Mary Lou Williams

 
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BOOK

Mary Lou Williams:
Music for the Soul

The pioneering jazz pianist-composer Mary Lou Williams (1910-81) often said that “jazz is love.” Deanna brings Williams’s generous, soulful legacy to communities across the country via performances, talks, and her new book, Mary Lou Williams: Music for the Soul (pub date: 9/15/21).

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RECORDING

Force of Nature

Deanna’s bold new recording brings Mary Lou Williams’s forward-thinking, experimental compositions to a new generation of fans.

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Available Concert Touring

Music for Peace

Music for Peace: A Celebration of Mary Lou Williams features award-winning pianist-composer Deanna Witkowski leading an instrumental trio and mixed choir in a performance of works by the preeminent African-American jazz pianist-composer Mary Lou Williams (1910-1981).

The featured work on the program is Williams’ 1967 “Music for Peace” (also known as “Mary Lou’s Mass”), a monumental sacred jazz work informed by the Civil Rights movement and Williams’ own deep faith. Her remarkably original settings of traditional liturgical texts embrace a compendium of jazz styles, from blues to bossa nova. The program also includes excerpts from Witkowski’s “Evening Mass” from her recording, From This Place.

Music for Peace is available as a 90-minute concert program with Deanna’s instrumental trio plus your choir of 12 voices (SATB) and up. Perfect for college, community, or church choirs, this jubilant program can be done in conjunction with Deanna’s workshops on jazz and spirituality.

View a concert program with extensive artist bios and program notes.

Live performance audio samples

 

Force of Nature

Deanna leads her group (in trio or quartet) in Williams-centric programs featuring the adventurous, soulful music from Force of Nature, and tailors each concert or performance-lecture for festivals, schools, or community organizations.

Download the album press release.

What people are saying...

Quotes

“A meticulously researched and well-told tale, Mary Lou Williams is rife with cliffhangers, foreshadowing, tragic losses, psychic and religious visions, and unexpected intrusions of grace. It is also, to this reader’s delight, a labor of love.”

– Angela Alaimo O’Donnell, author of Flannery O’Connor: Fiction Fired by Faith

"A beautifully written and expertly researched biography of one of the most fascinating Catholic artists of our time. Deanna Witkowski, a musician herself, brings to life a whole era in this engrossing new book about art, music, love, perseverance, and faith."

－James Martin, SJ, author of Learning to Pray

“Witkowski offers readers a glimpse into the inner life of a ‘musical contemplative,’ who was one of the great jazz pianists, arrangers, and composers of the 20th century. Although befriended, encouraged, and counseled by several priests and women religious, Mary Lou Williams remains unknown among most African American Catholics. This contribution to the People of God series provides an opportunity for us to discover and appreciate the musical talent and spiritual commitment of one of our own.”

– M. Shawn Copeland, Professor Emerita, Department of Theology, Boston College

With the legendary Jim Cunningham at WQED.

With the legendary Jim Cunningham at WQED.

Deanna in front of a mural of Mary Lou Williams in Pittsburgh’s Hill District.

Deanna in front of a mural of Mary Lou Williams in Pittsburgh’s Hill District.

A community mural project along the east busway in Pittsburgh portrays Mary Lou Williams.

A community mural project along the east busway in Pittsburgh portrays Mary Lou Williams.