Word: bellson
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...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...
...Bellson asked the crowded but enrapt audience, packed like sardines into the Blue Note's minuscule table space, to choose the last tune. When a deadlock ensued, Bellson decreed that a hybrid known as "Cherokee-Cottontail" would be played. "This one features our first-chair percussionist," Bellson kidded. The blend of the traditional jazz standard and one of Ellington's most famous melodies held many treasures in store. The quintet began with "Cherokee" and then broke into choruses of "Cottontail." Throughout the second section, Swartz strummed along powerfully with something akin to religious fervor...
...middle of the piece, Bellson took his most colossal solo of the evening. Never losing sight of the beat, Bellson played cross-handed, on both sides of the cymbals, all over the set, with four sticks--you name it, he did it. The quintet returned to "Cherokee" for a recap, but Nash couldn't resist quoting "Cottontail" one more time before the tune was done...