Viola Smith’s Century in Music: An Interview with the World’s Oldest Drummer.

Viola Smith passed away on October 21st, 2020 at home in Costa Mesa, California at age 107. In the fall of 2018 trombone legend Dan Barrett sat down with her for the extensive interview below. Viola was likely our last living link to the performance culture of the 1920s. Born in 1913, she spent her teen years in a traveling jazz act with her sisters. In the 1930s she was billed as "The World's Fastest Girl Drummer". Her career developed with the swing era and she played with all-girl groups as well as with many famous male musicians. During WWII she wrote an essay for Down Beat magazine urging bands that were short musicians due to the war to replace them with female musicians on an equal footing.   She continued to play long after the swing era, appearing on television in the 1960s. As her age advanced many became interested in documenting the stories only she could tell. She was always happy to welcome a visitor and tell her story. On a bright November day my wife Laura and I drove the short distance from our home to a store called Piecemakers in Costa Mesa, California.  The spelling of the store’s name is a clue to what they sell. The nondescript wooden building--a local institution--sells quilting supplies, among other quaint items and confections you’d expect to find in an old-fashioned, Christian-based country store. Think “potpourri and Laura Ashley,” and you’
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Dan Barrett is a professional trombonist/ cornetist, arranger, and composer. He enjoys performing in admittedly old-fashioned jazz styles. He has recorded for Concord Records, Arbors Records, and his own Blue Swing Recordings label, among many other labels. Dan fell in love with jazz in high school, and learned to play from much older musicians from New Orleans, who had settled in the Los Angeles area. He has played at Carnegie Hall five times, and was featured in the last bands led by Swing Era icons Benny Goodman and Buck Clayton. Another highlight of Dan’s musical life—so far—was being a member of Lueder Ohlwein’s Sunset Music Company. Write to Dan at: www.DanBarrettMusic.com.

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