Performance · Other credits

Louis Bellson

aka Louie Bellson

real name Luigi Paulino Alfredo Francesco Antonio Balassoni

United States

Louis Bellson is credited on 2,237 releases across 512 albums tracked on Gatefold, active 1950–2025 — the collector-built map of who actually made the music.

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2,237

Credits

512

Albums

8

Decades active

244

In collections

Biography

Italian-American jazz drummer, composer, arranger, bandleader, and jazz educator
Born 6 July 1924 in Rock Falls, Illinois, died 14 February 2009 in Los Angeles, California
Married to singer Pearl Bailey (1952 -1990, her death)
Married to producer Francine Bellson (1992-2009, his death)
Older brother of drummer. Father of jazz singer Dee Dee Bellson
Credited with pioneering the use of two bass drums, a set-up he already used at the age of 15. He received the prestigious Jazz Masters Award from the US National Endowment of the Arts in 1994 and was made a “Living Legend” by the Kennedy Centre in 2007.

Bio from Discogs

Credited work

2,237 releases · 512 albums · active 1950–2025

  • Performance · 3,385
  • Other credits · 105
  • Production · 20

Studios: Group IV Recording Studios · Montreux Jazz Festival · Clinton Recording Studio · RCA Studios, New York

Discography

Records they worked on — most-collected first.

Frequent collaborators

Around the web

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