LOUIE BELLSON:
Much of the superb small group and big band work Bellson did as a leader and as a sideman in the 1950s for Verve records is out-of-print (though some have come out on Japanese limited editions from time to time), with the exception of the legendary get-together with Benny Carter and Art Tatum from 1955, available on "Art Tatum Group Masterpieces Volume One" (Pablo label). The sensitive side of Bellson is also in evidence on one volume of another legendary pairing, Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald (Verve label). His significant work with Duke Ellington, including Bellson's own composition "Skin Deep," can be obtained on "Duke Ellington Uptown" from 1952 (Columbia label). "Duke's Big Four" (1972: Pablo label) features the drummer in a rare small group setting with Duke.

For the last three decades, Bellson has been recording with his own big band, frequently and consistently for labels like Concord, Telarc and MusicMasters. Among the best are Bellson's 1992 re-creation of Ellington's "Black, Brown and Beige" suite (MusicMasters label), a tribute to the legendary jazz drummers on "Their Time Was The Greatest" (1992: Concord label), "Air Bellson" (1997: Concord label) and his latest to date on Concord, "The Art of the Chart." Among the most sought-after Bellson collector's items, available on vinyl only, is "Are You Ready For This? (1965: Roost label). This rarity received little notice and distribution when it was released, but this 30-plus-minute drum battle between Bellson and Buddy Rich, recorded in Japan with studio time actually paid for by the two drummers, is well worth having.

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