Died On This Date (February 14, 2009) Louie Bellson / Jazz Great
themusicsover Louie Bellson (Born Luigi Belassoni)
July 6, 1924 – February 14, 2009
Louie Bellson was one of jazz’s greatest drummers. If there were a Mt. Rushmore of jazz drummers, Bellson would likely sit there alongside Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich. During a career that spanned over 70 years, he played with nearly every jazz icon of the 20th century. That list includes Benny Goodman, Louis Armstrong, Tommy Dorsey, Duke Ellington and Pearl Bailey, to whom he was married for nearly 40 years. Their adopted daughter, Dee Dee Bellson, a successful jazz singer in her own right, also passed away in 2009. Bellson’s most significant contribution to jazz was perhaps his use of two bass drums, which became standard practice to future generations. Louis Bellson was 84 when he passed away from complications of a broken hip and Parkinson’s Disease on February 14, 2009.
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