artists who must perform not as women but as men in order to be taken seriously” (Dahl 60). Therefore, Mary Lou had to employ her talent not just on piano, but also as an arranger and composer in order to prove herself worthy in front of the male-dominated subculture of jazz. Despite the discrimination against her because of her gender, Mary Lou played music until her death on May 28, 1981.
Mary Lou Williams’ Achievements
She composed her “zodiac Suite,” which was a major work, and several of the pieces showed the kind of musical innovation she was pursuing. According to Edward Komara, “she played a regular gig at the Café Society Downtown, [and] hosted a radio series on WNEW in New York” (Komara 1020). She taught jazz at Duke University in North Carolina, and founded the Bel Canto Foundation that helped musicians who were in trouble with alcohol and drugs. Mary Lou was the first black woman to join the ASCAP corporation and started her own music publishing company (Mary Records—the oldest label owned by a black artist).
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