Located on the Miller Nichols Library Ground Floor
With ties to Kansas City jazz and the creation of bebop, Mary Lou Williams has left her mark on our city, even having a street named after her. Join us as we highlight Mary Lou Williams in our collection from from her time in Kansas City recording with The Clouds to her conversion to Catholicism and religious influence in her music, and even her performing for the Kansas City Women’s Jazz Festival in the late 70s.
Caption: UMKC Music/Media Library shows off a new display featuring Mary Lou Williams.
Resource List:
CDs
- Kansas City Jazz: 30’s and 40’s CD 2021:64
- The Women: Classic Female Jazz artists 1939-1952 CD 2009:1339
- Live at the Cookery, Mary Lou Williams CD 2011:501
- Mary Lou Williams, 1952-1971 CD 2011:863
- Mary’s idea / Andy Kirk, Mary Lou Williams CD 2003: 98
- Zoning, Mary Lou Williams CD 2009:281
- Kansas City Legends, CD 2012:801
- Black Christ of the Andes, Mary Lou Williams CD 2013:916
- The Real Kansas City of the ‘20s, ‘30s & ‘40s CD 2011:473
Books
- Soul on soul: the life and music of Mary Lou Williams / Tammy Kernodle ML410.W7134 K46 2004
- Mary’s idea / Chris Raschka ML3930 .W545 R37 2023
- Uncommon women: Gwendolyn Brooks… Mary Lou Williams… / Joan Kufrin NX504 .K8 (General Collection)
- Morning glory : a biography of Mary Lou Williams / Linda Dahl ML417 .W515 D32 1999
- Kansas City jazz: from ragtime to bebop – a history / Frank Driggs and Chuck Haddix ML3508.8 .K37 D75 2005
- Cafe Society: The Wrong Place for the Right People, Barney Josephson and Terry Trilling-Josephson ML429.J65 A3 2009
Scores
- Selected works for big band / Mary Lou Williams, edited by Theodore E. Buehrer Reference M2 .R2389 v.74
- New standards : 101 lead sheets by women composers / editor and curator: Terri Lyne Carrington M1366 .N488 2022
- Black women composers: a century of piano music / Amanda Aldridge M21 .B55 1992
DVDs
- Jazz. Episode six: Swing, the Velocity of Celebration ML3508.B87 J29 2000 (episode 6)
Online Resources
Ebooks
- Changing the Tune: The Kansas City Women’s Jazz Festival, 1978-1985, Carolyn Glenn Brewer, 2017
- Lift Every Voice and Swing: Black Musicians and Religious Culture in the Jazz Century, Vaughn A. Booker, 2020
- “Mary Lou Williams” Jazz makers: Vanguards of Sound, Alyn Shipton, 2002
Articles
- Mary Lou Williams and the Role of Gender in Jazz: How can Jazz Culture Respect Women’s Voices and Break Down Barriers for Women in Jazz while Simultaneously Acknowledging Uncomfortable Histories? Josiah, Boornazian, Jazz Education in Research and Practice, 2022
- “The Fools Don’t Think I Play Jazz”: Cecil Taylor Meets Mary Lou Williams, Benjamin Givan, The Journal of Musicology, 2018
- “Mary Lou Williams Plays Like a Man!”: Gender, Genius, and Difference in Black Music Discourse, Nichole T. Rustin, South Atlantic Quarterly, 2005
LPs
- Mary Lou Williams, Mary Records: FJ 2843
- Mary Lou’s Mass, Mary Records: M 102
- The Best of Mary Lou Williams Pablo: 2310-856
- Mary Lou Williams & Cecil Taylor embraced, Pablo: 2620-108
- Mary Lou Williams: the queen of jazz piano, Hall of Fame: JG-607
- Composer-pianists: Mary Lou Williams and Ralph Burns, Jazztone: J1255
- The history of Jazz/ solo piano, music, and narration by Mary Lou Williams, Folkways Records: FJ 2860
- My Mama pinned a rose on me, Mary Lou Williams, Pablo: 2310-819
Follow us on Facebook, and Instagram to see more collection highlights. We also partner with the Marr Sound Archives to highlight LPs from their collection. Check the resource list below, and click the button to download.
Collection display curated by UMKC Music/Media Library Staff Melissa Allison and Bekah Walker and student assistant Aubrey Williams, with assistance from Marr’s Nikki L’Amour.
