DUKE ELLINGTON
Louis Bellson
Skin Deep
A special note to Chicago Members. I’m sure you all remember this recording as the theme song for the legendary Chicago jazz DJ, Dick Buckley
Song Review by Ken Dryden
Not long after drummer Louis Bellson joined Duke Ellington in 1951, he introduced his composition “Skin Deep,” which was in part, a drum showcase. Ellington evidently took a liking to it, as he continued to feature it long after Bellson’s departure in early 1953, using it as a showpiece to feature his various drummers until mid-1966. Although there are a number of broadcast recordings of it featuring Bellson with Ellington, the best known version is from the RCA Victor album Seattle Concert. Aside from that interpretation, Bellson recorded it with a group of all stars for his Verve album Skin Deep not long after he went out on his own.
Long considered the most musically interesting drum solo of all time by Louis Bellson and the Ellington orchestra, Skin Deep remains an awesome example of communication between the drummer and the rest of the band. It is not merely a person sitting at a drumset and playing as fast or as long as he possibly can, which unfortunately, most drum solos' are. Even near the end of the piece with other band members shouts egging him on (I doubt this was in the script but was purposely left in) adds to the piece.
Cat Anderson, Nelson Williams, Harold "Shorty" Baker (tp) Ray Nance (tp,vln,vcl) Quentin Jackson, Britt Woodman, Juan Tizol (tb) Jimmy Hamilton (cl,ts) Russell Procope (as,cl) Willie Smith (as) Paul Gonsalves (ts) Harry Carney (bar,cl,b-cl) Duke Ellington (p) Wendell Marshall (b) Louie Bellson (d) Al Hibbler (vcl)
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