A musical prodigy, Mary Lou began playing professionally at age seven. In 1927, she married saxophonist John Williams and moved to Memphis, Tennessee, where she became part of the swing scene. But Mary Lou could play anything from gospel to boogie-woogie to blues to jazz.
After her first and second marriages broke up, she moved to New York City. In 1952, she was invited to play in England, and stayed in Europe for two years.
Back in the United States, she stopped performing to help drug-addicted musicians. She also turned to prayer and fasting. When the local Baptist church wasn't open during the week, she began attending the nearby Catholic church. In 1957, she was baptized a Catholic.
Mary Lou returned to music, but followed her spiritual director's advice that her musical gifts could also serve God. Dizzy Gillespie introduced her to Bishop John Wright of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and the two became friends. When Bishop Wright was named prefect of the Congregation for Clergy, Mary Lou often wrote him, asking to perform a jazz Mass for the pope.
That never happened, but Mary Lou did compose three jazz Masses. her third, "Mary Lou's Mass" (originally called "Music for Peace") was commissioned by the Pontifical Commission on Justice and Peace. In 1971, "Mary Lou's Mass" was interpreted by choreographer Alvin Ailey, and four years later it became the first jazz piece to be played at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City.
Mary Lou Williams died on May 28, 1981.
- Little White Book, Diocese of Saginaw