Mary Lou Williams' Religious Music

[Matthew]

I know that Mary Lou Williams wrote music for at least three masses. Have any of these been released? The only lead I have is a lp called Mary Lou's Mass released by the "Mary" label, but after three years of looking, I've never seen a copy. Anyone have any leads on this?

[dsgtrane]

I've got a CDR of "Mary Lou's Mass".

I assume you've seen "Black Christ of the Andes". Not a mass but certainly religious. That came out on CD earlier this year.

[Michael Fitzgerald]

I am not an expert on the subject, but if I understand correctly (from the Linda Dahl bio), the first mass was recorded by Williams on a home tape recorder. The second mass (Mass for the Lenten Season aka Jazz For The Soul) has not been recorded at all. The third mass (Music For Peace aka Mary Lou's Mass) is the most famous and was recorded and issued as Mary M 102. It was subsequently choreographed by Alvin Ailey. There are different versions of the mass.

At least parts (if not all) of the discographical information about M 102 have always been incorrect. I spent time in the MLW collection at Rutgers Institute of Jazz Studies to get the correct information, now included in the Honi Gordon discography on my website. Gordon is not on everything, so I didn't investigate that material.

Mike

[Matthew]

Thanks for the info. I had thought all three masses were recorded, but, what do I know? On Mary Lou's Mass, are voices involved, or is it only piano music?

[jazzbo]

Voices. Oh boy. . . voices.

[Matthew]

Voices. Oh boy. . . voices.

With any luck, there'll also be a part where the priest gives a homily..

[l p]

are there spirituals/gospel songs on these releases?

[jazzbo]

I'll have to take a look this weekend. . . . I don't believe there are any specific traditional tunes involved, I remember it as all Mary's writing.

It's been while since I've had these spinning. . . .

[ajf67]

I assume you've seen "Black Christ of the Andes". Not a mass but certainly religious. That came out on CD earlier this year.

This is out on Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, 2004 release. Available at CD Universe. There is some bluesy gospel on this, as well as some more choral-oriented voicings from the Ray Charles singers. The majority of the disc is Williams with a trio (Percy Heath on bass and Tim kennedy on drums) and some Williams solos. Others here at Organissimo have highly recommended this one and I'll join them.

[ghost of miles]

I am not an expert on the subject, but if I understand correctly (from the Linda Dahl bio), the first mass was recorded by Williams on a home tape recorder.

Has that one circulated at all? I'll have to check Dahl's bio when I get home from work.

[Matthew]

Does anyone know of a good article(s) or a book on this topic? I'd be very interested?

Ghosty: I believe you did a program of her religious music(??), at least I looked at the archives, but I couldn't find anything. Is there a link to it?

Edited May 6, 2019 by Matthew

[ghost of miles]

1 hour ago, Matthew said:

Does anyone know of a good article(s) or a book on this topic? I'd be very interested?

Ghosty: I believe you did a program of her religious music(??), at least I looked at the archives, but I couldn't find anything. Is there a link to it?

Waaaaaayyyy back... not sure how well such an early effort will hold up, but here you go:

Music For Peace: The Sacred Jazz Of Mary Lou Williams

There's also this show:

Sacred Blue: Jazz Goes To Church In The 1960s

As for books, Harvey Cohen's Duke Ellington's America delves pretty deeply into DKE's sacred-jazz period and works.  Friend and Organissimo poster Jason Bivins has written an excellent book, Spirits Rejoice! Jazz and American Religion that I highly recommend; and both Mary Lou Williams biographies cover her sacred-jazz writings and recordings as well.

[Matthew]

24 minutes ago, ghost of miles said:

Waaaaaayyyy back... not sure how well such an early effort will hold up, but here you go:

Music For Peace: The Sacred Jazz Of Mary Lou Williams

There's also this show:

Sacred Blue: Jazz Goes To Church In The 1960s

As for books, Harvey Cohen's Duke Ellington's America delves pretty deeply into DKE's sacred-jazz period and works.  Friend and Organissimo poster Jason Bivins has written an excellent book, Spirits Rejoice! Jazz and American Religion that I highly recommend; and both Mary Lou Williams biographies cover her sacred-jazz writings and recordings as well.

Thanks for the link and recommendations. I just noticed the start date on this thread, 15 years!