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Musician

Mary Lou Williams

Born:

Imagine a pianist playing concerts with Benny Goodman and Cecil Taylor in successive years (1977-78). That pianist was Mary Lou Williams. In a career which spanned over fifty years Mary was always on the cutting edge.

She was born Mary Scruggs in 1910 Atlanta. Her mother was a single parent who worked as a domestic and played spirituals and ragtime on piano and organ. At age three Mary shocked her by reaching up from her mother's lap to pick out a tune on the keyboard. Rather than hiring a teacher (for fear the child would lose the ability to improvise) Mary's mother invited professional musicians to their home

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Article: Radio & Podcasts

Final Recordings of Swing Era Masters: Mary Lou Williams, Artie Shaw, Django Reinhardt and more

Read "Final Recordings of Swing Era Masters: Mary Lou Williams, Artie Shaw, Django Reinhardt and more" reviewed by Larry Slater


There are many facets to great artists' careers, from their earliest musical adventures to their final recordings. Some lose their remarkable musical facilities as age, illness or drug abuse takes its toll, while others maintain their mastery until their final performance.The swing era was particularly tough on musicians, with the demands of constant travel ...

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Article: Radio & Podcasts

Mark Winkler, Yuko Mabuchi, Bonnie J. Jensen, Lauren Henderson, Emma Hendrick, Nicholas Payton & More

Read "Mark Winkler, Yuko Mabuchi, Bonnie J. Jensen, Lauren Henderson, Emma Hendrick, Nicholas Payton & More" reviewed by Mary Foster Conklin


This broadcast includes new releases from Mark Winkler, Yuko Mabuchi, Bonnie J. Jensen, Lauren Henderson, Emma Hendrick plus a single from Nicholas Payton's latest, with birthday shoutouts to Honorable Men Hank Jones, Tony Bennett and Kevin Mahogany plus Camille Bertault, Tara Davidson, Kat Edmonson, Antoinette Montegue, Shamie Royston, Claudia Acuna and Connie Converse, among others. Happy ...

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Article: Live Review

Cécile McLorin Salvant's Ogresse At Carnegie Hall

Read "Cécile McLorin Salvant's Ogresse At Carnegie Hall" reviewed by Adam Beaudoin


Cécile McLorin Salvant Carnegie Hall Ogresse New York, NY May 21, 2025 The relationship between jazz and classical music has a long, complicated history. Musicians themselves tend to care more about the music than concepts of genre, and you only need to listen to the echoes of French Impressionism ...

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Article: Interview

Alisa Clancy Served Cheer and Empathy with Her Morning Cup of Jazz During COVID, Then Signed Off

Read "Alisa Clancy Served Cheer and Empathy with Her Morning Cup of Jazz During COVID, Then Signed Off" reviewed by Joan Merrill


Bay Area jazz lovers were shocked to learn that “the voice of jazz" would no longer help them greet the day with her blend of jazz and good humor in a voice like no other. After 35 years as KCSM's premiere host, Alisa Clancy announced her retirement after almost single-handedly keeping the radio station ...

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Article: Interview

Pierre de Bethmann: Sharing a Musical Breakfast in Lyon

Read "Pierre de Bethmann: Sharing a Musical Breakfast in Lyon" reviewed by Artur Moral


If interviewing a musical figure is usually a great experience, having a face-to-face conversation with one is a true privilege. Besides, it is April in Lyon, cherry trees in blossom... and the roofs of the capital of the French region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes shine under a splendid spring sun. Pierre de Bethmann, winner of the 2024 Victoire ...

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Article: Album Review

NYO Jazz: Live in Johannesburg

Read "Live in Johannesburg" reviewed by Jack Bowers


In the summer of 2024, trumpeter/music director Sean Jones and Carnegie Hall's prodigious NYO (National Youth Orchestra) packed their bags and headed overseas for a tour of South Africa, pausing at one of that country's historic landmarks, the Market Theatre, on July 26-28 to present three days of impressive concert performances that thankfully were taped and ...

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Article: Interview

Jack Chambers: Rethinking Duke Ellington

Read "Jack Chambers: Rethinking Duke Ellington" reviewed by Jack Kenny


Jack Chambers is professor at the University of Toronto and teacher of music and language. His jazz writings include the prize winning biography Milestones: The Music and Times of Miles Davis (Da Capo Press, 1998) and Bouncin' with Bartok: The Incomplete Works of Richard Twardzik (Mercury PR, 2008). Sweet Thunder: Duke Ellington's Music In Nine Themes ...

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Article: Interview

Sharel Cassity: In the Spirit

Read "Sharel Cassity: In the Spirit" reviewed by Katchie Cartwright


Even on an old familiar tune like Charlie Chaplin's “Smile" (1936), it is clear from note one that Sharel Cassity is a child of Bird, an altoist in the modernist tradition of Charlie Parker. Her first influence was actually her biological father, an organist, with whom she shared the stage in New Orleans at age 11, ...

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Article: Radio & Podcasts

Celebrate Mothers Day with new releases by Ellie Martin, Lucia, Jamie Shew and the Premazzi/Nasser Quartet, plus birthday shoutouts to Mary Lou Williams, Carla Bley, Tania Maria & More

Read "Celebrate Mothers Day with new releases by Ellie Martin, Lucia, Jamie Shew and the Premazzi/Nasser Quartet, plus birthday shoutouts to Mary Lou Williams, Carla Bley, Tania Maria & More" reviewed by Mary Foster Conklin


This broadcast celebrates Mothers Day with new releases from Ellie Martin, Lucia, Jamie Shew and the Premazzi/Nasser Quartet, with birthday shoutouts to Mary Lou Williams, Carla Bley, Tania Maria, Gunhild Carling, Jill McCarron, Andrea Superstein, honorable men John Proulx and Lincoln Briney, among others. Happy listening and please support the artists you hear -see them live, ...


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