University of Delaware
Office of Public Relations
UpDate - Vol. 16, No. 18, Feb. 6, 1997
Drummer Louie Bellson and quartet to appear on April 5

     Tickets go on sale Saturday, Feb. 15, for a concert by the
famous Louie Bellson Quartet planned for April 5. Bellson is the
percussionist Duke Ellington called "the world's greatest
drummer."
     Sponsored by Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia music fraternity, the
concert will begin at 8 p.m. on Saturday, April 5, in Mitchell.
Tickets, which will be on sale at all UD box offices, are $15 in
advance and $18 at the door.
     "In jazz, a huge gap separates the few who are truly great
on their instruments from the many who are simply very good.
Louis Bellson...is one of the chosen few.... There isn't a better
drummer living," Chip Deffaa wrote in the New York Post.
     Leonard Feather of the Los Angles Times wrote, "What makes
Bellson special is his overall musicianship. A gifted composer
and arranger who has written everything from jazz instrumentals
to ballets, he can incorporate his role logically instead of
banging away without regard to the dynamic or melodic structure
of the work in progress. What sets Bellson apart is his
phenomenal technique and the uses to which he puts it, notably
the employment of two bass drums with which he can create volleys
of incredible rapidity. It was during Bellson's two-year stint in
the early '50s with the Duke Ellington Orchestra that his double-
pedal dynamism came to the fore, particularly on his composition
'Skin Deep,' the first recording ever to capture a drummer
soloing on two bass drums simultaneously."
     Bellson's musicality has enabled him to lead a multiple
life. From the time he left Ellington in 1953, shortly after his
marriage to singer Pearl Bailey, he divided his time between
traveling as a musical director, leading his own bands and
writing music. After Bailey's death in the summer of 1990,
Bellson decided to cope with his grief by immersing himself in
work.
     Bellson's accolades are legend. He has been voted into the
Hall of Fame for both Modern Drummer Magazine and the Percussive
Arts Society. Yale University named him a Duke Ellington Fellow
in 1977, and he has received honorary doctorates from Northern
Illinois and Dennison universities.
     Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia undertakes many projects throughout
the year to promote music in America. This year's concert is part
of its Northeast Regional Workshop, which attracts fraternity
members from all over the East Coast.
     For more information, call (215) 877-7955.