Of course, Louie Bellson was a mater technician, right up there with Buddy Rich, but some would say more musical. I studied with one of Louie's drum teachers, Murray Spivack, who besides being a master of classic snare drum technique, was also a Academy Award wining sound engineer for such motion pictures as "King King", "Hello Dolly" and the "Sound of Music"

Anyways, I did meet Louie Bellson in 1984, when my high school jazz band got invited to play at the Playboy Jazz Festival at the Hollywood Bowl. When we were playing I noticed Louie Bellson was on the side of the stage. I thought I might loss it, but he smiled and gave me a big thumbs up. After our set, he said to me that I have some "good hands" and it looked like I have been studying with Murray Spivack. But I digress....

In the common jargon of drummers "cross handed" means when the right hand crosses over the left side to play the hi-hat. This is the way most drummers play the high hat or a ride or crash cymbal that may be on the left side of the drum set.

Some drummers such as Billy Cobham, Carter Beauford, and Simmon Philips play what is called "open handed", by keeping there left hand on the hi-hat or other any cymbals on the left side of the drum set. It's a more natural way to play because the right does not have to cross, but it's harder for right hand players because the left hand has to work harder. Think of a basic straight eighth note pop drum groove- the hi hat plays (usually with the right hand) plays 8 notes every measure while the snare drum (usually the left hand) plays on "2" and "4"

"Traditional grip" (the left hand grip the young man in the video Chas posted) dates back to the 1400's when military marching drummers carried snare drums on a sling hung around their neck and shoulder, which made the drum tilt. Look at some paintings of the military drummers of the Amerian Revolution or Civil War for some examples. Traditional grip carried over into the jazz era when the drum set was developed and as rock music gained popularity, drummers staring going back to using matched grip because it is easier to get the strong sanre drum back beat that the music calls for and it's easier to reach for the multiple tom set up that drummers started using in the 60's.

I know, too much information, and I apologize to Chas for going off topic, I am a total drum nerd and could talk about this stuff all day. But good observation Russ that the young drummer in the video was playing "traditional grip" or as you say "cross handed". Most drummers since Ringo have played matched grip, so it's nice see a young drummer, play traditional grip. The kid can play a very strong back beat, so he proves that you don't have to play like the majority of matched grip drummers.