Bellson to receive posthumous award: Drummer from Rock Falls once hailed as ‘world’s greatest musician’

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American jazz master Louie Bellson, the famed drummer-composer from Rock Falls who died in February, will be honored with a memorial certificate of recognition from U.S. Rep. Diane Watson, D-Calif.

Bellson composed more than 1,000 pieces, performed on more than 200 albums, and wrote a dozen books on drums and percussion.

Jazz great Duke Ellington once referred to the legendary performer as “not only the world’s greatest drummer ... [but also] the world’s greatest musician.”

Bellson received the prestigious American Jazz Masters Award from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1994. He was nominated for six Grammy awards, and held four honorary doctorates.

He performed on albums with such musical greats as Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Harry James, Woody Herman, Oscar Peterson, Dizzy Gillespie, Louie Armstrong and Lionel Hampton; vocalists Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, James Brown, Sammy Davis Jr., Tony Bennett, Mel Torme, Joe Williams, Wayne Newton and Bellson’s late wife Pearl Bailey.

His final album was “Louie & Clark Expedition 2” with longtime friend, trumpeter Clark Terry.

Bellson’s funeral was held in Los Angeles, where he died. He was buried in Moline, his boyhood home.

In March, state Rep. Mike Boland introduced a resolution to honor Bellson in the Illinois House of Representatives.

About Louie

For more information on the drum legend from Rock Falls, Louie Bellson, visit www.louiebellson.info online.