LADY PLAYS THE DRUMS
Special to JAM
by Cynthia A. Jarrar

May 27, 2002 marked the 80th birthday of Virginia Johnson, one of the first women jazz drummers in Kansas City.

Born Virginia Rose Nolting, only daughter of Ray and Dorothy Nolting, this beautiful, blonde-haired, blue-eyed, "girl next door" began her musical career in the early 1940s "playing a single drum to keep time for a piano player in a small eastside joint." The piano player, Grace Jones, was the aunt of Virginia's first husband, Gordon Roelofsz. (Gordon was also a musician, playing stand-up bass, among other instruments.) A true percussionist at heart, Virginia was sitting as many music lovers do, tapping out a rhythm on the table when "Aunt Grace" asked her to come up and keep the beat. Virginia's career flourished from there.

In those early days, KC musicians jammed until the wee hours of the morning. So, as soon as her own gig was over for the night, Virginia would rush to listen to the great jazz musicians playing around town. She has often told the story about hearing "a great young black man" who played a difficult brush lick she had never heard before. "I watched intently until a break," Virginia recalls, "then I asked the man if he would show me how to play it." Times being what they were, the man "was shocked" that this young girl had approached him. "But," she adds, "he still graciously took the time to show me how to play that beat."

Another of Virginia's fondest memories is hearing Billie Holiday at the old Gem Theater. The Gem was a venue for black performers and catered mainly to black people and other musicians. But Virginia was bound and determined to see Ms. Holiday. She squeezed through the crowd and made her way to the bandstand, where she stood in awe as Holiday, whom Virginia still considers to be "one of the finest vocalists ever," belted out several sultry numbers. No doubt, Ms. Holiday must have wondered why this young white girl was even in the theater. "On her way off stage," Virginia recalls, "Billie made eye contact with me and smiled." To this day, the gardenia, a flower that Holiday refused to appear without on stage, is Mrs. Johnson's favorite.

Times weren't always good for Virginia. She remembers one night when, while still playing with "Aunt Grace," a brawl broke out. In the midst of the screaming and beer bottles flying, she crawled off her seat and crouched on the floor behind her bass drum. "I was terrified," she says. "But I noticed Aunt Grace continued to play." At the end of the night, while Grace was dividing up the "kitty," she explained to Virginia that "the show must go on." Before leaving, however, Virginia approached the manager and told him she wasn't coming back unless something could be done. The next day, the manager had a back door installed so she could escape if the need ever arose again.

By this time, Virginia was playing a full set of drums, was using the stage name of Virginia Gordon, and was appearing with various musicians around Kansas City.

In the midst of World War II, her young husband, Gordon, was drawn up in the excitement of the war as portrayed in news reels at the picture shows. Those reels would be shown before the picture started, and the big news back then was the war. Gordon enlisted in the Marines, and Virginia was left alone with two toddlers to raise on her own.

It was not uncommon at that time for landlords to evict women if their husbands left, even if there were children. ("Somehow it wasn't proper for women to live alone.") So, Virginia managed to buy a small home. She didn't have a car, so she had to hire a live-in babysitter and ride the bus to her jobs. Of course, music jobs could last one night or several weeks, so, many times, she had to carry her full set of drums, one at a time, to the bus stop. ("And, I never had a single drum stolen!") The bus driver would wait as she loaded the drums, cymbals, and bags of sticks and brushes onto the bus, and would wait again while she unloaded everything at the bus stop closest to her job. She then had to carry each drum, stand, cymbal and bag to the club and set up. When asked now why she never asked for help, Virginia says, "As a woman drummer, it was hard enough being taken seriously. If I had been unable to carry and set up my own drums, it would have been even harder for me to get work."

Even as a woman drummer, Virginia managed to support herself, her children and her home. She even made enough to pay someone one dollar a week to shovel coal into her furnace at 6:00 a.m. and again at night. She never saw the man, except when he came to collect his money.

