Louie Bellson talks about his choice to become a musician

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Louie Bellson on songwriting

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Louie Bellson discusses his inspiration for writing

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Q: “Are you a spontaneous writer or can you do it by sitting down and saying ‘it’s nine o’clock, I will sit down and write a tune now’; or does it just come to you?”

A: Louie Bellson: “Well, I used to be the kind of a writer that would sit down at the piano and expect it to come out there, but that's wrong. To me that’s wrong. I found out later that it's more important to think it in your head. Once you got it in your mind, then you jot it down because if you rely on the piano, you're letting the piano then do the work. And I found out from Benny Carter, from Duke, from Basie and Benny and Dizzy Gillespie that they taught me how to think about your own piece in your mind. Once you got it in there, then jot it down right away, you see.”

Interviewer: “Get the whole shape, sort of.”

Louie Bellson: “Yeah, that way, you've created it in your head rather than go to the piano and say, "Oh, here's an E-flat. Now, let me see where is this going to take me."