Mary Lou Williams' Choral Masterpiece, 'Black Christ Of The Andes'

William P. Gotlieb/Library of Congress via flickr.com

JENNY GATHRIGHT
August 7, 20179:00 AM ET

In the mid-to-late 1950s, the jazz composer and pianist Mary Lou Williams retired from public performance for nearly four years. During her hiatus she converted to Catholicism, and the first record she made after her return was a marked departure from her previous work: It was a mass.

In 1962, the Catholic Church canonized a new saint: A Peruvian brother of the Dominican Order named Martin de Porres, the son of a freed slave named Ana Velazquez and a Spanish gentleman who refused to recognize him because he was born with his mother's dark features. St. Martin de Porres was a gifted healer who was dedicated to the poor — today, he is the patron saint of those who seek racial harmony.


His canonization was inspiring to Williams, and so Mary Lou Williams Presents Black Christ of the Andes, a devotional work composed in his honor, was born. The composition is rooted in both Catholicism and the black American music tradition — and it undoubtedly found critics among those who adhered exclusively to one of those schools or the other. Williams performed the full piece for the first time at Saint Francis Xavier Church in New York in November of 1962, and she recorded it in October 1963.

read more at: http://www.npr.org/2017/08/07/541822331/shocking-omissions-mary-lou-williams-choral-masterpiece-black-christ-of-the-ande

Mary Lou Williams: Live at the Cookery review

Free agent: Mary Lou Williams turned down the chance to join Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman. Photograph: Gilles Petard/Redferns

he claimed the unique distinction among jazz musicians of not only having played through nearly 70 years of jazz history, but of keeping up to date the whole time. As a pianist, composer and arranger, starting in 1922, aged 12, Mary Lou mastered blues, boogie-woogie, swing, bebop and even free jazz with remarkable facility. Many bandleaders, including Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman, tried to sign her up, but she valued her freedom too much. This session, recorded at a New York club in 1975, bears out her claim. It starts with a spiritual of her own composition and takes in pieces by Ellington, Gershwin, Kurt Weill and Miles Davis. She is accompanied by bassist Brian Torff.

read more at: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/mar/05/mary-lou-williams-live-at-cookery-review-dave-gelly-unique-talent-pianist

#MaryLouWilliams

"Jazz music come from the heart as well as the mind." - Mary Lou Williams delivering it all and then some @wbgo. Thank U Members. #JAZZ

— globaljazzqueen (@globaljazzqueen) August 27, 2016

Mary Lou Williams

SWING DEAL. Mary Lou Williams plays cards at her Manhattan apartment with Tadd Dameron and Dizzy Gillespie, 1947. pic.twitter.com/78atum50LH

— Todd Barkan (@ToddBarkan1) May 8, 2016

First Lady of JAZZ, Mary Lou Williams To be Commemorated on 100th Birthday

A concert of The Sacred Works of Mary Lou William

Manhattan Transfer Founding Member Laurel Massé, Aaron Diehl Trio with Victor Goines and Emcee Rob Crocker Celebrate Legend in Historic Church Serving New York’s Hungry and Homeless

NEW YORK, NY -- The newly restored Church of St. Francis Xavier and the Mary Lou Williams Foundation will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of the First Lady of Jazz with a concert to benefit Xavier Mission outreach programs including the homeless shelter and soup kitchen. WBGO Jazz 88.3FM radio host Rob Crocker will emcee the celebration taking place on Saturday, May 8, 2010 at 7:30pm.  The concert will serve as the first of many events marking the church’s recent restoration.  The lineup will include: renowned jazz accompanist Aaron Diehl with his trio, including special guest Victor Goines on saxophone and clarinet Yasushi Nakamura on bass and Marion Felder on drums;  Laurel Massé, founding member of the vocal group Manhattan Transfer and a 40-voice choir directed by John Uehlein, Music Director at the Church of St. Francis Xavier.  Mr. Diehl was hailed by The New York Times as a “revelation” and by the Chicago Tribune as “the most promising discovery that [Wynton] Marsalis has made since Eric Reed.”

Advance tickets ($40 Premium, $20 General, $10 Student with ID) may be purchased at a reduced rate online at www.sfxavier.org. Tickets will also be available at the door that evening ($50 Premium, $30 General, $15 Student with ID).

About Mary Lou Williams
Mary Lou Williams (1910-1981) was a jazz pianist, composer and arranger who worked with music greats Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington and Cecil Taylor and collaborated with Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker and Thelonious Monk, among others. In 1957, she converted to Catholicism and began composing many spiritual works including “Music for Peace,” “Black Christ of the Andes” and “Praise the Lord.”  “Mary Lou took her religious instructions at St. Francis Xavier, so it’s a special place for her to be commemorated,” said former manager and current Executive Director of her foundation, Rev. Peter O’Brien, S.J.

