Basing Women Drummers: A History from Rock and Jazz to Blues and Country (Rowman
& Littlefield; ISBN-13:
978-0-8108-8834-0) on interviews conducted with
over 50 top women drummers, Angela Smith recounts how, in addition, another 160
women gained both national and international prowess through their mastery of
the art of drumming. Their astounding success in what was once a male-dominated
profession is truly inspiring, with much being attributed to their
determination to prove that women can be just as good, if not, at times, better
than men at pursuing those interests to which they are passionately committed.
Opening her introduction with an anecdote regarding the ninety-nine-year-old
Viola Smith walking into a music store in Orange County, California, and being
astonished to be met with frank adulation from the floored store owner, Smith
continues to stress the importance of the role played by professional women
drummers for thousands of years. The opposition that they have encountered is
shown, over the eons, as having made them more determined than ever to prove
their mettle as worthwhile musicians who have outstanding talents to share with
fellow musicians, and with their avid followers, as well as with the rest of
the world. And who better to tell the story of so many musically gifted women
than one who is a working musician and music journalist herself, who has
already written the acclaimed Steel Drums
and Steelbands: A History?
Angela Smith’s focus in this overview of women
drummers is on women who have, over the last six decades, made it to the top in
terms of popular and contemporary jazz, country, blues, and rock. By focusing
on the individual drummers involved, she has been able to bring to the
forefront their most outstanding achievements, as well as the limitations that
they faced on their careers emanating from a social climate that has all too
often been antagonistic to them reaching their full potential. The multiple
black-and-white photos of the drummers, many of whom are portrayed “on the job”
also help to personalize this interesting, and occasionally provocative,
glimpse into the world of the percussion instrument from a woman who is all too
conscious of the legacy of discrimination that has permeated the world of music
for far too long.
The chronological structure of Women Drummers aids in making the work a
coherent whole, in addition to the chapters being well signposted and
containing numerous helpful headings. The index is quite lengthy (20 pages) and
detailed for a book of this nature, and there is also a helpful appendix,
consisting of a listing of selected discography, video links, and online
resources, as well as an 11-page bibliography. In short, Angela Smith seems to
have done her research well, and produced a lively and informative text on a
subject that, in the past, has tended not to receive the attention that it
should. Although the fluency of the book has lost out somewhat to the amount of
information contained therein, it is a worthwhile text that deserves its place
on any music-lover’s shelf, but especially on that of keen feminists, who only
too ardently wish to promote their cause.
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