Word: bellson
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...over 70 years old, drummer Louie Bellson hasn't lost a step. He's still the well-spring of originality, enthusiasm and efficiency that--at the age of 17--beat 40,000 others in Gene Krupa's drumming contest...
Fifteen Minutes caught Bellson's New York-based quintet at New York City's legendary Blue Note on January 28. Bellson, who followed in Krupa's footsteps along with Buddy Rich and Sam Woodyard, revolutionized jazz drumming by becoming a bandleader himself. Bellson also made a habit of taking the reins when playing in small groups...
...Bellson's concentration never broke throughout the tune; his vibrant eyes stared constantly at the drums, pausing once or twice to cue in other members of the group and never looking at the audience until the tune's end. Now and then, an almost childish grin passed over Bellson's face as he whipped up a firestorm of percussive sound...
Nash's own "Waltz for Mia," was next on the program. "Got a minute?" Smith joked--presumably referring to Chopin's work--after Bellson his horn, but Stamm stole the limelight with an incredibly structured and virtuosic set of choruses, passing from faultless lines of eighth notes to sixteenths and back again. Smith's playing placed him somewhere between pianists Bill Evans and Dave Brubeck, although at times he exchanged their characteristic refinement for a little full-blown stomping...
...Very Thought of You," a soft ballad featuring Stamm's flugelhorn, Bellson showed his strength in the small group setting. While Stamm blew the tune along effortlessly, Bellson's brushbased accompaniment was quietly creative, varying his articulations and equipment while holding to the same pattern of emphases. Bellson stuck to his inventive style, even though his improvisations were correctly understated. Instead of tapping along with the rhythm, Bellson gave just as much attention to almost inaudible notes as he would to an exposed solo...