Club Kaycee -- Kansas City Jazz History -- Williams, Mary Lou (Mary Elfrieda Scruggs)

Williams, Mary Lou
(Mary Elfrieda Scruggs)

May 8, 1910 -- May 28, 1981
Arranger, Composer and Pianist

Mary Lou
Williams

A child prodigy, Mary Lou Williams began playing spirituals and ragtime at the age of four. By the age of six she was entertaining at picnics and dances in Pittsburgh, where she was known as the "little piano girl."

As a teenager she toured the TOBA circuit accompanying Buzzin' Harris and Arletta. In 1926, Mary married saxophonist, John Williams and joined his group, the Synco Jazzers. The following year, she assumed the helm of the Synco Jazzers after John's departure to join Terrence Holder's band in Oklahoma City. Mary Lou joined John in Oklahoma City in 1928.

After Andy Kirk's band, the Clouds of Joy, relocated to Kansas City in 1929, Mary Lou joined the Clouds as arranger and shared piano duties with Marion Jackson. In 1931, Mary Lou became a full-time member of the group, composing and arranging some of their biggest hits, including:

"Walkin' and Swinging,"
"Froggy Bottom,"
"Mary's Idea" and
"Lotta Sax Appeal."

Williams played such a key role in the sound of the Kirk band that she was known as "the lady who swings the band."

. In addition to her duties with the Kirk band, she provided arrangements for Benny Goodman, Earl Hines and Tommy Dorsey.

Mary Lou left the Clouds of Joy in 1942, returning briefly to Pittsburgh. Her arrangement of "Trumpets No End" became a staple of the Ellington band.

From 1945 to 1946, Mary Lou became a champion of women in jazz, recording with several all-women groups. Throughout her long career she remained on the cutting edge of jazz.

Sources:

Dahl, Linda.: Stormy Weather, The Music and Lives of a Century of Jazzwomen. New York: Pantheon Books, 1984.
Kirk, Andy.: Twenty Years on Wheels. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 1989.
Russell, Ross.: Jazz Style in Kansas City and the Southwest. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1971.