Mary Lou Williams - mid 20th Century

from The Great Jazz Pianists: Speaking of Their Lives and Music:

I have perfect pitch, which I discovered in the third grade. My teacher didn't have a harp to tune us in, so I raised my hand and said, "I know what key you're singing in." She ran over to test me out on the piano and found out I had perfect pitch. On finger training, you have to sit down and practice passages or take things off records. I used to copy Art Tatum's runs, but that can be like exercises you'd get at school.

cite as

Len Lyons, The Great Jazz Pianists: Speaking of Their Lives and Music (New York, ). https://led.kmi.open.ac.uk/entity/lexp/1431074801727 accessed: 28 March, 2024

Listeners

Mary Lou Williams
jazz pianist, Composer, Pianist
1910-1981

Listening to

hide composers
jazz
written by Miles Davis, Robert "Bumps" Blackwell
performed by Art Tatum

Experience Information

Date/Time mid 20th Century
Medium playback
Listening Environment indoors

Originally submitted by Gill on Fri, 08 May 2015 09:46:41 +0100
Approved on Sat, 26 Sep 2015 12:39:05 +0100