Viola Smith

Viola Smith
Birth name Viola Schmitz
Born (1912-11-29) November 29, 1912
Origin Mount Calvary, Wisconsin, United States
Occupation(s) Musician
Instruments Drums

Viola Smith, née Schmitz (born November 29, 1912)[1] is an American drummer best known for her work in orchestras, swing bands, and popular music in the 1930s and 1940s. She was one of the first professional female drummers.[1][2]

Early life

Schmitz grew up in Mount Calvary, Wisconsin. She had seven sisters, all of whom also learned to play instruments.[1] Her parents operated a concert hall in Mount Calvary.[3]

Career

In the 1920s and 1930s Smith played in the Schmitz Sisters Family Orchestra that her father founded in Wisconsin.[4] They toured on weekends and summer vacation while some of the sisters were still in school.[5] According to her nephew, Dennis Bartash, playing with her sisters on the Major Bowes Amateur Hour radio show in the 1930s was her big break.[3] In the late 1930s and early 1940s Smith played in the Coquettes, an all-female orchestra, along with her sister,[6] Mildred Bartash, who played the clarinet and the saxophone.[3] Smith penned an article in 1942 for Down Beat magazine titled "Give Girl Musicians a Break!" in which she argued that woman musicians could play just as well as men.[7] She argued, "In these times of national emergency, many of the star instrumentalists of the big name bands are being drafted. Instead of replacing them with what may be mediocre talent, why not let some of the great girl musicians of the country take their place?''[7]

In 1942, after her sister got married, Smith moved to New York where she joined Phil Spitalny's Hour of Charm, a commercially-successful all-girl orchestra.[4][5] During this time, Smith recorded music for the films When Johnny Comes Marching Home and Here Come the Co-Eds as a member of the National Symphony Orchestra,[5][8] and even performed with Ella Fitzgerald and Chick Webb.[1][8] She gained notoriety as the "female Gene Krupa" and the "fastest girl drummer."[1] Smith performed at president Harry Truman's inauguration in 1949.[1] She remained with the Hour of Charm orchestra until 1954.[8] She played for four years with the Kit Kat Band, which was part of the original 1960s Broadway production of Cabaret.[1] Allegro Magazine Volume 113 Number 10, from November 10, 2013, featured Smith in the article "A Century of Swing 'Never lose your groove!'"[9]

Film appearances

Television appearances

Broadway Musicals

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Viola Smith - Drummer/Percussionist". drummercafe.com. Retrieved 2016-03-30.
  2. ↑ Clay, Joanna (November 26, 2011). "Still jazzing it up at 99". Daily Pilot. Retrieved December 1, 2012.
  3. 1 2 3 Dobruck, Jeremiah (November 29, 2012). "Still keeping time at 100". Daily Pilot. Retrieved December 1, 2012.
  4. 1 2 "When Women Called the Tunes". The New York Times. August 10, 2010. Retrieved December 1, 2012.
  5. 1 2 3 "Viola Smith profile". NAMM. NAMM, the National Association of Music Merchants. October 23, 2012. Retrieved December 1, 2012.
  6. ↑ Haas, Jane Glenn (November 19, 2012). "Centenarians getting more common". The Orange Country Register. Retrieved December 1, 2012.
  7. 1 2 Yellin, Emily (2010-05-11). Our Mothers' War: American Women at Home and at the Front During World War II. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9781439103586.
  8. 1 2 3 "Drummerszone artists - Viola Smith". drummerszone.com. Retrieved 2016-03-31.
  9. ↑ "A Century of Swing". local802afm.org. Retrieved 2016-03-31.
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