Louie Bellson Big Band Explosion CHAMELEON

Louie Bellson: Hollywood, 1962

Reprinted from http://jazzwax.com

Back in the early 1960s, big bands led by jazz stars of the 1940s and '50s still packed clubs in Hollywood. The Summit was one of them. Owned and co-managed by Jimmie Maddin from 1958 to 1962, the Summit was at the corner of Wilcox and Sunset and could host up to 200 people. Maddin ran it with Tommy Bee, a major jazz disc jockey in L.A. at the time, and the club featured top artists like John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk and Yusef Lateef. In January 1962, Louie Bellson took a powerful big band into the club and recorded over three nights for Roulette.

Like many of Bellson's recordings from the early 1960s, this one features Bellson at the top of his game. The all-star band over the three nights collectively featured John Audino, Jimmy Zito, Conte Candoli, Frank Huggins, Ray Triscari, Uan Rasey and Al Porcino (tp); Nick DiMaio and Mike Barone (tb); Ernie Tack (b-tb); Arthur Maebe (fhr); Red Callender (tu); Joe Maini and Bill Green (as); Carrington Visor and Bill Perkins (ts); Teddy Lee (bar); Gene Estes (vib); Lou Levy (p); Tony Rizzi (g); Jimmy Bond (b) and Louie Bellson (d).

Interestingly, solos are held to a minimum as the band surges forward as a collective unit, with an emphasis on Louie's drumming. The terrific band is able to pull this off thanks to superb arrangements by Benny Carter (Amoroso), Marty Paich (St. Louie) and Shorty Rogers (With Bells On). A handful of solos surface by Candoli, Maini, Perkins, Levy, Zito and Visor. Wally Heider, the date's engineer, would go on to record numerous top rock albums later in the '60s and '70s at his San Francisco studio.

Among Bellson's other superb Los Angeles albums from this period are The Brilliant Bellson Sound (1959), Louis Bellson Swings Julie Styne (1960), Around the World in Percussion (1961) and Thunderbird (1963).

JazzWax note: You can read my 2007 two-part interview with Louie Bellson here.

JazzWax tracks: You'll find Louie Bellson: Big Band Jazz From the Summit and Small Band Unreleased Studio Session (Fresh Sound) here. The big band portion runs from Who's Who to The Diplomat Speaks.

JazzWax clip: From Bellson's From the Summit album, here are three tracks...

Who's Who

St. Louie

Blitzen

A special JazzWax thanks to David Langner.

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Used with permission by Marc Myers

Louie Bellson represents the epitome of musical talent.....

“Louie Bellson represents the epitome of musical talent. His ability to cover the whole musical spectrum from an elite percussionist to a very gifted composer and arranger never ceases to amaze me. I consider him one of the musical giants of our age.” -- Oscar Peterson

“Not only is Louie Bellson the world’s greatest drummer...he is the world’s greatest musician!” --Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington

“...one of the most phenomenal drummers in history” --Leonard Feather, critic

“To listen and see Louie is to know ‘Man’s love of music.’” -- Pearl Bailey Bellson

“One of the greatest thrills of my musical career was to sing with Louie Bellson, my ‘birthday partner’.” -- Della Reese

“Louie Bellson’s playing, everybody knows, is great, but the important thing is that in a business that is so nuts, we’ve remained friends all these years. That’s the real accomplishment.” -- Buddy Rich

“To me, Louis is just one of the nicest guys I have every known. His playing is absolutely on top – on top of everything! He is just so nice! He’s a sweetheart. Louie Bellson is a beautiful artist.” -- Count Basie

“Louie is a superb artist. There’s so much hyperbole you can use but he’s just one of the top drummers… percussionists in the world. And one other thing about Louie: he is a sweet, nice man. There are no pretensions about Louie, and I like that!” -- Johnny Carson

“When you say ‘working with the tops,’ that’s what it is to me working with Louie. He’s an all-around well-loved musician. To me, he’s just like one of the family.” -- Ella Fitzgerald

“He’s one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. Louie’s the kind of musician who, if you tell him something one time, that’s it. He gets it. He’s an excellent, superb musician. -- Sarah Vaughan

“Louie Bellson – the only man I know who, when he plays by himself, sounds like a symphony orchestra.” -- Sammy Davis, Jr.

“There are a lot of great players… a lot of great players around, but Louie Bellson is really something special.” -- “Dizzy” Gillespie

“I feel blessed to have had (him) in my life for so many cherished times … I feel blessed to have (him) deep in my heart.” -- Quincy Jones

“Louie is the best person I ever met.” -- Tony Bennett

Clark Terry and Louie Bellson: Improv Workshop

Trumpeter Clark Terry and Percussionist Louie Bellson discuss improvsation, the importance of listening, and playing with a group in April of 1985. Interview conducted by Dr. Thom Horning. From the compilation, Tri-C Jazz Fest Cleveland, 30th Anniversary Collection, Willard Jenkins, Producer.

Louie Bellson, Philly Jo Jones, Shelly Manne, Irv Cottler and Caterina Valente

Hollywood Palace show hosted by Victor Borge. 1964