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Welcome to the Bellson Beat!

Celebrating 98 years
of the Enduring works of LOUIE BELLSON

 

Louie Bellson was deemed “the world’s greatest musician” by Duke Ellington, “the epitome of musical talent and a very gifted composer and arranger” by Oscar Peterson, and “the best person I ever met” by Tony Bennett.

 

He performed on more than 200 albums with a range of artists, including Duke Ellington, Oscar Peterson, Count Basie, Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Harry James, Woody Herman, Oscar Dizzy Gillespie, Louie Armstrong, Lionel Hampton, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, James Brown, Sammy Davis Jr., Tony Bennett, Mel Torme, Joe Williams, Wayne Newton, and Bellson's first wife Pearl Bailey.

 

Bellson composed more than 1,000 pieces and wrote a dozen books on drums and percussion. He received the prestigious American Jazz Masters Award from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1994. He was also the recipient of awards from ASCAP and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, was a six-time Grammy nominee, and held four honorary doctorates.

 

Click pic for Bio VIDEO

  

For full bio, click Bio & Beyond page.

For more quotes with photos, click Celebrity Quotes page.

Then, write your say in the Guestbook .

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> > > . . . Announcing! . . . 2023 BELLSON MUSIC FEST . . . Sat June 10, 2023 . . . Rock Falls, Illinois . . .< < <

2023 BELLSON MUSIC FEST
Five Bands + Drum Clinic by Walfredo Reyes, Jr.!

Info: Tap Rock Falls Tourism ~ Melinda Jones, director@visitrockfalls.com


Tap poster for Bellson Music Fest Page ~ or, Tap Facebook icon


Play TV Ad (15 sec)
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> > > . . . . Louie Bellson charts now digital! . . . . iJazzMusic.com . . . . < < <

Louie Bellson charts now available in repertoire of 

www.iJazzMusic.com 

A new non-profit jazz music publishing company 

Digital download of all music & books!

Bellson Charts at iJazzMusic.com 

Featuring the Most Outstanding Composers/Arrangers/Authors from
Europe, Asia, South America and the United States.
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> > > . . . . HudsonMusic.com . . . . Bellson Poetry Book! . . . . HOT OFF THE PRESS! . . . . < < <

The Poetic Thoughts and Verses of Louie Bellson

www.HudsonMusic.com

Compiled & edited by Dave Black

Featuring the thoughts, insights and musings of Louie Bellson

Louie Bellson had a little-known passion for writing poetry.
Hudson Music is proud to publish the prose and poetry of Louie Bellson, a man universally loved as a gentle and kind soul—as well as a towering figure in the world of drumming.
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. . . . Drummer . . . . Bandleader . . . . Composer . . . . Arranger . . . . Clinician . . . . Inventor . . . . Author . . . . Recording Artist . . . . Grammy Nominee . . . . NEA Jazz Master . . . . An American Legend . . . .

Explore A Remarkable Life

From Youth . . .              to Legend . . .

. . . The Beat Goes On !

Whether Hometown . . . 

"Louie Bellson: Hometown Hero"

 

Bellson never forgot his roots, in the Q-C area (Moline/Rock Island, IL) where he invented the double-bass drum in his Moline High School Art class in 1941. 

 

 

. . . National . . . 

Click below to watch Bellson perform the third movement of his composition

"East Side Suite" on The Tonight Show w/Johnny Carson. (1992)

 . . . or International, . . . 

Bellson Site-Seeing Around the World

 

 

 Displays, Exhibits, Artifacts

 Go to (click) Site-Seeing page.

________________________________________

. . . It's all here!

Begin the adventure!  Select your next stop on navigation bar at top.

Then, after exploring the site, Take the Bellson Quiz . <---Click

In His Own Words

(Click pics to play)

 

 

 

 

(1974)
Watch Louie Bellson discuss his beloved mentor, Duke Ellington in “Reminiscing In Tempo.” -->



(1981)
At the 1981 Bands of America Grand National Championship. Louie was featured performing with the U.S. Marine Drum & Bugle Corps and co-hosted the TV broadcast.









(1999)
While giving a clinic at the Hollywood Vintage Drum Show, Bellson is pleased to be reunited with his Billy Gladstone Custom Snare Drum.


 

(1995 & 2003)

Watch Louie Bellson in these two interviews by NAMM, the National Association of Music Merchants -- Oral History Program.









 

 


(2005)

Hear Bellson’s 8 extensive interviews as conducted by the Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program, a part of the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.





(----)
Louie Bellson is interviewed by Paul Chiaravalle, President of Chiaravalle & Associates at IAJE (Int'l Assn. for Jazz Educators) re: The Rich Matteson Foundation.

 

(1996)

Louie Bellson interview by Fillius Jazz Archive Director Monk Rowe on April 12, 1996 at the Sarasota (Fla.) Jazz Festival.



 

(Click above pics to play.)

In Memoriam

"Hear, Here!"

History Lessons

Music Charts

Louie Bellson Big Band Library

Full arrangements

 

Titles now available: 50

• “Skin Deep”

• “Hawk Talks”

• “Intimacy of the Blues”

(click chart for more) -->        

Pricing:

• According to chart size/use.

• Includes repro, assembly. Shipping cost separate.

Request for Quote: 

Conductor Guides: 

YouTube Channel

Amazon & iTunes

Louie Bellson Artist Store on Amazon

   (Click banner for direct link)

AMAZON - CDs produced by Mrs. B on Percussion Power Label

  The Sacred Music of Louie Bellson

  Louie & Clark Expedition 2

 

iTUNES

  The Sacred Music of Louie Bellson

  Louie & Clark Expedition 2

 

Contact

The Bellson Zone

Now Entering the Bellson Time Zone . . . Once you go in, you won't want to come out!!

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