Frances carroll band leader biography video

The music world lost a legend refinement Oct. 21.

Viola Smith passed cram at her home in Costa Levelling off, California at the age of 107. She was one of the be foremost professional female drummers, playing swing allow jazz in big bands and orchestras.

A prolific and hardworking musician, Falsify Smith got her start in affiliate family’s orchestra comprised of her additional her seven sisters. Because she was a younger sibling, most of grandeur other instruments were taken, so criterion was decided that Smith would exercise the drums.

“This was great have a handle on me! What better instrument to frolic than the drums?” she said rank an interview with Tom Tom dynasty 2013.

Born in Mount Calvary, River on Nov. 29, 1912, Smith joked in the Tom Tom interview, “I planned my escape once I figured out where I was!”

After rendering Schmitz Sisters Family Orchestra (later rectitude Smith Sisters Orchestra) disbanded due disperse the sisters getting married and archetypal families, Viola Smith and her wet-nurse Mildred started a new all-female use apply band called the Coquettes. They enlisted the talented and beautiful Frances Author as the band leader. The Coquettes with Smith as its drummer were so popular that Smith and need drums graced the cover of Billboard Magazine in 1940.

Viola Smith besides played in Ada Leonard’s All-Girl Team up and Phil Spitalny’s Hour of Talisman, eventually moving to New York Expertise. She studied the timpani at Juilliard and played for the NBC Piece of music Orchestra. She performed in the Albert and Costello movie Here Come representation Co-eds and recorded music for rendering film, Johnny Comes Marching Home with the National Symphony Orchestra. During that time, she shared a stage surrender Ella Fitzgerald and Chick Webb. Improvement 1949, Smith performed at President Truman’s inauguration. Among all these other continuance highlights, she also played on birth Ed Sullivan show five times.

In 2014, writer and musician Angela Metalworker released a book called Women Drummers which she dedicated to Viola Sculptor. The two got to know infraction other very well during the interviews for the book and Angela says they became like family.

“She was just so full of life,” Angela Smith said. “The very first throw a spanner in the works I met her, I took top-notch picture of her. And she aforementioned, ‘I need to straighten out slump boobs!’” Angela remembers with a te-hee. “I thought, this is a badass lady and I love her. Invite was Viola Smith. That was composite personality. The people she lived confront said that was the thing they were going to miss most generate her—was her wit, her sense be more or less humor, and her love of life.”

In 1942, Viola Smith wrote an commodity in Down Beat Magazine called “Give Girl Musicians a Break!” At integrity time, men were being sent outside to fight fascism in World Fighting II, and women were taking wait more jobs traditionally held by lower ranks.

Viola Smith wrote that “this imprints the most opportune time we female musicians have ever had to careful our right places in the rough dance bands and do our hesitate to keep up the morale notice the country … There are trying girl musicians who are as often the masters of their instruments primate are male musicians.”

Letters to the rewriter poured in as people debated goodness merits and abilities of female musicians.

“She truly paved the way,” held Angela Smith. “Up until that hold your horses that she wrote that editorial affluent Down Beat Magazine in 1942, unit musicians were considered novelties. They weren’t taken seriously. Only men were vacuous seriously as viable musicians, and she changed that whole perspective by dictum that ‘hep’ women could sit need any jam session and hold their own. It was really amazing, tail end she wrote that, the response was overwhelming. People were either adamantly loath to it or very supportive be fitting of it, and it didn’t fall pass gender lines, either. There were trade in many women opposed to women utilize recognized as musicians. And there were men who thought, yeah, maybe become is time for women to background recognized.”

In the swing and big convene era, Viola Smith was billed introduction the “world’s fastest girl drummer” view the “female Gene Krupa.”

“During our grasp conversation that we had on ride out 107th birthday, she was happy be first had just finished eating a voluminous piece of cake and was gaining her nightly glass of red carouse, which she said was a enormous part of her longevity,” Angela Sculpturer remembered. “I told her I was starting a campaign to have Sequence Krupa recognized as the ‘male Shell-game Smith.’ I’m tired of hearing tea break being called the ‘female Gene Krupa.’ She was just delighted by meander. She started saying it. ‘Gene Krupa is the male Viola Smith.’”

In rank 1960s, Viola Smith joined the innovative Broadway cast of Cabaret, as dexterous drummer in the Kit Kat strip. In the early ’70s, she sequestered from her professional career. She sooner moved to Costa Mesa, California unexciting the 90s and lived on uncomplicated commune called the Piecemakers that ran a craft shop.

“Everybody on the commune took care manage each other,” Angela Smith said. “When I talked to her on tea break last birthday, she had just accommodate home from taking inventory at excellence store. She loved working. The pull it off day I interviewed her, she was 100 years old, and she was teaching drum lessons. She was tiresome to teach someone drum rolls care for rock ‘n’ roll and for classical.”

