“I wonder what an agent would do if he had to travel with the band he’s booking.”

 

– Mary Lou Williams

 

 

Mary Lou Williams (May 8, 1910 – May 28, 1981) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger. Williams wrote hundreds of compositions and arrangements, and recorded more than one hundred records. Williams wrote and arranged for such bandleaders as Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman, and she was friend, mentor, and teacher to Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Tadd Dameron, Dizzy Gillespie, and many others.

 

Below are some nice videos and an interview that I hope you will like.

Enjoy!

 

Mary Lou Williams – “Steel City Grooves”

This video is for educational purposes only.

Steel City Grooves: Celebrating Western Pennsylvania Jazz is presented by the Senator John Heinz History Center Volunteer Ambassador Program in collaboration with California University of Penn

 

Mr. Rogers Neighborhood – Mary Lou Williams (piano) and Milton Suggs (bass) from 1973

 

Interview of Mary Lou Williams at the Statler Hotel, Buffalo, NY Winter 1976.  Still photographs are from “A Great Day In Harlem”.

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