Mary Lou Williams Vinyl Record Albums

Mary Elfreda Winn Born: 8 May 1910, Atlanta, Georgia, USA Died: 28 May 1981, Durham, North Carolina, USA. Black American jazz pianist, composer and arranger who performed with almost every major jazz artist throughout her career and renowned for her approach to the 'bop' style. Williams grew up in a 'shotgun shack', where local musicians would gather and play. She played piano by ear from a very early age, so small she sat on musician's laps to reach the keys. By the time she and her elder sister Mamie had moved to Pittsburgh she had a stepfather, professional gambler Fletcher Burley. He would take her into gambling joints, where she would play and get tips, whilst her boogie piano skills also came in useful at rent-parties and chitterlin' struts.