Louie Bellson Drums, Composer, Bandleader, Educator Born July 6, 1924 in Rock Falls, IL
Photo by Tom Pich

Information for Presenters

Available for:
Concert performance, speaker/panelist, guest conductor, public interviews, educator, clinic/masterclass, artist-in-residence.

Bands and instrumentation:
Louie Bellson Quartet; Quintet; Big Band Explosion.

Speaking topics:
Motivational seminar: "The Physicist & the Percussionist" covering the relationship between science & music; also the cultural/historical aspects of Jazz (this presentation can be tailored to a particular audience(s).

Educator or clinician/masterclass topics:
My experiences with Duke Ellington; Count Basie; Dizzy Gillespie; Benny Goodman; Jimmy Dorsey; Louis Armstrong; Lionel Hampton, et. al. Also my experience with vocalists Ella Fitzgerald; Tony Bennett; Joe Williams; and my late wife Pearl Bailey.

Ensembles comfortable performing with or conducting as a visiting artist:
Quintet; big band; percussion ensemble; string ensemble; symphony; choir
Mr. Bellsons orchestral works include: "The Sacred Music of Louie Bellson,""The Jazz Ballet,""The Magic Six,""TOMUS,""Percussion Internationale." Also will to work with dance and theater artists.

Available as a soloist or to work with a local resident band or rhythm section?
Yes.

Availability:
Virtually any time except the first two weeks of July.

Contact information:
Mrs. Francine Bellson, Manager
c/o Remo Inc.
28101 Industry Drive
Valencia, CA 91355
661/294-5600
bellson@remo.com

Biography

Referred to by Duke Ellington as "not only the world's greatest drummer…[but also] the world's greatest musician," Louie Bellson has expressed himself on drums since age three. At 15, he pioneered the double bass drum set-up, and two years later he triumphed over 40,000 drummers to win the Gene Krupa drumming contest.

Bellson has performed on more than 200 albums as one of the most sought-after big band drummers, working with such greats as Duke Ellington (who recorded many of Bellson's compositions), Count Basie, Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Harry James, Woody Herman, Oscar Peterson, Dizzy Gillespie, Louie Armstrong, and Lionel Hampton. He toured with Norman Granz's all-star Jazz at the Philharmonic, and worked with many vocalists, including Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Tony Bennett, Joe Williams, and his late wife, Pearl Bailey, for whom he served as musical director. He also appeared in several films in the 1940s, including The Power Girl, The Gang's All Here, and A Song is Born.

A prolific composer, Bellson has more than 1,000 compositions and arrangements to his name, embracing jazz, swing, orchestral suites, symphonic works, and ballets. As an author, he has published more than a dozen books on drums and percussion, and is a six-time Grammy Award nominee. In 1998, he was hailed - along with Roy Haynes, Elvin Jones, and Max Roach - as one of four "Living Legends of Music" when he received the American Drummers Achievement Award from the Zildjian Company.

Bellson also is a highly sought-after educator, giving music and drum workshops and clinics, teaching not only his dynamic drumming technique but also the jazz heritage. He has been awarded four honorary doctoral degrees from Northern Illinois University, Denison University, Augustana College, and DePaul University.

In 2003, a historical landmarker was dedicated at his birthplace in Rock Falls, Illinois, inaugurating an annual three-day celebration there in his honor. Continuing to compose and record, his latest recording, The Sacred Music of Louie Bellson, showcases his prowess for blending orchestral music, choir, and big band. He continues to perform with his big band after more than 65 years onstage, still thrilling audiences worldwide.

In 2007, he and 35 other jazz greats received the Living jazz Award from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC.

Mr. Bellson was named an NEA Jazz Master in 1994.

Selected Discography
Dynamite!, Concord, 1979
East Side Suite, Musicmasters, 1987
Black, Brown & Beige, Musicmasters, 1992
Live from New York, Telarc, 1993
The Sacred Music of Louie Bellson, Percussion Power, 2006

Biography from NEA Jazz Masters (NEA, 2006). Copies can be ordered free of charge through our Publications section.

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