I was lucky enough to have a chance encounter with Louie and his wife, Pearl Bailey in 1988. You couldn’t find two nicer people in all the world. He regaled me with stories about Buddy Rich, and much more. I’ll never forget that day
I agree. I got to meet him in 1977 at a clinic he did for the music department at Santa Rosa (CA) junior college. My 7th grade band teacher took me and a couple of other drummers to the clinic
Fascinating to watch one of the worlds best drummers as a student. He becomes a kid again. Attentive, working hard, really thinking about every move, in order to make it work. His teacher, occasionally correcting wrong moves, despite his student being a top notch performer. This illustrates how hard it is to master any musical instrument. You can tell that the rolls, whether single, double, triple or flam, are by no means perfect. They never are, but every drummer makes a different sort of imperfections, which is what creates character and adds to personality. It's a humbling experience for me, as I'm sure it was for Louie, and any aspiring musician. This video deserves a lot more views. Or to put it the other way around. Music students everywhere, deserve to see this video.
Beautifully insightful comment! I studied with Murray as well as Louie's brother Hank, both excellent teachers and wonderful people.Louie was genteel, dignified, humble, and down to earth, always the personification of class and grace.
After years of watching and studying these old school big band drummers, and wondering why they look so calm and collected in their 5 piece suits and when I play I feel and look so stiff.. I finally realized it's all in the wrists.🤵🏾🥁
The Remo snare drum Louie plays when he's with Murray Spivack was a 14 x 8 Encore in the chrome wrap.I had an earlier one in 1988, & it was a fantastic snare drum, & of course they came with Remo drum heads from new.The Acousticon drums had a superb sound to them, & sounded great at all tuning ranges.
I am 54 years old. Been playing (learning) bass guitar and banjo for the past 9 months and loving both. I recently bought a drum pad, stand, the book 'Stick Control,' and good sticks. I plan on getting a full kit this Christmas. I cannot wait to begin learning the drums. This is one of the most amazing instructional videos perhaps in all of music in my newbie/novice opinion....Genius!
Louis Bellson takes a lesson. And man, I wish I had been half as good a music student as he is. That’s how to BE in a music lesson. Listen. Only say something to reassure the teacher that you get what he was saying. And then we have Louis as the perfect model for everything Prof. Spivack asks. And try speeding up the video to 1.5 X while Mr. spivack is talking at length. It sounds like a middle-aged man speaking normally. You get old.. things get slower ..but it’s all still there and then some. Beautiful, basic rudimental drum technique demonstrated by one of the finest drummers who ever lived. Louis’ execution is frighteningly clean and musical. What a gift this is to future generations.
This a really special video. True drum wisdom. Thanks for posting. I met Louie and had a chance to speak with him for a few minutes at namm year back and he was a true gentleman.
Finally, I get to see the real Spivack method taught! You can ask 10 drummers what it is and get 10 different answers. Thank you for taking us to the source of the wisdom!!
It's so cool to see one of your drumming idols as the student. I always saw Louie as a master of his craft, and seeing this I almost forget he was human just like myself and any other drummers. What you don't see is the 100s of hours of practice he put in to constantly master his craft. Super inspiring to see one of your favorite drummers actually thinking out a rudiment, doing it wrong, and being corrected until he played it right. 🥁🤓
I used to take my Murray lesson after Peter Donald. And then after my lesson I would drive Murray to his house. Sometimes I would have dinner with him. At dinner I would pick his brain about his audio engineer days.
The Wolverine at 39:03!! Bellson is still perhaps the only drummer I know of to solo with the Jingle Sticks! Louis is quite the stylish gentleman and model of humility and respect: so patient, quiet and still with his teacher. This solo captures the spirit we drummers share of the endless drum solo in our parent's basement: always the kid looking for non-stop adventures: God bless Louis Bellson and Murray Spivak!
Wow! Thank you so much for this! I’ve heard Murray being mentioned by people like Vinnie. Chad and the late Canadian drummer Chuck Silverman! And I was searching for a video on his technique and I came across this…❤🙏🏽❤️🙏🏽👊🏽
This was like watching a Kung Fu movie where Bruce Lee goes up onto the mountain to learn the way of the tiger from the wise great master. Such a joy to watch someone teach with as much passion as one plays.
At last!!!! I loaned this VHS tape to a "friend" and I never got it back because he moved away and when I found out it was too late. I am so thankful to see this again!!!🙏🥁
I studied with Murray and it was an incredible experience. This video is what the lessons were like. 2 masters here. He was knowledgeable, patient and taught excellence. His explanations were always very clear…the grip is the most fundamental aspect of having great hand technique. Everything else is built on that. Those of you who think that spending 45 minutes on grip are missing the whole point of having good foundational skills. Watching Louie play is proof that it works when applied!
Great to see this! Cool old man, Mr Spivack. I have played with first finger/thumb fulcrum for decades but began using middle finger recently. This lesson explain it furthermore. Read that Chad Wackerman was a Spivack disciple, right? Heard Chad live real upclose three years ago. Amazing technique, power and sound. And Louie Bellson, some student (jazz legend)!
Remember Remo drums shining through with the big guns in the late 80's when it was all mainly Tama, Pearl ,Sonor, as DW drums became the new world champions!.
I had two of these acousticon (a wood fibre) drums and unfortunately they were not very durable. I like to have a medium high snare tuning. Both drums bearing edges collapsed inward. I had the full remo kit and didnt have the problem with the toms or bass drum but both the first snare and it's replacement both collapsed inward. It could partially have been due to the cold damp climate in the uk, however Remo discontinued these not long after. I think they realised the acousticon material was not durable enough for drum construction.
Having studied with Richard Wilson, a student of Murray’s, and worked for years on this grip I have concluded that he was wrong. Through my own experience of hard work, I now use a whole hand approach which requires muscle development to turn the wrist to its maximum. Studying rebound delays the necessary work required to turn the wrist. Better late than never I tell myself.
Very interesting. Some might agree with you. Are you using the thumb and index finger fulcrum combined with all fingers? I'm moving towards that myself.
@Frontdesk99 Yes Murray Spivack died in 1994. In 1992, Louie Bellson proposed the idea of documenting the approach of his teacher, Murray Spivack, in the form of filming a lesson with Louie as the student. VHS version released in 1995. DVD version release year 2010.
@@justincase2271 Yes Murray Spivack passed away in 1994. In 1992, Louie Bellson proposed the idea of documenting the approach of his teacher, Murray Spivack, in the form of filming a lesson with Louie as the student. VHS video version released in 1995. DVD version release in 2010.
It strikes me (no pun intended) that Bellson, being the magnificient drummer that he was, wasn't very creative in his solos. In the solo in this video I hear patterns and figures that I have heard him do in tons of other recordings. Seems like he 'created' a few nice things to put in a solo that he used over and over again.