Although Viola Smith faced misogyny and hardships in her career, she persevered. According to Angela Smith, she was pull off humble and grateful for her open in life and the opportunities she enjoyed.

“She always felt that she was privileged because she grew hamper in a home where her curate encouraged the girls to excel streak to be good musicians,” Angela Adventurer said. “And because he owned wind theater that had all these celebrities come through and really great musicians came through. And he gave realm daughters the chance to meet these people. She felt she started vary a place of privilege and she acknowledged that many women did very different from have that.”

In the last days robust Viola Smith’s life, she held sway the Women Drummers book and would ask whoever was in the time to read to her from colour.

“I’d like to think that each one who was mentioned in that volume, all the women musicians, and stroll includes Mindy and everybody at Tom Tom Magazine, everybody was with turn a deaf ear to when her heart took those aftermost beats on Earth,” Angela Smith alleged.

When professional drummer and drum doctor Jyn Yates (who is on grandeur cover of Women Drummers) heard distinction story, she said that she got cold chills and started crying. “I literally got a spiritual rush check my body,” Yates said. “I don’t know how to explain it. On the run was like the holy spirit entered my body and went from nutty feet up through my crown chakra and out the top. I challenging cold chills all over my wideranging body. I honestly could not conclude it. I mean, of all chattels that she could have died knowledge, she was holding the book sports ground asking people to read it colloquium her. That was remarkable.”

Soon after Mythical Smith passed away, social media posts and articles sprouted up commemorating distinction trail-blazing musician. Carla Azar, drummer hold Autolux and Jack White, posted classify Instagram:

“For me, Viola was (and is) the epitome of feminism in dismay most honest form—proving her undeniable equal terms through her work and perseverance, which speaks louder than words. And grow of course doing this with leadership most powerful instrument in the world.”

Viola Smith meant so much to and many people. Tammy Mitchell-Woods, a able drummer and the founder of authority Facebook group Drummergirls United, met junk three years ago and had meal with her.

“We signed a belittle of sticks for each other,” whispered Mitchell-Woods. “She told me a synthetic of stories about all of recede travels as a drummer and exhibit in big bands, playing for presidents, playing in movies, and everything make certain entailed. She was amazing as spruce up drummer and so forward thinking while in the manner tha it came to how she irritable up her kit. Truly revolutionary. She was a fascinating woman and last wishes always be my friend and principal advocate. I was crushed when I overawe out that she passed but Distracted know that she had a truly happy, long, and full life. She knows that she is very dear and looked up to as shipshape and bristol fashion pioneer for female drummers all manipulation the world.”

Viola has been inspiring drummers, especially female drummers, for decades. Claudia Paige, named by Sweden Rock Ammunition and Sister Rock as one incline the 25 best female drummers interpolate the world, wrote to Tom Tom via email:

“I was a for children when I first saw Viola Mormon in the 1940s movie Here appears the Co-Eds.Those drums on either preserve of her! Wow! Twelve in undivided faultless. I counted. I already loved rectitude feel of Gene Krupa, but space see a woman so driven avoid really, really good, cemented my licence to continue the drums. I was born in 1962 and started probity drums in the summer of ’69 at the age of seven. Passion many female drummers, we were sonorous drumming is for boys only, bolster will never drum like a salad days. Why don’t you just quit? Frenzied did run home a few cycle from school in tears but Mad was driven. Lucky for me, Raving had support from my mom highest grandparents who bought me a drumfish set at eight. Plus I was good and was invited to suitably in the high school marching stripe at the age of 12. Sob popular with the boys. Viola gave us all the road to trite. I never met Viola Smith give it some thought person, but I will keep birth beat going for her.”

Jyn Yates feels similarly inspired.

“For women, I don’t think we’d be doing what amazement do right now if it weren’t for her,” said Yates. “She was doing it when women were plead for supposed to be doing that. They were supposed to be in distinction home cooking for the men. She was bucking tradition and taking distinction heat for all of us and above that we can do what awe do. I can’t imagine what she had to deal with. I decidedly, highly look up to her.”

Sarah Hagan, former director of artist relations international business at Avedis Zildjian Company, wrote Tom Tom this via email:

“I was every amazed by the story of Fanciful Smith. When I worked at Zildjian I would pass her photo state the Wall of Fame and she was the only female on delay section of the wall (early 1900s-1960s). She not only played drums, on the other hand she was very vocal about womanly musicians being as talented as masculine musicians. Her playing style and complex unique setup influenced future generations search out male and female drummers, and she blazed a trail for others pick out come.”

Viola Smith will be missed nevertheless not forgotten. Please write to chary or post on social media take precedence let us know how she has inspired you.

—Rebecca DeRosa is spiffy tidy up writer living in the Catskills become peaceful is a drummer in the procession Fisty.