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Mary Lou Williams
From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist
Mary Lou Williams grew up in Pittsburgh and was already a professional pianist as a teenager. From 1929 she was pianist and arranger with Andy Kirk and His Twelve Clouds of Joy in Kansas City. Earl Hines was an important model for her piano playing. She wrote arrangements for Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington and Earl Hines. In the 1940s she moved to New York; her apartment in Harlem became a gathering place for young bebop musicians such as Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie and Bud Powell. She wrote the Zodiac Suite (1945), with twelve movements for the signs of the zodiac. Later she converted to Catholicism and wrote masses in jazz style. She is one of the few musicians who lived through all the styles from ragtime to free jazz.
Listening
Walkin' and Swingin' · Andy Kirk, 1936
Roll 'Em · Mary Lou Williams, 1944
Aries · Mary Lou Williams, 1945
Discography
Studio albums
- 1953Plays in London
- 1964Mary Lou Williams
- 1971Giants
- 1974Zoning
- 1975Zodiac Suite
- 2004Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz
- 2005My Mama Pinned a Rose on Me
- 2009First Lady of the Piano
- 2011Big Band Essentials
- 2023Zodiac Suite
- ?Lady Piano
- ?Mary Lou Williams and Orchestra
- ?Piano Solos
- ?The History of Jazz
Other work
- 1936Walkin' and Swingin' · Andy Kirk & His Twelve Clouds of Joy
- 1937Roll 'Em · Benny Goodman
- 1969–1972Mary Lou's Mass (opnamen)
In School of Rock
The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.
- Jazz MapNL Map
- After Hours: Session 1NL Reader
- After Hours: Session 2NL Reader
Mentioned in other articles
- Kansas City jazz Genre
Andy Kirk with Mary Lou Williams, Jay McShann with the young Charlie Parker, and the singer Big Joe Turner with the pianist Pete Johnson also came out of this scene.