Louie Bellson & His Jazz Orchestra (with special guest Clark Terry): Hot

1 Caravan 07:48
2 Ode To A Friend 05:38
3 Peaceful Poet 07:09
4 Together We Rise 04:45
5 Hot 05:54
6 Hookin' It 06:03
7 Waltzing At Denison 04:56
8 Walkin' With Buddy 07:52

Hot, Louie Bellson and his Jazz Orchestra

Louie Bellson never ceases to amaze me. Not simply on the basis of his talent, though that in itself would be cause enough; nor for his adaptability, since at any given moment he may be leading a West Coast band, or a New York ensemble, or heading up a small group in Chicago, or touring with his wife of 35 years, the no less versatile and gifted Pearl Bailey. No, it's Louie's enthusiasm, the freshness of his outlook, the undimmed brightness of his disposition, that I find most remarkable of all. After all, he has been on the road most of the time since the early 1940s, and sooner or later, in many traveling musicians, a law of diminishing fervor tends to take over. In his case, though, talking about some new addition to the personnel or the latest composition and arrangement, he displays a concern that is reflected vividly in his performance, and in the attitude he manages to inculcate among his sidemen.