Oct 28, 2025 10:47 AM
In Memoriam: Jack DeJohnette, 1942–2025
Jack DeJohnette, a bold and resourceful drummer and NEA Jazz Master who forged a unique vocabulary on the kit over his…
Drummer Viola Smith died Oct. 21 at the age of 107 in Costa Mesa, California.
(Photo: YouTube)Viola Smith, a pioneering big band-era drummer known as the “fastest girl drummer in the world” who wielded explosive sticks behind a massive 12-drum kit, died at her home in Costa Mesa, California, on Oct. 21. She was 107.
A trailblazer known for her pyrotechnics on stage, where she exploded with a ferocity that belied her diminutive stature, Smith was an equally fierce proponent of women’s rights in the male-dominated world of swing-era jazz.
“Viola Smith was not only one of the pioneering women instrumentalists of American popular music, she was an advocate for the rights of all women musicians trying to make a living in the sexist music business,” said drummer and bandleader Allison Miller, one of the countless female jazz players who owe a debt to Smith. “As a working musician for 90-plus years, she proved that women could master their craft, be a musician among musicians, display versatility and get the job done.”
A prodigy from the get-go, Smith still was a young girl in the late 1920s when she became the drummer for a family band, the all-girl Schmitz Sisters Orchestra (later the Smith Sisters Orchestra) in Mount Calvary, Wisconsin. In nearby Fond du Lac, her parents ran a concert hall. Though her father was a strict taskmaster who demanded long practice sessions from his eight daughters, it was a pretty sweet trade-off for Smith, who took to the drums like a fish to water. “So long as we practiced, we barely had to do work around the house,” she told the Women of Rock Oral History Project in 2018.
Much more than a novelty act, The Smith Sisters could swing with the best of the big-bands, and quickly graduated from local weddings and the state-fair circuit. They frequently traveled to radio gigs in Chicago, where they bested an all-male band playing “Rhapsody In Blue,” and in 1936 embarked on a year-long national tour as part of an all-girl revue sponsored by the Major Bowes Amateur Hour talent contest.
Jack DeJohnette boasted a musical resume that was as long as it was fearsome.
Oct 28, 2025 10:47 AM
Jack DeJohnette, a bold and resourceful drummer and NEA Jazz Master who forged a unique vocabulary on the kit over his…
D’Angelo achieved commercial and critical success experimenting with a fusion of jazz, funk, soul, R&B and hip-hop.
Oct 14, 2025 1:47 PM
D’Angelo, a Grammy-winning R&B and neo-soul singer, guitarist and pianist who exerted a profound influence on 21st…
Kandace Springs channeled Shirley Horn’s deliberate phrasing and sublime self-accompaniment during her set at this year’s Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival.
Sep 30, 2025 12:28 PM
Janis Burley, the Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival’s founder and artistic director, did not, as might be…
Jim McNeely’s singular body of work had a profound and lasting influence on many of today’s top jazz composers in the U.S. and in Europe.
Oct 7, 2025 3:40 PM
Pianist Jim McNeely, one of the most distinguished large ensemble jazz composers of his generation, died Sept. 26 at…
Drummond was cherished by generations of mainstream jazz listeners and bandleaders for his authoritative tonal presence, a defining quality of his style most apparent when he played his instrument unamplified.
Nov 4, 2025 11:39 AM
Ray Drummond, a first-call bassist who appeared on hundreds of albums as a sideman for some of the top names in jazz…
