Interview: Louie Bellson (Part 1)

I've always loved Louie Bellson's drumming. It's crisp and aggressive—without being noisy or over the top. To my ear, Bellson's sound is thunderous and seductive—a graceful, rolling invitation rather than a sharp military call to arms. To quote Count Basie on Bellson: "He plays so clean, till it sounds to me like he is reading it out of a book. And he c…