The Swing Shift Shuffle is a radio program of swing, big band, jazz, boogie woogie and other popular music from the 1930's and 40's that airs every Wednesday from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. (US Central Time) on WEVL 89.9 FM in Memphis, Tennessee, with a live webcast at wevl.org. In addition to the radio show, this blog is dedicated to all aspects of the Swing Era, including art, automobiles, cartoons, comics, history, movies, music, news, science, technology, and anything else that happened during that time. It also includes announcements about events in the Memphis/Mid-South area related to the Swing Era, such as classic movies, concerts, dances, lectures, etc. If you see something that fits the description, send it to me at tim@wevl.org. If you would like more information about the radio show, just go to the Radio Show FAQ page.

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Viola Smith: Female Swing Drummer


A recent post on Boing Boing featured this clip of swing drummer Viola Smith, one of the earliest female professional drummers.  A little more research revealed that this film was part of Warner Brothers' "Melody Masters" film series, which consisted of big band musical film shorts.  Released from 1931 to 1947, they were essentially swing music videos.  Think early MTV (back when it played music videos) meets Jimmy Dorsey.  In this particular short, released in 1940, Viola Smith was playing with Frances Carroll and the Coquettes, an all girl swing orchestra.
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