Mary Lou Williams (1910-1981) had incredible musicality–in her performances, her arrangements, and her conversations–and helped shape the arc of jazz. Though she’s often left out of the history books, she belongs in the pantheon of musical greats.
Mary Lou Williams (1910-1981) had incredible musicality–in her performances, her arrangements, and her conversations–and helped shape the arc of jazz. Though she’s often left out of the history books, she belongs in the pantheon of musical greats.
History classes can get a bad wrap, and sometimes for good reason. When we were students, we couldn’t help wondering... where were all the ladies at? Why were so many incredible stories missing from the typical curriculum? Enter, Womanica. On this Wonder Media Network podcast we explore the lives of inspiring women in history you may not know about, but definitely should.
Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we’ll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know–but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Educators, Villains, Indigenous Storytellers, Activists, and many more. Womanica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures.
Womanica was created by Liz Kaplan and Jenny Kaplan, executive produced by Jenny Kaplan, and produced by Liz Smith, Grace Lynch, Maddy Foley, Brittany Martinez, Edie Allard, Lindsey Kratochwill, Adesuwa Agbonile, Carmen Borca-Carrillo, Taylor Williamson, and Ale Tejeda. Special thanks to Shira Atkins.
Original theme music composed by Miles Moran.
We are offering free ad space on Wonder Media Network shows to organizations working towards social justice. For more information, please email Jenny at pod@wondermedianetwork.com.
Listen to the accompanying playlist for this month here.
Follow Wonder Media Network:
To take the Womanica listener survey, please visit: https://wondermedianetwork.com/survey
Today, we’re talking about a woman whose musicality – in her performances, her arrangements, and her conversations – helped shape the arc of jazz. Though she’s often left out of the history books, she belongs in the pantheon of musical greats.
On our final episode of the month, let’s talk about Mary Lou Williams.
Mary was born in Atlanta, Georgia in 1910, and raised in Pittsburgh. Her family had come north as part of the Great Migration. As one of 11 kids, Mary stood out among her siblings as a piano prodigy. She started teaching herself when she was three years old, and by the age of 10 was performing recitals across the city.
At just 15, Mary became a professional musician. She played with Duke Ellington and the Washingtonians, and then joined a band led by saxophonist John Williams. In the mid 1920s, she and John married.
Mary and John moved to Oklahoma City, where Mary worked as a solo pianist and an arranger. By 1930, both she and her husband had joined Andy Kirk and the Twelve Clouds of Joy, a popular band. Twelve Clouds of Joy developed the distinct Kansas City jazz sound – and Mary was their marquee attraction.
The band toured around the country, with venues promoting Mary as “The Greatest Woman Jazz Pianist in the World.” But it wasn’t just her playing ability that earned her praise. Her arrangements, too, were something special.
Arranging means designing each player’s part, fitting all the instruments together to create one compelling melody. It’s a job that’s often unseen. But in the era of swing, when dancers sought out the hottest bands that could bring something new and exciting to popular tunes, arrangers held unparalleled sway in the industry. Mary was uniquely gifted at translating the jazz sound onto paper.
By her mid-20s, Mary had bandleaders like Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong and Benny Goodman calling her for arrangements, and original compositions.
In a 1954 interview, Mary looked back on that prolific era. She said,
“One week I was called on for twelve arrangements, including a couple for Louis Armstrong and Earl Hines, and I was beginning to get telegrams from Gus Arnheim, Glen Gray, Tommy Dorsey and many more like them. As we were making perhaps 500 miles per night, I used to write in the car by flashlight between engagements.”
Mary – through her performances, her arrangements, and her original compositions – helped shape the era’s music.
But after a decade of touring and performing and covering hundreds of miles every night, Mary was ready for a change. She divorced John, quit the Twelve Clouds, and moved into a small apartment in Harlem in 1943. In New York, Mary fell into a crowd of young, rebellious jazz musicians. Folks like Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie, and a host of other instrumentalists, DJs and journalists began forming a salon out of Mary’s apartment. There, they experimented with philosophy, politics and music. They called themselves ‘beboppers.’
Still, by 1950, Mary was burnt out. She traveled to Europe for what was initially a 9-day trip. She ended up staying for two years. And in 1954, she abruptly quit the music industry. She decided instead to focus on her newfound Catholic faith, creating the Bel Canto Foundation. The organization helped musicians who had struggled with substance abuse return to performing.
Still, the pull of making music was too great, and in 1957 Mary returned to the industry. That year, she performed at the Newport Jazz festival. A few years later, she started her own record label, and founded the Pittsburgh Jazz Festival.
For much of the 1960s, Mary dove into a genre of music that melded her two passions: religious jazz. Recordings from that era included Music for Peace, which was performed by the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater.
The 1970s brought a host of opportunities for Mary. As a Black woman, she’d never gained nearly as much credit as her peers. But the younger generation discovered – and revered – her talent. She recorded new albums. She became an artist-in-residence at Duke University, where she also taught the History of Jazz. In 1978, she performed at the White House for President Jimmy Carter. Later that year, she played at Carnegie Hall for Benny Goodman – the same bandleader who’d relied on her arrangements all those years ago.
Mary Lou died on May 28th, 1981. She was 71 years old.