Barrett Deems Big Band

b. 1 March 1914, Springfield, Illinois, USA, d. 15 September 1998, Chicago, Illinois, USA. Nicknamed Deemus. Throughout the 30s Deems worked with Paul Ash and led his own small bands. Towards the end of the decade he worked extensively with Joe Venuti, an association that lasted until the mid-40s. Thereafter, Deems played in bands led by Red Norvo, Charlie Barnet and Muggsy Spanier. Billed as the ‘World's Fastest Drummer', Deems had an eccentric onstage personality that was captured on film during a solo-feature in Rhythm Inn (1951). In 1954 he joined Louis Armstrong's All Sta...