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Women Drummers: A History from Rock and Jazz to Blues and Country
Women Drummers A History from Rock and Jazz to Blues and Country Author:Angela Smith In 1942, drummer Viola Smith sent shock waves through the jazz world by claiming in Down Beat magazine that ?hep girls? could sit in on any jam session and hold their own. In Women Drummers: A History from Rock and Jazz to Blues and Country Angela Smith takes Smith at her word, offering a comprehensive look from the inside at the world of profes... more »sional drumming and at the women who had the courage and chops to break the barriers of this all-too-male field. Combining archival research with personal interviews of over 50 female drummers representing more than eight decades in music history, Smith paints a vivid picture of their struggles to overcome discrimination not only as professional musicians but in other parts of their lives. Looking back several centuries, Women Drummers outlines the evolution of the woman drummer from pre-biblical times when women held important leadership roles to their silencing by the church during the middle ages to their changing role as they spearheaded the fight for women?s rights in the modern era. The stories and personal accounts of female drummers who bucked tradition and societal norms are told against the backdrop of the times in which they performed and the genres they represented, from rock and jazz to blues and country.
While more and more women have stepped out from behind their drum sets, proving over and over that they can more than hold their own with their male counterparts, women drummers not only remain a minority, their contributions obscured by the traditional chauvinistic attitudes in the music business and gender stereotype that surround the drum itself as a ?male? instrument. Women Drummer takes a major step forward in undoing by filling a void in music history and acknowledging the talent, contribution, and growing power of women drummers in today?s music environment.« less