By Jaclyn Breeze
Mary Lou Williams was a pianist, composer, and arranger, especially popular in the swing and bebop eras. She was also a teacher dedicated to teaching younger generations about jazz’s African American heritage.
Mary Lou was born in Atlanta, Georgia in 1910. She moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania when she was 4 and began learning the piano, soon after giving private concerts to white families. When she was 15, she began touring with a small band. She was often harassed by fellow musicians who did not want a woman performing, but one of her bandmates, John Williams, stood up for her right to play with them. John and Mary Lou got married in 1926. Later, she and John were both members of the Dark Clouds of Joy Orchestra and Mary Lou became the band’s star soloist because she could play in so many different styles and improvise complex solos. They called her “The Lady Who Swings the Band.” Her compositions and arrangements for the band helped her and the band achieve national recognition in the 1930s.
After she and John divorced, she married Harold “Shorty” Baker, and joined his band, while also forming her own all-women group. Toward the middle of her life, she quit performing, converted to Catholicism, and gave her time to care for musicians suffering from addiction and illness. She returned to performing 3 years later and became a leading advocate for jazz education. She appeared on several radio and TV shows and created the “Tree of Jazz” which shows the history of African American music. She started her own record company and released several more recordings. She performed the first-ever jazz mass in NYC for more than 3,000 people. She told the New York Post, “Americans don’t realize how important jazz is. It’s healing for the soul. It should be played everywhere – in churches, nightclubs, everywhere. We have to use every place we can.”
Brandman, Mariana. “Mary Lou Williams.” National Women’s History Museum. 2022. www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/mary-lou-williams
Listen to some of her work here:
