Louie Bellson - The Louis Bellson Explosion

Boomp3.com
Boomp3.com

99.6 MB
256+ VBR LAME mp3
Vinyl rip & scans from Pablo 2310-755


This post kicks off an irregularly re-occurring mini-series I'm calling "Give The Drummer Some!" which'll hopefully do what the title implies. There'll be three back-to-back posts of LPs by the featured artist with the usual assortment of info and links scattered throughout.

The first skin-pounder on the list (in no particular order) is Louie Bellson. You know you're talkin' sick on the sticks when jazzbos call you one of the few drummers "whose name can be said in the same sentence with Buddy Rich." Louie is too much major a figure in post-war jazz history that I won't bother going into his story here. Between Wikipedia, AMG and Drummerworld (which has a bunch of LB vids as well) you could learn all you'll ever need to know about the man.

I'm partial to his efforts with smaller combos, especially in the 70s when he worked extensively with Blue Mitchell. This 1975 album includes Blue in a big band context and man does that cat ever blow fire out his trumpet on his solos here! Blue didn't just come prepared for a cookout, the man brought the beef, BBQ and briquets to Bellson's back yard for this party. He's not alone in hitting the mark though, as the band is firing on all cylinders and seems to be having a grand ol' time in the process, even pulling off some funk with Hancock's Chameleon. As usual, Bellson is liberal with the breaks but never hogs the action and as technically showy as drummer bandleaders tend to get, he always keeps an eye on pleasing the crowd as much as the critics.


Louis Bellson - Cymbals, Drums, Leader
Blue Mitchell - Trumpet
Snooky Young - Trumpet
Bobby Shew - Trumpet
Dick Mitchell - Trumpet
Dick Cooper - Trumpet
Cat Anderson - Trumpet
Nick DiMaio - Trombone
Gilbert Falco - Trombone
Ernie Tack - Trombone
Mayo Tiana - Trombone
Don Menza - Saxophone, Sax (Tenor), Reeds (Multiple)
Pete Christlieb - Saxophone, Reeds (Multiple)
Dick Spencer - Saxophone, Reeds (Multiple)
Larry Covelli - Saxophone, Reeds (Multiple)
Bill Byrne - Saxophone, Reeds (Multiple)
Nat Pierce - Piano, Keyboards
Ross Tompkins - Piano, Keyboards
John Williams - Bass
Mitch Holder- Guitar
Paulo Magalhaes (AKA Paulinho Ferreira Magalhaes) - Percussion
Dave Levine - Percussion


1 The Intimacy of the Blues
2 Quiet Riots
3 Carnaby Street
4 Beyond Category
5 Chameleon
6 Open Your Window
7 Movin' On
8 Groove Blues
9 La Banda Grande


AMG Review by Ron Wynn
A fine mid-'70s date that was both a showcase for Bellson's bombastic drumming and also a nice straight-ahead date with great contributions from Blue Mitchell, Snooky Young, Dick Mitchell and others.


Stay tuned for more Bellson but in the meantime, get blowed up real good with Soundological HERE or HERE.

NB: There was an issue w/ track 5 so the old file was nuked and links replaced above. The new file title is appended with the words "REUP" but if you only want to grab the replacement track, you can do so HERE (clicking should auto-start download). Thanks to hanimex 3000 for the heads up!