Louie Bellson: Jazz Giants
[1] Allen's Alley
(Published by Music Sales Corp)
[2] Five Notes of Blues
(Published by M.U.S.I.C., CO.)
[3] Head Start
(Published by M.U.S.I.C., CO.)
[4] Threesome Shuffle
(Published by Rodon Music Co.)
[5] Berne, Baby, Berne
(Published by M.U.S.I.C., CO.)
[6] Another Who?
(Published by Rodon Music Co.)
Louie Bellson, Drums
Hank Jones, Piano
Keter Betts, Bass
Don Menza, Tenor Sax
Buddy DeFranco, Clarinet
Conte Candoli, Trumpet
Louie Bellson lives in the best of all possible worlds. Equipped with a superbly honed talent as a drummer, long experience as a composer, and unanimous respect as a leader, he is able to choose his gigs in a variety of settings; He has pools of musicians who make up his East Coast and West Coast big bands, a smaller group with which he has toured internationally accompanying Mrs. Pearl Bailey Bellson, and, when the conditions seem right, he still enjoys working now and then as a sideman.
The present album was made under none of those conditions. The taping took place during a brief European tour in late April and early May of 1989, for which Louie headed a specially assembled quintet. The extraordinary talent for this group was drawn from four areas.
From New York came Hank Jones, a pianist of rare skill with a background that goes back to the early bop days along 52nd Street. From Washington, D.C., there was Keter Betts, the full-toned bassist whose association with Ella Fitzgerald's backup trio goes back to the 1970s.
Stan Kenton and Shelly Manne but who is best known to millions as a member of the Doc Severinsen "Tonight Show" band; Buddy DeFranco, for decades the preeminent virtuoso of the clarinet, who tours the world (often with Terry Gibbs) but lives in Florida; and the tenor sax virtuoso Don Menza, long a stalwart of the Los Angeles scene but recently residing in Las Vegas, where he has been a teacher at UNLV.
Though this was an ad hoc unit for a few dates in Switzerland and Germany, Louie was determined that the results would be more than just another jam session. "We had two three-hour rehearsals," he says, "and tried out original material by some of the guys, so that we could have a loose quality but still present a semblance of togetherness."
Sharing the front line were Conte Candoli, whose trumpet illuminated groups led by
As the reaction on the tape reveals, the band enjoyed a tremendous reception, and the idea of using original material proved stimulating for musicians and audience alike. The only jazz standard in the collection presented here is Allen's Alley, the title of which calls for an explanation. Many years ago I was producing a record date for RCA, for which we decided to
feature Allen Eager on tenor in a tune by Denzil Best that had, to my knowledge, no title; so I arbitrarily named it Allen's Alley. Denzil Best later retitled it "Wee."
This is a typical 32-bar "I Got Rhythm" type theme with no particular melody for the bridge. Don Menza took care of that by writing and harmonizing a line to fill out those eight bars. He is also the first soloist, followed spiritedly by Conte, Buddy, Hank and some four-bar exchanges between the horns and the leader.
Five Notes of Blues was Buddy DeFranco's contribution as composer.
"There's a: verse," DeFranco explains, "played by Don Menza, but the muted trumpet passage after that is the reason for the title: it consists of just five notes, starting on F-flat, and it's in a bluesy sort of mood." This attractive work also offers solo space to the composer, to Hank and Keter before Menza returns.
Head Start, written by Keter Betts, set a good groove with Keter and Louie before easing into what seems to be a simple blues in C, though it's more than that, as Keter establishes a fascinating underlying rhythm dotted (quarter-and-eighth) that continues
throughout until it's time for his own solo. Louie's sensitive work is effectively punctuated here and there by riffing statements from the horns before the theme returns on the out chorus.
Threesome Shuffle by Don Menza is a B-flat blues with a basic four-note line; again the soloists take turns before trading fours with Louie.
Berne, Baby, Berne was of course named for the scene of the action. Berne, or Bern, is the capital of Switzerland; the name derives from the German word for bears. This seems apt as these five rhythmic bears tear into a bright theme which, as Louie points out, "features our first chair percussionist" (that was how Duke Ellington used to introduce him). Louie wrote this in collaboration with Remo Palmier, the guitarist who often works with him; Menza arranged it. Bellson's command of his two bass drums seems as incredible today as when we first heard it, but his solos are fascinating also due to his flair for dynamic contrast, the occasional pauses for dramatic effect, and the overall technical and creative mastery.
The title Another Who? will be no mystery to anyone familiar with the chord changes of a line written by Don Menza for this number.
You might say it offers an answer to the musical question "There Will Never Be Another Who?" The tempo seems to have been an ideal springboard for some of the most inventive solos of the evening.
Louie Bellson recalls that after their short tour was over, the members of the group all came to him to declare that it was a ball, and "Any time you want to put this together again, you can count on me." If and when his busy schedule leaves room it seems happily probable that Louie will take them up on their offer.
-Leonard Feather
