14 Year Old Female Drummer

Very talented young lady and as has been pointed out young musicians like this deserve a lot of support and tremendous credit for all the hard work that it takes to get to that point; and I particularly like her relaxed playing attitude. The fact that she is playing an instrument that is usually a male’s purview makes it even more deserving of praise. However, I think it should be kept in the kind of perspective that any young player her/himself needs to always maintain in order to achieve her full potential; and this is not meant to take anything away from her obvious talent. For starters, playing along with a prerecorded track with a set and unwavering groove is not the same thing as driving and interacting with a live group of musicians; the latter poses a much bigger challenge. If this is "special" what does one call the fact that the great Tony Williams was part of Sam Rivers’ Quartet at age 13 and Miles Davis’ Quintet at age 17?

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pQMJv3HuZdU

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yLKVkvz0sBw

Youthful talent at any age deserves praise and encouragement to continue to evolve to the next higher plain. Adult criticism (especially when the criticizer can't do better) shows a lack of maturity. To each of the youngsters I say keep up the marvelous work and strive to be the very best you can be.Thanks for sharing mofimadness!

Agree mewsickbuff, and you use the term "adults" loosely.  I have another name for them.  

C’mon you guys, let’s try and maintain some perspective and not distort some of the comments. Stereo5, I never said she was a "one trick pony" nor that she has never played with other musicians.

There is always room for constructive and tactful criticism. As a teacher to many young musicians over the years I can tell you that the students who don’t reach their fullest potential are the ones who DON’T receive constructive criticism so as to have a good understanding of what is possible and what true excellence is. More and more these days youngsters are only and blindly told how wonderful they are. Thoughtful criticism should be part of the mix. A sign of "lack of maturity" on the part of the adult? To the contrary. Not to mention that opinions expressed by adults in this thread can hardly be considered "criticism" that will have any impact on the subject in question.