I’ve Got a Story to Tell: Mary Lou Williams and the Re-Imagining of Jazz’s History
At the time of her death in 1981, pianist/composer Mary Lou Williams was celebrated as one of the only jazz musicians to have played through each of the eras of jazz (1920s-late 1970s). This distinction was not simply based on Williams’ proximity to specific jazz communities that have been essentialized as part of the general understanding of genre’s progression but symbolized her direct contributions to the evolution of jazz’s sound.