How Mary Lou Williams Shaped the Sound of the Big-Band Era
The perpetually contemporary Williams, as Ellington famously described her, mastered the language of swing. By Natalie Weiner “The greatest woman jazz pianist in captivity.” “The greatest woman jazz pianist in the world.” “Highly acclaimed as a deluxe tickler of the ivories.” “One of the foremost swing pianists of either sex.” By 1936, then-25-year-old Mary Lou[…]