Louie Bellson, 84, the legendary big- band drummer who performed with such greats as Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Benny Goodman and Oscar Peterson, died Saturday in Los Angeles, said his wife, Francine.
Bellson’s career spanned more than six decades, and he performed on more than 200 albums with jazz greats including Tommy Dorsey, Harry James, Woody Herman, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Louis Armstrong and his late wife, Pearl Bailey.
Bellson wrote more than 1,000 compositions and arrangements in several genres and published more than a dozen books on drums and percussion.
Sir Bernard Ashley, 82, who teamed up with his wife to build the Laura Ashley fashion and home-furnishing brand into a global business, died Saturday at his home in the Elan Valley in Wales, his family said Monday.
Ashley had the business acumen that propelled his wife’s flair for design into a thriving business. He married Laura Mountney in 1949.
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