Jazz Musician. One of the most influential women in the history of jazz, she worked with, and wrote hundreds of songs for Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman and others. She was raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, an illegitimate child of an impoverished and indifferent mother. Her childhood, like that of Ethel Waters and Billie Holiday, was rough and short. Like Waters and Holiday, she had to earn her own livelihood while still a child, and became a woman before she was ready. At age six, she was already helping to support her ten half-brothers and sisters by playing for parties. She began performing publicly at the age of seven, when she became known admiringly in her native Pittsburgh as "the little piano girl of East Liberty." At seventeen, she married a saxophone player named John Williams, one of the many tumultuous marriages and love affairs throughout her life. She found comfort for her many disappointments and hurts not only in her music, but in her spirituality. She wrote the well-known "Trumpets No End" (1946) for Duke Ellington. Among her recordings were "Zodiac Suite" (1945), "Waltz Boogie" (1946), and "Black Christ of The Andes" (1963). She converted to Catholicism in 1954. In 1970, as a solo pianist and commentator, she recorded "The History of Jazz." Also during her musical career, she composed three complete Masses and wrote other sacred music. She operated a thrift store to benefit the poor, and maintained a faith-based outreach to many famous jazz musicians. She said, looking back at the end of her life, "I did it, didn't I? Through muck and mud."
Jazz Musician. One of the most influential women in the history of jazz, she worked with, and wrote hundreds of songs for Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman and others. She was raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, an illegitimate child of an impoverished and indifferent mother. Her childhood, like that of Ethel Waters and Billie Holiday, was rough and short. Like Waters and Holiday, she had to earn her own livelihood while still a child, and became a woman before she was ready. At age six, she was already helping to support her ten half-brothers and sisters by playing for parties. She began performing publicly at the age of seven, when she became known admiringly in her native Pittsburgh as "the little piano girl of East Liberty." At seventeen, she married a saxophone player named John Williams, one of the many tumultuous marriages and love affairs throughout her life. She found comfort for her many disappointments and hurts not only in her music, but in her spirituality. She wrote the well-known "Trumpets No End" (1946) for Duke Ellington. Among her recordings were "Zodiac Suite" (1945), "Waltz Boogie" (1946), and "Black Christ of The Andes" (1963). She converted to Catholicism in 1954. In 1970, as a solo pianist and commentator, she recorded "The History of Jazz." Also during her musical career, she composed three complete Masses and wrote other sacred music. She operated a thrift store to benefit the poor, and maintained a faith-based outreach to many famous jazz musicians. She said, looking back at the end of her life, "I did it, didn't I? Through muck and mud."
Bio by: Curtis Jackson
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“PIANIST — COMPOSER”
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