RIP Louie Bellson
Submitted by Secret Society
I am far from an expert on Louie Bellson’s career but he sounds great on those records with Ellington’s band. Also, the before-its-time double kick drum thing? Kind of badass.
Other places…
When Louie joined Duke Ellington’s band, there was no music to read, nor was there a drum book. Everyone in the band knew the parts by heart. “Duke took a big risk hiring me,” Louie recalled. “I was the only white musician in his band. During our first 1951 tour, just before we headed south for Birmingham, Alabama, he said ‘We’re going down South so we’re going to make you a Haitian.’ That’s how they described me so we wouldn’t wind up in trouble.”
Peter Hum (Thriving On A Riff)
All About Jazz (press release)
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