"When young Viola Smith joined the family jazz band, the Smith Sisters Orchestra, almost every instrument was taken...except the drums. And when she first sat behind a drum kit, she lost the beat, made a terrible racket, and had more fun than she'd ever had before. But Viola practiced hard and got better: bolder, flashier, and faster. The Smith sisters toured the Midwest, playing to bigger and bigger crowds. The family band eventually broke up, but Viola wasn't done yet ... From the age of 13 to the age of 107, Viola Smith continued slamming her snare and socking her cymbals as one of the greatest drummers of all time, opening doors for other women instrumentalists"--Dust jacket flap.
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