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R.I.P. Louie Bellson


DukeCity

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she's been mentioned in passing, but let us not forget that he was married to the late Pearl Bailey, a great entertainer and singer from what has become the in-between world of black entertainment, that was neither jazz nor blues nor straight pop, and which has gotten, because of this, way too little respect (assuming anyone even knows what it is anymore). She was a wonderful performer, and theirs was an early mixed marriage which could not have been easy (even as famous performers - just look what Nat Cole went through) -

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...theirs was an early mixed marriage which could not have been easy (even as famous performers - just look what Nat Cole went through) -

The marriage of Nat & Maria Cole was not a "mixed" one. They certainly had "assimilation" problems along the way, but none of them stemmed from having a "mixed marriage". There was none!

Maria Cole was once a singer w/the Ellington band under her maiden name - Marie Ellington. She is no relation to Duke.

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Certainly.

Louis Bellson, drums

Carl Fontana, trombone

Harry "Sweets" Edison. trumpet

Sam Most, alto

Ed Scarazzo, tenor

Jim Mulidore, bari

Arnold Teich, piano

Jim Cook, bass

Thunderbird

Little Pixie (yes, Thad's tune)

Nails

Serenade in Blues

Back on the Scene (feature for Carl)

No More Blues

Cottontail

Softly with Feeling

Rec. 1963

Nice swinging side. Good arrangements for five horns. And of course, Carl. :)

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...theirs was an early mixed marriage which could not have been easy (even as famous performers - just look what Nat Cole went through) -

The marriage of Nat & Maria Cole was not a "mixed" one. They certainly had "assimilation" problems along the way, but none of them stemmed from having a "mixed marriage". There was none!

Maria Cole was once a singer w/the Ellington band under her maiden name - Marie Ellington. She is no relation to Duke.

i don't believe that's what Allen is talking about. Allen, were you referring to Nat's "other woman"?!?

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...theirs was an early mixed marriage which could not have been easy (even as famous performers - just look what Nat Cole went through) -

The marriage of Nat & Maria Cole was not a "mixed" one. They certainly had "assimilation" problems along the way, but none of them stemmed from having a "mixed marriage". There was none!

Maria Cole was once a singer w/the Ellington band under her maiden name - Marie Ellington. She is no relation to Duke.

i don't believe that's what Allen is talking about. Allen, were you referring to Nat's "other woman"?!?

Perhaps I did not understand the implication, if there was one, that considerations of the difficulties of mixed marriages also applied to extra-marital affairs as well.

My bad, and Mayor Culver!

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sorry I'm late to get back - just read my original post, which was stupidly unclear - I was referring to Nat Cole's housing problems - how the California covenants were used to try to keep him out of a white neighborhood -

well, my bad, as i jumped the gun, so to speak. Nat had a beautiful Scandinavian woman in his life for many years.

i sort of remember those real estate discriminatory problems the Coles went through. ironically, Maria ended up a very successful agent/broker, i believe, in that same neighborhood, as well as other areas. also, ironically, the neighborhood where they used to live is around the street Rhianna and Chris had their altercation!

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I find this discussion interesting because it takes us back to a time when society had real problems that readily translated into day-to-day existence for some and to which we could all relate.

Nowadays, society has problems like how do we stop criminal bank CEOs and investment managers from stealing/squandering billions in taxpayer monies ... but the cause-effect is complex and tenuous, hard for most to understand, the solutions as byzantine as they are unclear, and most have little raw interest in the subject matter.

Edited by oneofanotherkind
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  • 4 months later...

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