The Music and Legacy of Mary Lou Williams

The music of Mary Lou Williams is a fascinating and dynamic combination of jazz, gospel, blues, and choral. A recent concert at Duke Chapel paid tribute to Williams—dubbed the First Lady of Jazz. Williams established ties with Duke near the end of her life when she was an artist-in-residence at the university from 1977 to 1981, and today Duke’s Mary Lou Williams for Black Culture bears her name. In this episode of Sounds of Faith, we listen back to musical selections from the "Our First Lady of Jazz" concert and hear from UNC-Asheville's Dr. Melodie Galloway about Williams' influence on the world of jazz and how she took a dramatic turn into writing sacred music. Listen here:

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