Search - Louie Bellson :: The Sacred Music of Louie Bellson

A Musical Extravaganza on Sacred Songs

Grady Harp | Los Angeles, CA United States | 08/26/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Louie Bellson is undeniably one of the premiere big band drummers and the finest parts of this somewhat mixed bag of a recording are those that allow Bellson to demonstrate his considerable talents on his instrument of choice. The album here is a collection of The Sacred Music of Bellson and while it is easy listening the quality of compositions fall into the Broadway show category - not that that is a bad category to embrace!



The first 14 tracks of the CD are devoted to a concert with the USC Thornton School of Music Studio Jazz Band, Symphony String Orchestra and Choir - adding Bellson and his own jazz musicians.

The quality of the performances is very fine and the commitment by everyone involved is apparent. The lyrics give religious evangelicalism a choral range that extends into the jazz realm and that is where the concept weakens: it ends up sounding disjointed instead of varied. Moving from a cappella choir renderings to bebop big band sound is a jolt, and more of a jolt than was obviously intended by Bellson the composer. No one would deny Bellson's obvious religious convictions in the lyrics and the tunes; it just somehow doesn't manage to work as a concept here.



The last four tracks on the CD are from Bellson's 'Jazz Ballet' and are titled 'Marriage Vows', 'Dream Sequence', 'Conflict', and 'Til Death Do Us Part'. While the Ballet is projected to symbolize the meaning behind the vows of marriage (with riffs on the various aspects of marriage), the music is hardly visual. But as far as big band sound it is terrific music with excellent solos and an energetic performance of a fine score. In a time when Big Band music is rarely available to listeners, this album, given its inherent weaknesses, does indeed deliver some very exciting performances! Grady Harp, August 06"