  Detail from the program of the
1946 Carnegie Pop Concerts. Williams' June 22, 1946 appearance featured
three movements from The Zodiac Suite-"Sagittarius," "Scorpio"
and "Aquarius"-orchestrated for a 70-piece orchestra, plus an encore
on "Boogie Woogie." |
 Mary Lou Williams in New York,
c. 1946. ©William P. Gottlieb, From the Collection of the Library
of Congress. |
 Detail from 1946 Disc Records
catalogue illustrated by David Stone Martin. In a series of piano
solos, Mary Lou Williams plays her own "Cloudy" and "Lonely Moments,"
in addition to standards of the day. "We have always admired Mary
Lou Williams, not only as a great jazz artist, but as one of the most
intelligent and sensitive artists in the entire field of contemporary
jazz music," The Record Changer advised its readers. |
 Williams was the subject of
an Al Hirschfeld drawing accompanying a 1947 article published in
Seventeen magazine. |
 Williams at CBS Studios in New
York, c. April 1947. ©William P. Gottlieb, From the Collection
of the Library of Congress. |
 After recording her 1945 composition
"Lonely Moments" for Disc as a piano solo in 1946, she produced arrangements
for Benny Goodman and Duke Ellington in 1947, the year it was published
as sheet music. The arrangement she did for Ellington clearly shows
her as a modern and exploratory writer for big bands. |
 CBS Studio, New York, c. April
1947 |
 "(In the Land of) Oo-Bla-Dee,"
Williams' best-known bop piece was written and published in 1949 and
recorded that year for RCA Victor by the Dizzy Gillespie Big Band
with vocalist Joe Carroll. Benny Goodman also recorded a version of
the song that year with Buddy Greco on vocal and piano, and Wardell
Gray and Doug Mettome on tenor saxophone and trumpet respectively |
 Flier for Williams' recording
of her 1950 composition, "Walking Out the Door" for Circle Records.
Benny Goodman recorded it first with Terry Gibbs on vibes and Teddy
Wilson on piano, before Nat Cole had a minor hit with the song. |
 Literally caught walking out
the door in this portrait by William Gottlieb in the late 1940s, Mary
Lou Williams headed into new decade. The fifties were notable for
the three years she spent in Europe and the religious conversion that
would add a new dimension to her music. ©William P. Gottlieb, From
the Collection of the Library of Congress. |