Mary Lou Williams in ITunes store

[ted]

A double CD comprising entirely solo improvisations of my favourite jazz pianist has appeared in the ITunes store. If there are any other fans of Williams here, this is the CD to download. It includes a half hour track of her talking about her music. The fifteen minute track of variations on "Nite Life" contains some of the most beautiful stride sections I have ever heard. Williams didn't seem to fall prey to the frequently stylised mannerisms of her more famous virtuosic contemporaries, and her endless spontaneous variety and musicianship never fail to charm.


 

[stephenv]

Wasn't she a fascinating and extremely knowlegable muscian??   I too find her artistry to be awe inspiring...modern term: awesome.   I know she also was intensely involved in education.  Her friend Marian MacPartland is also another jazz muscian I admire.

Thing about Mary Lou Williams is her career spanned an incredible timeline in the development of jazz.  Just amazing...she lived these epochs.   From stride on up..

[ted]

Yes, she expanded her range of styles with age and assimilated each new idiom as it came along. Very few did that. The most striking thing about her playing for me though is the delicacy and implication of her phrasing and rhythm. None of her stride ever produced the mechanical, virtuosic thumping effects so often present in music of that sort.

Aside from musical aspects, she also appears to have been a rather sensible and kind person, avoiding the social traps many jazz artists fall into, and devoting much of her time to teaching young players and working for charity.