Gordon came home after his service in World War II and he and Virginia had another child. They moved into a nicer home and things went well for a while. But, unfortunately, several years later the marriage ended in divorce.

Virginia then landed a job at the Jewel Box, a hot night club located at 32nd and Troost, where she played with local musicians including Rosalie Bell, Peggy Clark, Sammy Tucker and Marilyn Maye. It was during that gig that she met her second husband, Vince Williams, a television director at KCMO, Channel 5. Vince and Virginia had two additional children, yet he encouraged her to play regularly and pursue her musical career.

Virginia laughingly remembers getting a call one day from a bandleader in town. His drummer was sick, they were playing a good job at the Richards-Gebaur AFB Officers Club, and he needed a drummer desperately. Virginia was thrilled at the opportunity to play at this exclusive club and could hardly wait to get there. However, ten minutes before they were to go on, she realized she had forgotten her sticks!

"My distress must have been obvious, because another member of the band took me aside to ask what was wrong. I frantically explained that I had no sticks, so he walked me outside, pulled out a knife, and cut two branches from a tree Those were my 'sticks' for the evening, and no one ever knew the difference."

To this day, she holds a special fondness for that musician, who didn't let the secret out.

Virginia continued to hone her percussion skills and established herself as a professional musician in the area. She even added a conga and a set of bongos, and played those along with her set of drums. All this and singing, too! As a long-standing member of the Kansas City Musicians Union, Virginia continued to play with various bands and at many of Kansas City's exclusive clubs, including the Bon Vivant, the Alameda, the Gilded Cage, the (original) Blue Room, the Muehlebach, the President and Phillips hotels, and many others. During her career, she has played with some of Kansas City's finest musicians including Chic McFarland, Wayne Rupenthal, Jimmy Dorman, Caroline Harris, Gordon Didero, Evelyn Smith and Pete Eye.

It was during this time, however, that the family was devastated with the news that Vince had developed cancer. But, he was adamant that Virginia's music career not suffer. Vince had been instrumental in moving her career forward, and he encouraged her to expand her notoriety by playing out-of-town jobs. She and piano man Lee Handley formed the Happy Sounds of Jazz, played local clubs, and traveled to such venues as the luxurious Galvez Hotel in Galveston, Texas. Vince underwent chemotherapy and radiation therapy, and continued to work as a television director. And Virginia continued to play. However, after several years of fighting the illness, Vince lost his courageous battle with the disease leaving Virginia with three young children still at home.

"I tried taking the safe route, working for a short time as a receptionist in a doctor's office and cleaning houses," Virginia says. "But I eventually went back to music." She continued in the music business, met her present husband, Jim Johnson, and they purchased an old farmhouse and some acreage in Kearney, Missouri so that her daughters could have a place for their horses. They also spent several years redoing the home. (Virginia now proudly displays a large photo and extensive article that appeared in The Kansas City Star showcasing the restoration.)

Today, you can find "Ginny" and Jim in Kearney enjoying life in the country. She has been out of the music business for the past 15 years, although, due to so many years of playing well into the night, her habit of sleeping late has stayed with her. Her silver-sparkle Ludwig drum set had gathered dust in the attic for many years, when, after a fateful dream one night, she awoke early, called her daughter, and blurted out that she was giving her drums to her grandson, Jesse, a 7th grade band student who had taken up playing the snare drum the year before.

It must be in the blood, as Jesse (with Grandma's help), picked up playing the full set very quickly. He has played with the Kearney High School Marching Band and Concert Band every year since and has auditioned for and played with the school's Jazz Band throughout high school. Jesse is also a member of a pop punk band, Explosion 9, and has played at local clubs like the Hurricane, Nieners, Davey's and the Bottleneck in Lawrence. Last summer, his band was chosen out of approximately 100 groups in the four-state area to play at the Ernie Ball Battle of the Bands, as part of the 2001 Warped Tour at Sandstone.

And yes, Virginia Johnson still picks up the sticks now and then for special, personal performances. She's still got the rhythm and she's still got the kick!



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