...a fine Swing Intro

Duke Ellington called him "the world's greatest drummer," and Bellson, to this day, lives up to the description. He's a composer, arranger, bandleader, tireless jazz educator, pioneered the use of two bass drums, and in terms of the speed of his hands and feet and the wonderful, percussive "ideas" he conveys on the drums, stands next to only Buddy Rich as the total technician.

Referred to by Leonard Feather as "one of the most phenomenal drummers in history," Louie Bellson has expressed himself on the drums since he was three years old. At 15, he pioneered the double-bass-drum set-up. His detailed sketch earned him an 'A' in his high school art class. At 17, he triumphed over 40,000 drummers to win the Slingerland National Gene Krupa contest.

As an internationally-acclaimed artist, he has performed in most of the major capitals around the world. With the exception of Bob Hope, who has made the most White House appearances, Bellson holds, along with his late wife Pearl Bailey, the second highest number of White House appearances.

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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.