In March 1969, Msgr. Joseph Gremillion, secretary of the Pontifical Commission on Justice and Peace, commissioned Williams to write a Mass using approved liturgical texts for the Votive Mass for Peace.  She called this “Music for Peace.”  Williams wrote two choral pieces in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. after his assassination, which were recorded at The Vatican Radio.  The entire composition was later adapted for Alvin Ailey’s full-length ballet and simply called “Mary Lou’s Mass.” Newsweek called the piece “an encyclopedia of black music, richly represented from spirituals to bop to rock.”

About Xavier Mission
The event will benefit Xavier Mission, the community outreach program of the Church of St. Francis Xavier.  The Mission has provided vital assistance to New York City’s neediest for more than a quarter of a century serving more than 1 million meals at its Welcome Table soup kitchen.  It also provides guests with multiple services, including free chiropractic adjustments; HIV/AIDS screening; assistance with entitlement benefits; 15 beds for homeless men every night of the week; a food pantry; a clothing room; and the Life-Skills Training & Empowerment program for the homeless.

About St. Francis Xavier
St. Francis Xavier has been the spiritual home for musicians and composers in New York for nearly 130 years.  The history of the church is one rich in spiritual, cultural and historical significance.  Enrico Caruso delighted with his soaring tenor voice; Pietro Yon, the Church’s early music director, created the well known Christmas hymn “Gesu Bambino;” Louis Tiffany and Thomas Merton worshipped; and royalty paid their respects at the church.
The Church of St. Francis Xavier is located at 46 West 16th Street near 6th Avenue and is wheelchair accessible at 55 West 15th Street.  For more information visit www.sfxavier.org.

http://www.jazzpromoservices.com/

— A short powerful blues by jazz legend Mary Lou Williams.

A DVD "Mary Lou Williams '78" is available on the Norman Granz' Jazz In Montreux label.On it she plays solo piano.It includes 9 of her own compositions and 3 interpretations of standards.

Three of Mary Lou Williams' compositions were scored for a Carnegie Hall concert played by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra in 1946.

Mary Lou Williams - Solo Blues Piano

A short powerful blues by jazz legend Mary Lou Williams.
A DVD "Mary Lou Williams '78" is available on the Norman Granz' Jazz In Montreux label.On it she plays solo piano.It includes 9 of her own compositions and 3 interpretations of standards.
Three of Mary Lou Williams' compositions were scored for a Carnegie Hall concert played by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra in 1946.

For The Centennial Clebration of Mary Lou Williams

Despite the centenary of Mary Lou Williams (pictured), take place in May next year, the staff of Jazz at Lincoln Center will begin its celebration this year. Starting in November, the built by Wynton Marsalis is honoring the legendary pianist with various events, from concerts, lectures and even a contest "You're the Next Mary Lou Williams?".

The start will take place on 6 and 7 November with "Jazz for Young People" with a program called "Who is Mary Lou Williams?" With Marsalis and the J @ LC Orchestra "as hosts. A week later Marsalis and the orchestra will return to a concert with special guest pianists Geri Allen and Geoffrey Keezer, to celebrate the centenary of Mary Lou Williams. These performances will take place on 13 and 14 November in the "Rose Hall".

Perhaps most unusual is the contest with the curious title "You're the Next Mary Lou Williams?". Although an obvious reference to TV channels that plague today, the title leads us to question why there would be another Ms . Williams, a natural person and artist. Williams had a career that can not be easily compared with other jazz artist and is hard to imagine her participation in a contest when she was young to be, say, the next James P. Johnson or Count Basie. Despite this, women who play piano and have up to fifteen years of age are encouraged to submit a video of a song by Williams, to have a chance to play with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis as part of the aforementioned concert "Jazz for Young People", "Who is Mary Lou Williams?" Entries close on 14th October. For more information visit the Jazz at Lincoln Center. "

And there's more. In January and February, the entrepreneur and spiritual guide of Mary Lou Williams, Father Peter O'Brien, will give a course in "Swing University" on the life and music of Williams. Finally, the "Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band will donate 4500 booklet on the music of Mary Lou Williams to high schools in the United States. In these booklets are "New Musical Express," "Roll 'Em" and "Walkin' and Swingin '." The program will culminate with the annual event "Ellington Competition & Festival" on the anniversary of Williams, 08 May 2010.

Our admiration and respect for the artistic director Marsalis and his associates for their efforts to draw attention to this often forgotten giant of jazz piano. For those wishing to undertake other festivities, we recommend the interesting book by Linda Dahl on Williams, "Morning Glory, A Biography of Mary Lou Williams, extracts of which were published in the March 2000 issue of JazzTimes.
http://www.sojazz.org.br/