Guitarist David Russell in Conversation - Guitars

#galleryofguitar #davidrussell #interview
David Russell in conversation with Classical Guitar Retreat Director Matthew McAllister during the 2018 Retreat. David talks about the various instruments he has played over the years.
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Matthew is playing a Michael Ritchie Cedar Guitar and using Augustine Regal Strings.
Gallery of Guitar is creating a vast online gallery of music featuring nearly daily uploads of beautiful music. The Gallery curates performances and interviews from many great guitar players including David Russell, Marcin Dylla, Ana Vidovic, Stephanie Jones, Thomas Viloteau, Uros Baric, Gabriel Bianco, Lukasz Kuropaczewski, Matthew Cochran, Kevin Loh, Emma Rush and many more..
The Gallery hosts a large resource of Technical Help and Lesson Videos, Vlogs, Composer Playlists, alongside spotlighting many upcoming players.

[@loveclaasiclguitar2402]

Mr. McAllister I can't thank you enough for programs like these, your transcripts of Scottish lute music, the piece you dedicated to your dad gets some very sincere reactions. I know I'm late to this, but thanks again!

[@galleryofguitar]

My pleasure, this is exactly the purpose of the Gallery of Guitar. 🙏🎶

[@_Chuvisco_]

Extraordinary musician... extraordinary man!

[@galleryofguitar]

Absolutely!

[@Bjoernandersen]

I like his relaxed attitude towards playing his arrangements. (His short remark at 9:17) I have to say: It works for me!

[@nickrobinson2023]

This is a master class...so useful..thank for posting. Amazin player and person.

[@galleryofguitar]

Glad it was helpful!

[@gsgleason]

I imagine Mr. Russell can make any guitar sound fantastic.

[@weemarky]

Great player and so lovely to hear him talk about supporting guitar makers .Which I'm going to do.From my local craft men.thanks

[@galleryofguitar]

Absolutely.

[@utzuckz]

what a delightful interview - many thanks for the upload

[@galleryofguitar]

Our pleasure!

[@53gitaar]

What a nice video of this great guitarplayer !

[@galleryofguitar]

Glad you enjoyed it, there is a series of videos with David here at the Gallery of Guitar.

[@Mrcorsari]

Delicious talk!

[@amigosXcorrespondenc]

Thanks for this interview :) I'm really enjoying the videos and learning a lot :)

[@galleryofguitar]

Glad you are enjoying, another episode is about to drop shortly!

[@hdholl]

My own Ramirez is from 1974, and sounds fantastic still. (no typo: Russell says this also about HIS Ramirez, which is from 1975). Proving that all that scaremongering about a guitar losing its qualities over the years is nonsense - at least if the guitar is from a renowned and established builder and you take good care of it.

[@allan2098]

Mid to late 70's are for me, the golden years of Ramirez guitars. I've played many very expensive guitars and the one I keep going back to is the old beaten up 79 Ramirez.!

[@kylecravens8052]

Agreed, I had a 1973 Ramirez recently which still has a tremendous sound. The challenge for me was playing it on more difficult pieces, just didn't work for my hands.

[@wapolo1974]

Great interview with David! I'm still not convinced by the merits of the Damman or double tops in general (being a rather stubbornly hardcore traditionalist), but I have no issues at all with Mr. Russell's very musical and expressive playing. Looking forward to hearing more of your chat with him!

[@galleryofguitar]

More coming soon, another episode on competitions is about to be released!

[@thibaultjaberg4658]

Yeah I'm also quite a hardcore tradition freak and I generally don't like the sound of double tops but I always think that if it sounds good and feels good then you got it right. And David Russell definitely makes those guitars sound wonderful. And I also think that when we talk about the downsides and problems with double tops we can only generalize and there are a lot of cases where those problems don't occure.

[@ATRelix96]

Any idea about what product is David sticking to his guitar as an anti-slip ? (see from 2:06)

[@galleryofguitar]

No, I will ask him!

[@sinistar426]

Can someone name the piece played @ 8:12?

[@galleryofguitar]

Gavotte en Rondeau from Bach's Partita No. 3 in E Major, BWV 1006

[@VladTheImpaler454]

Thanks for posting these interesting videos Matthew. Do you know what that Baroque piece was that David played a small part of?

[@galleryofguitar]

VladTheImpaler Gavotte and Rondo from the E major violin partita.

[@amigosXcorrespondenc]

Sadly his 2 best Bach transcriptions (this partita and the one that ends with the famous chaconne) are not publicated.

[@kvnboudreaux]

galleryofguitar that would be Eminor lute suite no?

[@phillipstrommer4668]

The Baroque tune that David played a part of is Gavotte in E Major by Bach. You can hear it in full if you Google John Williams plays Gavotte in E major by Bach.

[@davepazz580]

That Dammann produces a very thick, dark tone which sounds absolutely gorgeous for Spanish/Latin American music... it really adds something magical to that type of repertoire. But I just don't like it very much overall for other types of music such as Baroque, Renaissance and even some very modern pieces... especially on Russell's Scarlatti recordings, the music (although expertly executed) begins to sound too "muddy" and distracting for me. Though I understand his point about the instability of spruce tops for the traveling concert guitarist, I think he should have still used his Gilbert guitar for all his Baroque recordings at least.

[@rosgill6]

fully agreed. I prefer spruce tops over cedar because I want something to play bach more than I want something to play barrios

[@mattbod]

That is about £300K of guitars he hs had. I guess David is doing ok financially he deserves it.

[@shantanudahiya5122]

it's his profession too, he isn't buying them as a hobby

[@arthurfranca5516]

Def not 300k probably 50k

[@mattbod]

@@arthurfranca5516 10 or 11 at about 15k minimum each?

[@utzuckz]

doesn't he say that he swops them back when he gets a new one?

[@dennismenezes9423]

Awesome conversation ! About guitars, Matthew, do you recommend a book to know more about guitars, woods .. luthier 'things' ?! Thanks !

[@wapolo1974]

If you’re interested in building guitars, “Making a Spanish Guitar” by Jose Ronanillos might be a good bet. He also a book on the history of Torres guitars if you’re interested in that sort of thing.

[@dennismenezes9423]

Thanks wapolo ! I'm thinking in the information to use to buy a guitar more than to build one. Found this topic here: www.classicalguitardelcamp.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=66191 I'll do a search .. thanks for the info!

[@wapolo1974]

Delcamp is a great resource for anything classical guitar related. They are many knowledgeable individuals there who will be more than happy to answer any questions you may have.

[@stddisclaimer8020]

Double-top guitars are only as strong and durable as the glue which hold the two pieces together. The glue, not the wood, is the weak link. A 1975 (or even earlier) Ramirez can be expected to last well into the 21st century and beyond. Such longevity from a double-top is questionable.

[@RobinDaelman]

He looks tired and concerned. Just my observation.

[@duarteramos2612]

Hi Stop watching, go practice

[@galleryofguitar]

🤣🤣