 14 , I have loved every note of your music. More that loved, your music has been a near-continual positive energy force for nearly my entire life. That's 31 years man ! To me , your music has always stood for finding the way to be positive about life ( no matter what ! ) To truly be positive, we must find a way to love our brothers ( or at least as many of them as possible ) and not isolate ourselves in a narrow small world, excluding whomever doesn't make sense to us. Anyway, that's what your music has always meant to me. Best wishes for a speedy recovery. Hang in there Louie ! Quote
ValerieB Posted February 16, 2009 Report Posted February 16, 2009 What an insane bummer. This really knocks me down. From everything I've read and heard and experienced , Louie was a truly extraordinary person , not just as a musician , but on the higher level that jazz music speaks of and to. When Louie was in the hospital I tried to add to his site's guestbook but it was broken at the time , so Louie never got to read my thoughts. I guess I'll post it here now : Dear Louie, I have not written before, but perhaps this reminder of life's fragility suggests I better do it now. I'm one of your biggest fans ever ... and I'm not even a drummer ! Since I was 14 , I have loved every note of your music. More that loved, your music has been a near-continual positive energy force for nearly my entire life. That's 31 years man ! To me , your music has always stood for finding the way to be positive about life ( no matter what ! ) To truly be positive, we must find a way to love our brothers ( or at least as many of them as possible ) and not isolate ourselves in a narrow small world, excluding whomever doesn't make sense to us. Anyway, that's what your music has always meant to me. Best wishes for a speedy recovery. Hang in there Louie ! wow, what a poignant post!! you sure "got" him as being an incredibly positive person. sorry you didn't get to reach out to him or meet him but glad to hear you were so inspired by him. Quote
mr jazz Posted February 16, 2009 Report Posted February 16, 2009 Sad news. One of my favorite percussionists and a pioneer of the double bass drum. Quote
mikeweil Posted February 16, 2009 Report Posted February 16, 2009 (edited) Very, very sad news. He was, IMHO, one of the greatest jazz drummers ever. Very, very musical, on a level with Buddy Rich, but much more charming and warm, not just pyrotechnical. That session JSngry mentioned with Walfredo de los Reyes is a gem, although the recording balance is a little weird. What really opened my ears was his playing on Duke's Big 4 - conservative swing in such a creative fashion! R.I.P. Edited February 16, 2009 by mikeweil Quote
JSngry Posted February 16, 2009 Report Posted February 16, 2009 That session JSngry mentioned with Walfredo de los Reyes is a gem, although the recording balance is a little weird. Yeah, thaat one really blew me away. I was just not prepared to hear music like this with Louis Bellson in the mix and not have him "stick out" in some way. Quote
Michael Weiss Posted February 17, 2009 Report Posted February 17, 2009 (edited) A disparate assembly Edited February 17, 2009 by Michael Weiss Quote
BruceH Posted February 17, 2009 Report Posted February 17, 2009 His work for Norman Grantz with Oscar Peterson was always good. Roy and Diz and Jazz Giants '58 are the first ones that come to mind. Those and his work with the Duke Ellington band were the first things that came to my mind on hearing the news. RIP Quote
Elissa Posted February 17, 2009 Report Posted February 17, 2009 Is it racist to say that he was one of my favorite white drummers of his era? Not so many swing that hard, Joe Morello to my mind the other stand out. Quote
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