Mary Lou Williams: Jazz and Sacred Music; The Final Years
The 1950s and her conversion In 1952, Williams traveled to Europe, where she remained for two years. During this time, she experienced profound mental and physical exhaustion, leading her to take a break from the demanding life of a jazz musician. Upon returning to the United States two years later, she converted to Catholicism. In […]
Mary Lou Williams: adventures from the 1940s onwards
In 1942, Williams divorced her husband and left his group, returning to Pittsburgh. She was followed by her colleague, trumpeter Harold “Shorty” Baker, with whom she formed an ensemble that included Art Blakey on drums. After a gig in Cleveland, Williams and the band traveled to New York City and then to Baltimore, where she […]
Mary Lou Williams: “The little piano girl of East Liberty”
Atlanta, Georgia, May 8, 1910 Durham, North Carolina, May 28, 1981 “You got to play, that’s all… working with men… you automatically become strong… though that doesn’t mean you’re not feminine.” Mary Lou Williams Mary Lou’s childhood and adolescence Mary Lou Williams, born Mary Elfrieda Scruggs, was a jazz pianist, composer, and arranger born in […]
