Louie Bellson

I have two particularly vivid memories of Bellson. One is from the early 1950s when as a youth I witnessed him during a rare freezing night in Seattle, heating up the old Trianon Ballroom with his drum solos on the Ellington band. In 1969 in the East Room of the White House, Bellson was the drummer and primary arranger for the all-star band Willis Conover assembled for the 70th birthday party that President Richard M. Nixon gave for Ellington. His bandmates were Bill Berry and Clark Terry, trumpets; J.J Johnson and Urbie Green, trombones; Paul Desmond and Gerry Mulligan, saxophones; Hank Jones, piano; Milt Hinton, bass; and Jim Hall, guitar. There were guest appearances at the piano by Dave Brubeck, Billy Taylor and Earl Hines. Joe Williams and Mary Mayo sang. In the notes I wrote for the CD issue of the music from that night, among the highlights I mentioned: 

This photo I took at the afternoon rehearsal captures only part of Bellson’s face, but as he looks over at Hinton we can see in his eyes the pleasure he is getting from the experience. From left to right: Hinton’s hand on the bass, Bellson, J.J. Johnson (mostly obscured), Mulligan, Desmond, Terry and Berry. I have seen the evening’s music described as a jam session. It was not. Bellson’s arrangements for the unusal 10-piece instrumentation were impeccably conceived to honor Ellington. They promoted feelings of happiness and nostalgia appropriate to the occasion. When the concert ended, Ellington praised Bellson. You should have seen Louie grin then.