MARY LOU WILLIAMS (1910-1981)

TO BE HONORED BY THE OFFICE OF BLACK MINISTRY

ROMAN CATHOLIC ARCHDIOCESE OF NEW YORK

Mary Lou Williams will posthumously receive The Pierre Toussaint Medallion on September 21, 2006 (a Thursday) at a receptiion and dinner (6:30PM to 9:45 PM) at The New York Marriott Marquis. Fr. Peter F. O'Brien, S.J. will accept this honor on behalf of The Mary Lou Williams Foundation. The Medallion will be permanently housed in The Mary Lou Williams Foundation Collection in The Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutger University, Newark, N.J.

Ms. Williams was baptized into the Roman Catholic faith in 1957 after a period of intense prayer. She also worked tirelessly for the well being of everyone she met. She was particularly devoted to the poor (especially poor musicians) and was passionate in her concern for the young.

Mary Lou Williams went on to express her faith in her music by composing three complete Masses and another dozen sacred motets. These works include Mary Lou's Mass and Black Christ of the Andes (Hymn in Honor of St. Martin de Porres).

For these reasons, The Office of Black Ministry of the Archdiocese of New York will honor her at a dinner which will raise funds for college bound student leaders of diverse backgrounds.

These scholarships bear the name of the Venerable Pierre Toussaint, a Haitian and a slave, who came to New York at the age of 21 in 1787. He remained a slave here in the kindly service to Madame Marie Berard who had fallen into a depression upon the death of her husband. On her deathbed, in turn, she freed her beloved Pierre Toussaint. His remains were transfered to the burial vaults of St. Patrick's Cathedral. The cause for his canonization is underway.

Toussaint, at 41 years of age, continued his learned profession of hairdresser to wealthy women, but used his high earnings in charity toward the poor and desperate. He and his wife, Julliette Noel, made a home for Negro orphaned children in a large house they had purchased.

They established a school for these children.

They secured freedom papers for dozens of slaves, procured employment for impoverished French widows, and made secret gifts to aristocratic refugees too proud to accept charity.

Mary Lou Williams, in her lifetime, found inspiration in the life of St. Martin de Porres who fed the hungry and gave shelter to the frightened. Had she lived long enough, she would have undoubtedly found the same source of consolation in the life of Venerable Pierre Toussaint.

Toussaint and Williams went to daily Mass. Toussaint and Williams were strong indiviuals who lived their lives directed by charity toward others. It is fitting that Williams' life and work will be honored by a medallion bearing Toussaint's name.

Inquiries about reservations for this event may be directed to:

The Office of Black Ministry - 1011 First Avenue, New York, New York 10022

212-371-1011 x2681 (tel) 212-421-3693 (fax) obm@archny.org

GO AND HEAR GERI ALLEN AND HER TRIO WITH MR. JIMMY COBB AT THE VILLAGE VANGUARD (7th Avenue South - New York City) AUGUST 22 through AUGUST 27. HEAR HER PLAY MUSIC FROM HER NEW CD "TIMELESS PORTRAITS AND DREAMS" (telarc jazz CD-83645).

GERI ALLEN, who has devoted so much of her energy and ability to preserving and extending the music of Mary Lou Williams, will be presenting her own music during an engagement this month at THE VILLAGE VANGUARD in New York City. She begins her appearance there on August 22, 2006 (a Tuesday) which extends through the following Sunday (August 27). She will be playing music from her new recording (TIMELESS PORTRAITS AND DREAMS) with her trio which includes the legendary Mr. Jimmy Cobb on drums.

"Timeless Portraits and Dreams"! This is the title of Geri Allen's new CD to be released by Telarc on August 22, 2006. An extraordinary work, this is not just another trio performance, though the core trio consists of Geri Allen, the pianist, Ron Carter on Bass, and Jimmy Cobb on drums. Several of the pieces use The Atlanta Jazz Chorus under the direction of Dwight Andrews.

One of these was written by Mary Lou Williams and arranged by Carmen Lundy. Its title is "I Have a Dream" with words also by Mary Lou, adapted from the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The solo vocal line is sung by the great George Shirley who was the first black man to have sung tenor at The Metropolitan Opera.

He also sings "Lift Every Voice and Sing", our Black National Anthem, with words by James Weldon Johnson, and music by his brother J. Rosamond Johnson, accompanied only by Ms. Allen.

Geri's husband, the brilliant trumpeter Wallace Roney, is heard on two pieces: "In Real Time" which both he and Ms. Allen wrote, and "Our Lady", Allen's elegant portrait of Billie Holiday.

Carmen Lundy brings the album to a close by singing "Timeless Portraits and Dreams". This selection extends for a little more than five minutes, and, is the core of a new large musicial work in remembrance of the dead and of the survivors of 9/11/01.

This new work is called "For the Healing of the Nations" and extends to forty musicians with solo voices and chorus. "For the Healing of the Nations" will have its premiere on September 10, 2006 at 3:00PM in The Gordon Theatre at The Rutgers-Camden Center for the Arts in Camden, New Jersey. Besides Ms. Allen at the piano, Andy Bey, Nnnenna Freelon, Mary Stallings, Craig Harris and Akua Dixon will be featured. Go to: www.ruarts.org/2006/09

Geri Allen's last outing on CD, released on February 7, 2006, was for The Mary Lou Williams Foundation on its recording label, Mary Records. This, as you may see by going to the page on this site called "Mary Records", was Zodiac Suite: Revisited.

"Timeless Portraits and Dreams" is a moving sound panorama of what it means to be Black and an artist today. "

Buy both albums and come to the concert in September. Thank you.

FUTURE PROJECTS:


The United States Army Field Band - Jazz Ambassadors will record fifteen of Mary Lou Williams' compositions. These will include ten pieces exactly as she wrote them and five new arrangements by Army Band members. Fourteen of these pieces will be for Big Band. The fifteenth will be recorded by The United States Army Chorus. They will sing Mary's "St. Martin de Porres" (written in 1962) and also known as "Black Christ of the Andes". Recording is to take place in the Autumn of 2006 with release in 2007. These CDs will not be for sale. They will be distributed without charge to any teacher, school, or library asking for them. Mary Lou would love this. Her music will get to children and young adults. Everything she had in mind. Do you want to know more? email us at info@marylouwilliamsfoundation.org