Il prossimo 8 maggio si celebra il centenario della nascita di una grande leggenda del jazz, la pianista e compositrice Mary Lou Williams. La Williams scrisse centinaia di composizioni ed arrangiamenti, oltre a registrare un centinaia di album in proprio.
La Williams compose ed arrangiò per grandi bandleader come Duke Ellington e Benny Goodman e fu amica, mentore ed insegnante di Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker e Dizzy Gillespie tra gli altri. Ma dopo la sua morte giunta nel 1981, il suo lavoro è stato in gran parte dimenticato.
Il sito del quotidiano Cincinnati Enquire ha pubblicato oggi un bel ricordo della Williams che speriamo sia il preludio ad una serie di degne celebrazioni per ricordare questo importante anniversario.
"Here is a woman who was influential to Duke Ellington and we only know about Duke," says Catherine Roma, minister of music at St. John's Unitarian Universalist Church in Clifton. "His sacred services written at the end of his life were inspired by Mary Lou Williams. She performed in every jazz style from the '30s to the '70s. She was in demand by performance ensembles and was well-versed in classical music. She coached and mentored in jazz as well as classical."
On Sunday, St. John's all-volunteer choir, led by Roma, will join with jazz performers from Boston, New York and California to breathe new life into Williams' jazz-inspired Mass. The choral service honors Williams' 100th birthday.
Vibraphonist Cecilia Smith of New York, who directs the Mary Lou Williams Resurgence Project, stumbled upon Williams' music after being asked to do a jazz concert for a Brooklyn church a decade ago.
"While I knew who she was, she was no one we covered at the Berklee School of Music (in Boston)," says Smith, a Berklee graduate who has been profiled by National Public Radio.
When Smith visited the Williams archive at Rutgers University to find a few pieces to play at the church, she was stunned to find more than 400 works, including symphonic and big band works, choir pieces and even television footage.
"Not only was it a lot - it was difficult music, all hand-written out," says Smith.
Because Williams' life (1910-81) spanned much of the century, her musical styles were wide-ranging. But even as she embraced swing and bebop, she created forward-looking harmonies and improvisations.
"I was surprised at the amount, the quantity, how absolutely advanced her music is, how clear she was on what she wanted, either her piano structures or the big band structures," Smith says. "Some of it is so difficult, that not many choirs are able to do it." ....
Si può leggere l'intero articolo a questo link.
La Williams compose ed arrangiò per grandi bandleader come Duke Ellington e Benny Goodman e fu amica, mentore ed insegnante di Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker e Dizzy Gillespie tra gli altri. Ma dopo la sua morte giunta nel 1981, il suo lavoro è stato in gran parte dimenticato.
Il sito del quotidiano Cincinnati Enquire ha pubblicato oggi un bel ricordo della Williams che speriamo sia il preludio ad una serie di degne celebrazioni per ricordare questo importante anniversario.
"Here is a woman who was influential to Duke Ellington and we only know about Duke," says Catherine Roma, minister of music at St. John's Unitarian Universalist Church in Clifton. "His sacred services written at the end of his life were inspired by Mary Lou Williams. She performed in every jazz style from the '30s to the '70s. She was in demand by performance ensembles and was well-versed in classical music. She coached and mentored in jazz as well as classical."
On Sunday, St. John's all-volunteer choir, led by Roma, will join with jazz performers from Boston, New York and California to breathe new life into Williams' jazz-inspired Mass. The choral service honors Williams' 100th birthday.
Vibraphonist Cecilia Smith of New York, who directs the Mary Lou Williams Resurgence Project, stumbled upon Williams' music after being asked to do a jazz concert for a Brooklyn church a decade ago.
"While I knew who she was, she was no one we covered at the Berklee School of Music (in Boston)," says Smith, a Berklee graduate who has been profiled by National Public Radio.
When Smith visited the Williams archive at Rutgers University to find a few pieces to play at the church, she was stunned to find more than 400 works, including symphonic and big band works, choir pieces and even television footage.
"Not only was it a lot - it was difficult music, all hand-written out," says Smith.
Because Williams' life (1910-81) spanned much of the century, her musical styles were wide-ranging. But even as she embraced swing and bebop, she created forward-looking harmonies and improvisations.
"I was surprised at the amount, the quantity, how absolutely advanced her music is, how clear she was on what she wanted, either her piano structures or the big band structures," Smith says. "Some of it is so difficult, that not many choirs are able to do it." ....
Si può leggere l'intero articolo a questo link.
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