Mary Lou Williams
To say that Mary Lou Williams had a long and productive career is an understatement. Although for decades she was often called jazz's greatest female musician (and one has to admire what must have been a nonstop battle against sexism), she would have been considered a major artist no matter what her sex.
Just the fact that Williams and Duke Ellington were virtually the only stride pianists to modernize their style through the years would have been enough to guarantee her a place in jazz history books. Williams managed to always sound modern during a half-century career without forgetting her roots or how to play in the older styles.
Born Mary Elfrieda Scruggs (although she soon took the name of her stepfather and was known as Mary Lou Burley), she taught herself the piano by ear and was playing in public at the age of six. Growing up in Pittsburgh, Williams' life was always filled with music. When she was 13, she started working in vaudeville, and three years later married saxophonist John Williams. They moved to Memphis, and she made her debut on records with Synco Jazzers. John soon joined Andy Kirk's orchestra, which was based in Kansas City, in 1929. Williams wrote arrangements for the band, filled in for an absent pianist on Kirk's first recording session, and eventually became a member of the orchestra herself. Her arrangements were largely responsible for the band's distinctive sound and eventual success. Williams was soon recognized as Kirk's top soloist, a stride pianist who impressed everyone (even Jelly Roll Morton). In addition, she wrote such songs such as "Roll 'Em" (a killer hit for Benny Goodman) and "What's Your Story Morning Glory" and contributed arrangements to other big bands, including those of Goodman, Earl Hines, and Tommy Dorsey.
Mary Lou Williams stayed with Kirk until 1942, by which time she had divorced John Williams and married trumpeter Harold "Shorty" Baker. She co-led a combo with Baker before he joined Duke Ellington. Williams did some writing for Duke (most notably her rearrangement of "Blue Skies" into a horn battle called "Trumpets No End") and played briefly with Benny Goodman's bebop group in 1948. She had gradually modernized her style and by the early to mid-'40s was actively encouraging the young modernists who would lead the bebop revolution, including Thelonious Monk, Bud Powell, Tadd Dameron, and Dizzy Gillespie. Williams' "Zodiac Suite" showed off some of her modern ideas, and her "In the Land of Oo-Bla-Dee" was a bebop fable recorded by Gillespie.
Williams lived in Europe from 1952-1954 and then became very involved in the Catholic religion. She retired from music for a few years before appearing as a guest with Dizzy Gillespie's orchestra at the 1957 Newport Jazz Festival. Williams returned to jazz and by the early '70s sounded more like a young modal player (clearly she was familiar with McCoy Tyner) than a survivor of the 1920s. Although she did not care for the avant-garde, she occasionally played quite freely, although a 1977 duo concert with Cecil Taylor was a complete fiasco. Williams wrote three masses and a cantana, was a star at Benny Goodman's 40th-anniversary Carnegie Hall concert in 1978, taught at Duke University, and often planned her later concerts as a history of jazz recital. By the time she passed away at the age of 71, she had a list of accomplishments that could have filled three lifetimes.
Mary Lou Williams recorded through the years as a leader for many labels including Brunswick (a pair of piano solos in 1930), Decca (1938), Columbia, Savoy, extensively for Asch and Folkways during 1944-1947, Victor, King (1949), Atlantic, Circle, Vogue, Prestige, Blue Star, Jazztone, her own Mary label (1970-1974), Chiaroscuro, SteepleChase, and finally Pablo (1977-1978).
© Scott Yanow /TiVo
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A Grand Night for Swinging (Recorded Live in 1976)
Bebop - Lançado por HighNote Records em 4 de mar. de 2008
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Live at the Keystone Korner (Recorded Live, May 8, 1977)
Bebop - Lançado por HighNote Records em 7 de jul. de 2002
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Zoning
Jazz - Lançado por Smithsonian Folkways Recordings em 17 de out. de 1995
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Mary Lou Williams Trio At Rick's Café Americain, Chicago
Jazz - Lançado por Storyville em 20 de out. de 1998
A discografia ideal da QobuzQualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mary Lou Williams Presents Black Christ of the Andes
Jazz - Lançado por Smithsonian Folkways Recordings em 1 de jan. de 1963
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I Made You Love Paris
Jazz - Lançado por Universal Music Division Decca Records France em 1 de jan. de 2000
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Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz Radio Broadcast
Marian McPartland, Mary Lou Williams
Jazz - Lançado por Concord Records em 1 de jan. de 1995
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Zodiac Suite
Jazz - Lançado por Smithsonian Folkways Recordings em 17 de out. de 1995
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Mary Lou Williams Plays in London (Jazz Connoisseur)
Jazz - Lançado por Legacy Recordings em 30 de set. de 2016
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First Lady Of The Piano
Jazz - Lançado por Inner City Records em 23 de jan. de 1953
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My Mama Pinned A Rose On Me
Jazz - Lançado por Original Jazz Classics em 27 de dez. de 1977
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Solo Recital: Montreux Jazz Festival 1978 (Live At Montreux Jazz Festival, Montreux, CH / July 16, 1978)
Jazz - Lançado por Pablo em 16 de jul. de 1978
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Mary Lou Williams
Jazz - Lançado por Folkways Records em 1 de jan. de 1953
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Early Jazz (Remastered)
Jazz - Lançado por Ornithology Rec. em 28 de fev. de 2013
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First Ladies Of Jazz
Mary Lou Williams, Jutta Hipp, Beryl Booker Trio
Jazz - Lançado por Savoy em 1 de jan. de 1963
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Mary Lou's Mass
Jazz - Lançado por Smithsonian Folkways Recordings em 22 de fev. de 2005
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Mary Lou Williams: The Asch Recordings 1944-47
Jazz - Lançado por Folkways Records em 1 de jan. de 1977
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At Rick's Cafe Americain
Jazz - Lançado por Storyville em 20 de out. de 1998
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Nice Jazz (Live at Nice "Grande Parade Jazz", 1978)
Mary Lou Williams, Ronnie Boykins, Jo Jones
Jazz - Lançado por Disques Black & Blue em 18 de nov. de 2016
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Mary's Idea
Jazz - Lançado por Verve Reissues em 5 de jan. de 1993
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I Love a Piano
Teddy Wilson, Mel Powell, Mary Lou Williams
Jazz - Lançado por Esquire Records em 14 de dez. de 2021
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