Mary Lou Williams - The First Lady Of The Piano 1952-1971 '1993

Tracks list

Tracklist

01 Roll em
02 Fandangle
03 Mama, Pin A Rose On Me
04 Moonglow
05 Just You, Just Me
06 O.W.
07 Talk Of The Town
08 A Grand Night For Swinging
09 It Aint Necessarily So
10 My Blue Heaven
11 A Fungus Amungus
12 Dirge Blues
13 Anima Christi
14 Miss D.D.
15 They Cant Take That Away From Me
16 round About Midnight
17 Down Beat
18 Out Of Nowhere
19 Autumn Leaves

There are two different Mary Lou Williams albums entitled First Lady of Piano.
One is an Inner City reissue of Vogue recordings from the early to mid-50s. The
other, and the subject of this review, was issued by the Giants of Jazz label in
1998 and consists of 19 studio and live recordings dating from the years
1952-1971. This variegated sampler combines our ladys intimate solo and small
group rhythm sessions with some of that European Vogue material featuring tenor
saxophonist Don Byas and choice cuts (including an invigorating ten-minute jam
called Down Beat) from a live date with a front line of trumpeter Harold Shorty
Baker, trombonist Vic Dickenson and saxophonist Morris Lane. Autumn Leaves was
recorded live at the Overseas Press Club in New York City on the last day of
January 1971 with trumpeters Bobby Hackett and Dizzy Gillespie. Altogether this
is a very nice portrait of a brilliant pianist whose recording career spanned
more than fifty years.

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