NAVIGATION BAR above, OR tap Arrow:
Join our E-MAL LIST:
Welcome to the Bellson Beat!
~ 2026 ~
LB102: Commemorating 102 years of
the Enduring works of LOUIE BELLSON
Louie Bellson was deemed “the world’s greatest musician” by Duke Ellington, “the epitome of musical talent and a very gifted composer and arranger” by Oscar Peterson, and “the best person I ever met” by Tony Bennett.
He performed on more than 200 albums with a range of artists, including Duke Ellington, Oscar Peterson, Count Basie, Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Harry James, Woody Herman, Oscar Dizzy Gillespie, Louie Armstrong, Lionel Hampton, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, James Brown, Sammy Davis Jr., Tony Bennett, Mel Torme, Joe Williams, Wayne Newton, and Bellson's first wife Pearl Bailey.
Bellson composed more than 1,000 pieces and wrote a dozen books on drums and percussion. He received the prestigious American Jazz Masters Award from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1994. He was also the recipient of awards from ASCAP and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, was a six-time Grammy nominee, and held four honorary doctorates.
Bellson Music Fest
Click Poster for lively publicity Ad! (30 sec)
Click pics to play Bio VIDEO (5 min)
For full bio, click Bio & Beyond page.
For more quotes with photos, click Celebrity Quotes page.
Then, write your say in the Guestbook .
Explore A Remarkable Life
From Youth . . . to Legend . . .
. . . The Beat Goes On !
Whether Hometown . . .
"Louie Bellson: Hometown Hero"
Bellson never forgot his roots, in the Q-C area (Moline/Rock Island, IL) where he invented the double-bass drum in his Moline High School Art class in 1941.
. . . National, . . .
Click below to watch Bellson perform the third movement of his composition
"East Side Suite" on The Tonight Show w/Johnny Carson. (1992)
. . . or International, . . .
Bellson Site-Seeing Around the World
Displays, Exhibits, Artifacts
Go to (click) Site-Seeing page.
________________________________________
. . . It's all here!
Begin the adventure! Select your next stop on navigation bar at top.
Then, after exploring the site, Take the Bellson Quiz . <---Click