Mary Lou Williams' personal philosophy

By Lisa Krastins

“She sits a bit forward on the piano bench, her feet away from the pedals, marking off tempo while she nods to the sense of balance that combines drive and relaxation. A hald smile lights up the high cheekbone nearest the listener. If she is playing with a band there is sometimes a slight inclination of the head in awareness. But the concentration is in the hands; slender, strong fingers reaching unerringly for the note, the chord, the mood” Charles Edward Smith

Mary Lou Williams also known as the first lady of jazz, was an American jazz pianist, composer and arranger. Mary Lou Williams had a tough upbringing and was forced to become a woman before she was ready. Her family never seemed to give the motivation Mary was longing for and instead received praise from other musicians. No matter how much Mary accomplished, “she could not crack the carapace of her parents’ fundamental indifference to the fact of her existence” (Dahl 3). People say that from the time Mary was a child, she had a sense of her own talent and the significance of the African American musical heritage. Mary is also described as having a funny side, but remained intensely private about her personal life. She very rarely ever discussed the hurtful events of her private life publicly. The way people found out about her personal life was through letters and notebooks where she had made an attempt to write an autobiography. In the bottom of this box, where the letters and notebook were kept, there was a piece of paper that said:

“Jazz created for all people.
Jazz created through suffering.
Got beaten everyday
And school-Amy Frank” (Dahl 8).

When this short statement was discovered, people saw it as Mary Lou’s own personal philosophy that she lived by and it showed deep roots to her difficult upbringing. This short statement exemplifies Mary’s desire to be accepted by everyone. This also shows her strong connection she felt to jazz. Duke Ellington stated “Mary refuses to bow to any ethnocentrism, any limitations, from any side- she only reluctantly accepted the designation “jazz” for the music that was born of African Americans” (Dahl 12). Mary saw jazz as world music and something that was universally accessible