Louis Bellson It started with jazz legend Louie Bellson, a gifted musical school kid of 15 in 1939, who sketched out a double bass drum kit for an art class. The sketch earned him an “A” grade, and served as a vision of what he would become: The most famous, and arguably the first, double bass drummer. Gretsch made the first kit for Bellson, a bold and innovative move considering that other companies had rejected Bellson and his outlandish concept. Over the years and through long affiliations with several drum manufacturers, Bellson’s double bass kits varied in configuration. His main ax has become a classic: two kicks, one tom, two floors. But that first Gretsch kit in 1946 consisted of two 20” x 20” bass drums, an 18” x 26” center tom (!), two 13” x 9” toms, two 11” x 7” toms, and 16” x 16” and 18” x 16” floor toms. By the way, Bellson did lots of cymbal stacking on his stands, too. Very Mike Portnoy, but just a little bit earlier. Bellson did his first double bass gig in 1946, but when he got the gig with Benny Goodman, the famous bandleader didn’t like the double bass drum idea. But when Bellson joined Tommy Dorsey, an equally big top act, his new boss not only liked the double bass but also allowed Bellson to bui use a revolving drum riser. Bellson played the double bass drums to good effect in his solos, in particular on “Skin Deep,” his own composition and showcase with the Duke Ellington Orchestra, but didn’t use double bass drumming very much as a timekeeping element in songs. This isn’t surprising, because the pulse of big band swing was not heavy-footed. Bass drums were used for accents, but also feathered lightly to add sonic support to the sound of the upright bass. Early recordings didn’t use bass drum at all, in fact, because the low frequencies of the drum would cause the recording needle to skip. The snare drum, ride cymbal, and hi-hat were still the main constituents of timekeeping. Other swinging jazz drummers took Bellson’s lead and began using two bass drums, including Sam Woodyard (who followed Louie in the Ellington band), Rufus Jones, and Ed Shaughnessy, among others. But even as these pioneers mastered the double bass kit, paired kicks remained an oddity, awaiting a more open-minded era to break into popular use. New York in the ’50s and early ’60s saw more and more small combos playing jazz, including the be-bop, which was the new thing. Be-bop further shrunk the trap set used by drummers and led to the popularity of smaller bass drums, such as the ubiquitous 20” x 14” and even the miniscule 18” x 14” sizes. This was done not only for musical reasons but also for a very practical one — small drums fit easily into taxi cabs that moved the busy New York players from gig to gig. A double bass kit was the last thing busy metropolitan drummers needed. Drummers all over the nation copied the New York cats; kits stayed small and bass drums stayed single.
Posted on: Thu, 18 Dec 2014 17:18:53 +0000
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