1975
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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).
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 (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.
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...
Mary Lou Williams lived and played through all the eras in the history of jazz: the spirituals, ragtime, the blues, Kansas City swing, boogie-woogie, bop or modern, and musics beyond—playing the new music of each era, a claim that is difficult to dispute.
This time, we’re turning to Mary Lou Williams, who fell in love with music as a toddler, sitting on her mother’s knee at the organ and learning by ear.
A missing pianist left a spot open for Mary Lou during an early session, and she seized the opportunity to prove her worth by sharing a slew of new compositions.
