Mary Lou Williams

By Eric Eronimous and Lily Miller

About Mary (1910-1981)

Pianist, songwriter, educator.

Born in Atlanta in 1910, in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, Mary Lou Williams was performing professionally by the time she was seven. She was taught by her single mother growing up, and had perfect pitch.

As a teenager she began performing with John Williams, and in 1927 they got married and she moved with him to Kansas City.

She is often referred to as the first lady of jazz by historians and other musicians.

CareerMary made her first formal debut in an African American vaudeville show when she was 12. In 1926 she dropped out of high school and joined the Seymour and Jeannette show. She accompanied her husband at the time, saxophonist John Williams, on piano, a rarity at the time for a female.

Overall , she gained respect from other male musicians which was also rare. She was one of the biggest forces in development of bebop and Kansas City swing.

Music- swing and bebop

Williams joined Andy Kirk’s band in Kansas City, playing as second piano, and then began composing and arranging compelling piano solos. Williams cut her first solo record in Chicago in 1930, with two of her own compositions, "Drag 'Em" and "Night Life." She was never paid for them, however, and later had to threaten a lawsuit to have them taken off the market.

In 1942 she moved to New York and started to become acquainted with some big names—Charlie Parker, Dizzie Gillespie, Max Roach, Bud Powell, and Thelonious Monk—and many liked to gather in her Harlem apartment for impromptu sessions. This is when she wrote Zodiac Suite, one of her best works.

Sacred MusicOne very unique thing about Mary Lou Williams was her exploration with sacred music after having a spiritual awakening. In 1952 she moved to Europe and found solace in Catholicism. Converting from her Southern Baptist roots. However, she walked out of a performance in Paris in 1954 and returned to the United States. Upon returning, she started arranging catholic music, but still continued her jazz playing. One of her most famous spiritual pieces was “Mary Lou’s Mass”. She performed for President Jimmy Carter, at Carnegie Hall, and taught at Duke and the University of Massachusetts.

Jazz Mass

One of the most significant things about Williams was her creation of an essentially new genre of music, jazz mass. Incorporating her religious awakening into her previous love of bebop and swing, she had a new sound that was both spiritual and jazzy. She founded her own record company called Mary records which helped her to produce this music. Her most famous work was featured in St Patrick’s cathedral in new York and was the first jazz mass.

Awards and Honors

● Guggenheim Fellowships, 1972 and 1977● Nominee 1971 Grammy Awards, Best Jazz

Performance – Group, for the album Giants, Dizzy Gillespie, Bobby Hackett, Mary Lou Williams

● Honorary degree, from Fordham University in New York in 1973

● In 1980 Williams founded the Mary Lou Williams Foundation

● Received the 1981 Duke University's Duke's Trinity Award for service to the university.

Legacy

In 1981 when she was 71 years old, Williams died of bladder cancer in North Carolina. She left behind more than 350 compositions! On top of being one of the most prominent women musicians in the history of jazz, she ranks among the best of men in terms of success and talent. She also started the Mary Lou Williams foundation before her death to assist in the education of music to youth.

Quotes“When Seymour saw me seated at the piano at that first rehearsal, he shouted: 'What's that kid doing here? Call your piano player and let's get started.”

“I have been tied up with music for about as long as I can remember. By the time I was four I was picking out little tunes my mother played on the reed organ in the living-room”

Performance

Mary Lou Williams

“The Man I Love”

Notable Work

Zodiac Suite album- 1945

Black Christ of the Andes- 1963

Mary Lou’s Mass- 1964

Anima Christi- 1963

Praise the Lord- 1963

Solo Recital- 1978

Giving Back

In the late 1950s, she set up thrift stores in Harlem to raise money for musicians who had fallen on hard times and she also committed to contributing 10 percent of all her own earnings to the cause.

She was also firmly against the use of music for politics. She did however dedicate a piece, “Black christ of Andes” to interracial harmony and in support of the African American community in this time.

Fun Facts

● Williams was one of eleven children

● As a child performer she was known as the little piano girl

● Lovie Austin was her greatest influence

● There is a children’s book based on Williams called “The little piano girl”

● There is a documentary about her made in 2015 called “Mary Lou

Williams: The woman who Swings the Band”

Sources

https://www.biography.com/people/mary-lou-williams-9532632

http://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/music-popular-and-jazz-biographies/mary-lou-williams

http://www.great-quotes.com/quotes/author/Mary+Lou/Williams

http://newarkwww.rutgers.edu/ijs/mlw/intro1.html

https://www.npr.org/2017/08/07/541822331/shocking-omissions-mary-lou-williams-choral-masterpiece-black-christ-of-the-ande