A lesson in improv grooving! Michele & Yolanda :)

Andy

Honorary Member
Totally unscripted. Just a few snippets of Michele Drees & Yolanda Charles jamming at our recent sessions. I love the way their Grooves form. Prior to this improv session, Michele & Yolanda hadn't played together for nearly 20 years, when they were in the Johnathan Ross house band together.

Enjoy & comment/discuss :)


http://youtu.be/-FZQuLQuZG0?hd=1


You might like the little outtake after the closing title ;)
 

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Outstanding playing, Andy! Nice work on the sound and the angles. A true representation of what those drums sound like.

You guys are coming to NAMM in January, yes?


;)
 
Outstanding playing, Andy! Nice work on the sound and the angles. A true representation of what those drums sound like.

You guys are coming to NAMM in January, yes?


;)
Oh I wish Bo, but alas, we just don't have a spare $25,000 lying around :( :( :( Possibly next year if things go really really well :)

One minor USA victory though, the Origin series will be appearing in the "New & Notable" section of Modern Drummer in a couple of months time :)

First half of the video is just two overheads & semi distant bass drum mic, second half is close mic's + room. All completely flat, no tricks, of course :) The drums and the playing did the job for us Bo. Did you see the other vid's in the series BTW?

Anyhow, these girls rock!!!!!!!!!!
 
Totally unscripted. Just a few snippets of Michele Drees & Yolanda Charles jamming at our recent sessions.

Wow.. Just wow!!! These girls and those drums are amazing, it has worth the wait as you said Andy :)

The spontaneity of Michele and Yolanda is very contagious, it doesn't feel like they haven't play together for 20 years... the complicity and feel of these improvisations makes you believe they play together every day, outstanding musicianship.

I love the deep sound of Yolanda's bass too, very groovy with a strong pulse, that's a drummer's dream ;)

Totally sold by the "cappucino", the presence, tone, depth, articulation and projection is unmatched considering the sizes of those drums, ...it's only a 20x12 bass drum for God's sake.

You might like the little outtake after the closing title ;)

Hahaha... hairdo :) ... you cannot be mistaken, we're talking about girls, lol.

...but it defines the kind of ambiance you had throughout the sessions, nice, very nice indeed :)
 
Snare sounds great! What heads are you using at present, did you stick with the Aquarians?
 
Don't really know what to say except that the ladies deliver!!
Ah yes - I'll try to steal a few bass groove ideas from Yolanda, haha.
 
The spontaneity of Michele and Yolanda is very contagious, it doesn't feel like they haven't play together for 20 years... the complicity and feel of these improvisations makes you believe they play together every day, outstanding musicianship.

I love the deep sound of Yolanda's bass too, very groovy with a strong pulse, that's a drummer's dream ;)

Hahaha... hairdo :) ... you cannot be mistaken, we're talking about girls, lol.

...but it defines the kind of ambiance you had throughout the sessions, nice, very nice indeed :)
Yes Henri. Great vibe in the room, & I loved listening to their grooves/jams form. Superb "conversation" going on there.

Snare sounds great! What heads are you using at present, did you stick with the Aquarians?
G1 coated over Hazy 300 for the snare, G1 coated over G1 clear for the toms. TBH, if I knew what I know now, I'd have stuck with the Aquarian modern vintage heads for the toms & bass drum, but still gone with G1 on the snare.

Don't really know what to say except that the ladies deliver!!
Ah yes - I'll try to steal a few bass groove ideas from Yolanda, haha.
Cheers Arky, I thought you'd appreciate Yolanda's bass licks. Loving Michele's flow too. That girl can punch & flatter in the same bar! Lovely dynamic, both individually & together.
 
Fantastic!! Both ladies are such naturals. Great tone and feel. I loved it so much I replayed several times. Very impressive. What a treat!
 
Thank you Alan. Have you seen the other videos in the series?
I thought you might like Michele's & Yolanda's jamming :) Michele's playing here, has elements that very much remind me of some of the fine playing I've had the pleasure of hearing from you.

Yes Andy, I had seen the other videos in the series, and didn't want to miss an opportunity to make positive comments this time ;-)
 
Fantastic!! Both ladies are such naturals. Great tone and feel. I loved it so much I replayed several times. Very impressive. What a treat!
That's good to hear!

Quality grooving and enjoyable, clear ideas. Instruments sounded great too.
Very clear ideas Grea, but it was great to see how quickly those ideas formed on the fly. The opening jam is a perfect example of that :)

Yes Andy, I had seen the other videos in the series, and didn't want to miss an opportunity to make positive comments this time ;-)
Thank you Alain, & from you, that means a lot :)
 
Definitely a lesson in listening to the other players. Their playing just melted together like hot fudge on vanilla ice cream. You can tell they were riding the same vibe. Yolanda worried about her hair lol. I love how you English say hair. You don't pronounce the R. I love that.
 
Definitely a lesson in listening to the other players. Their playing just melted together like hot fudge on vanilla ice cream. You can tell they were riding the same vibe. Yolanda worried about her hair lol. I love how you English say hair. You don't pronounce the R. I love that.
Never really thought about that pronunciation larry, but now you mention it :)

& yes, communication is clearly superb. More than that, the vibe is happy, respectful, forgiving, & creative.
 
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