1975
Search results
Mary Lou Williams (born Mary Elfrieda Scruggs; May 8, 1910 – May 28, 1981) was an American jazz pianist, arranger, and composer. She wrote hundreds of compositions and arrangements and recorded more than one hundred records (in 78, 45, and LP versions).
May 24, 2024 · Mary Lou Williams (born May 8, 1910, Atlanta, Ga., U.S.—died May 28, 1981, Durham, N.C.) was a jazz pianist who performed with and composed for many of the great jazz artists of the 1940s and ’50s. Williams received early instruction from her mother, a classically trained pianist.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Sep 11, 2019 · Jazz helped Mary Lou Williams stay alive — but after several draining decades as a musician, she quit the scene. When she returned, she claimed her true power as one of jazz's fiercest...
One of the greatest jazz pianists, composers, and arrangers of all time, Mary Lou Williams was a swing and bebop icon. “The Lady Who Swings the Band” also devoted herself to aiding musicians in need and teaching younger generations about jazz’s rich African American heritage.
Mary Lou Williams remained with Andy Kirk and His Clouds of Joy from 1929 to 1942—the bulk of the swing era in jazz. Not only did she play piano, appearing on more than 180 recordings with Kirk’s orchestra, she also composed and arranged the music for many of those sides.
Sep 10, 2019 · Mary Lou Williams On Piano Jazz. 1937's "Roll 'Em" was Williams' biggest song for Benny Goodman, a jazz-hands-ready swinger that helped solidify her status as a heavyweight away from Kirk...
May 30, 1981 · Mary Lou Williams, pianist, arranger and composer who was the first woman to be ranked with the greatest of jazz musicians, died of cancer Thursday night at her home in Durham, N.C. She was...
