Vinnie Colaiuta In Studio: Conceptualizes 13/16, 7/4 and 6/8 W/ the music of J. Kimo Williams:

Vinnie Colaiuta Conceptualizing vs. Part Reading
00:09 13/16 - 1st Concept | 00:48 7/4 - 1st Concept | 03:13 13/16 - 2nd Concept | 04:13 13/16 - 3rd Concept | 05:00 7/4 - 2nd Concept | 06:48 6/8- 1st Concept | 08:31 13/16 - 4th Concept | 09:88 7/4 - 3rd Concept | 11:12 6/8 - 2nd Concept | 11:38 13/16 5th Concept | 12:50 Making it Looser ("A Greek Vibe")
I have been producing music since 1976, starting at Berklee College of Music.
I met Vinnie there and formed a friendship that lasts to this day.
During my time at Berklee, I formed an ensemble I called "The Paumalu Symphony" (which morphed into "Kimotion" when I moved to Chicago).
Many Berklee students would often listen at the door of my ensemble rehearsals (Room E1). Vinnie once told me (in 1999 at our first recording session at Rumbo Studios) that he had always wanted to play my music since our days at Berklee. That comment stuck with me because this great drummer connected with and respected what I was trying to do as a composer.
From the beginning, I understood that the music I created was more than executing notes on a page (different from the standard jazz sensibilities taught at Berklee). I needed instrumentalists to interpret and breathe life into the charts before them. Merely reading the chart was never enough to realize the essence of the music I was composing. I saw each individual part as a starting point, a guide for the collaborative journey between me and the musician. I sought this spirit of collaboration, and Vinnie was one of the few I met who heard my music and truly understood and embraced it.
Throughout my career, I've had the privilege of working with just a few musicians who truly connected to my need for their conceptualization of the individual part. These great instrumentalists and individuals brought a unique perspective and added their touch to my compositions. I can count Vinnie, Kenwood Dennard, Jim Odgren, Mike Stern, and Michael Brecker as the only few. Each of them, in their own way, elevated my music beyond the confines of the chart. It's not to say that others I have produced were not great instrumentalists- many were. But I needed more than just chart readers or soloists.
For this video, Vinnie and I began tracking the drums (Vinnie had the click and bass in his cans). He first tried a couple of patterns and then began conceptualizing what would work best for the composition's different sonorities. Throughout the recording session for all 21 tracks he recorded that weekend, he brought a creative, collaborative approach to each song, and I will always love him for it.