Song:Caravan
Album:Louie Bellson and his Jazz Orchestra
Drummer Louie Bellson will remind you of Gene Krupa or Buddy Rich. I think Bellson's solos were even longer than those guys. He is probably best known for his long marriage to the popular entertainer Pearl Bailey before mixed race marriages were acceptable. He led her touring band. He was born Luigi Balassoni July 6, 1924 in Rock Falls, IL. His father owned a music store in Moline. He invented the use of two bass drums at the same time while he was in high school. Bellson won the Slingerland National Gene Krupa contest at age 17. He played with Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey and Harry James. Bellson was in Duke Ellington's Orchestra until he married Pearl Bailey in 1952 and became her musical director. He recorded for Verve in the 50s and toured with Jazz at the Philharmonic. Bellson said his big influences were Chick Webb, Big Sid Catlett but especially Count Basie's longtime drummer Jo Jones. Bellson recorded with Basie in the 60s. Bellson recorded mostly for Verve, Roulette, Pablo and Concord. This recording of Duke Ellington's Caravan is from the 1986 album Louie Bellson and his Jazz Orchestra released by MusicMasters. There are two bands on this album, a large band and a small band. Caravan is by the small band with Ted Nash on sax, Glenn Drewes on trumpet. Derek Smith on piano, Remo Palmier on guitar and Jay Leonhart on bass. Along with constant touring, Bellson conducted drum clinics at high schools and colleges nationwide. And he was an executive for the drum company Remo. He was inducted into the Drummer Hall of Fame in 1985 and he was awarded the NEA Jazz Masters in 1994. Louie Bellson died on Feb. 14, 2009 at age 84. Here's Louie Bellson and his Jazz Orchestra performing Caravan at the North Sea Jazz Festival in The Netherlands July 16, 1992.
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