Interview with Mary Lou Williams
Q: What events in your early life got you intersted in music?
1. Well I would watch my mother play her organ. I would pick up tunes from simple little songs I knew and play them. By the time I was two, I had good sound and pitch. And by the time I was four, I was memorizing Music .
I was became known as " the Little Piano Girl ". I started playing for little audiences around Pittsburgh. I was having a ball - I played little gigs, jammed, and listened to fine musicians . My stepfather would even sneak me into little joints to play for his buddies. He would pass a hat around and they would put money in there for me.( ratical.com ) Then a crisis hit home. My stepfather got sick, and I had to step in and support the family.
Q: What roles did mentors play in your development as a musician?
2. My mother would play the organ and I could pick up on her tunes. As soon as she heard me play, she was speechless. She couldn't believe her ears. I had mostly taught myself, but my mother encouraged me along the way. She would bring artist to our house, or even take me to hear them. She encouraged my music interest to the fullest. But the one thing she wouldn't do was let me take music lessons. She didn't want me to end up like her, only able to play with music in front of my face. She wanted me to be able to play by ear.
I remember a little before I turned ten, I had went to see Lovie Austin. She was in the pit of the theater with her legs crossed and a cigarette in her mouth. She was playing with her left hand and writing music with her right hand, conducting the male musicians with her head. And at that moment I said to myself, " I'll do this one day " ( ratical.com ). And so I did .
Q:What was lutherie like when you entered the field?
3. It seems as if getting into the jazz music groove was easy, which it really was. I was a great pianist at such a young age. People loved me, not only because I was a kid but because I was a kid with potential, and everyone who heard me play knew it.
Being a black musician was kind of hard back then , but it wasn't as hard as it could've been. We went out being the most carefree band out there it seemed. We would go out and jam 'til we couldn't take it anymore .!
Q: How did culture, economy, and politics influence your work?
4. I wasn't really affected by the economy. At first I was really on-the-go with my music. I was just a kid doing what I loved. I didn't always get paid but when I did it was a it to me. Thirty bucks here and there helped out.
One thing I do remember is when I would play Around Pittsburgh, I played for many wealthy families. I was just a kid but they’d send a chauffeur out for me and I’d play for their private parties. Once I got $100. My mother almost fainted. She wanted to know if the lady drank. She even called the people to see if they had made a mistake. ( ratical.com ).
Q:What were your methods and major accomplishments?
5. I was successful. I came from being a little country , down-home girl, to being a famous black jazz musician. Starting off not knowing I would make it this far , but now that I know I made it I know it was only meant to be. I doubt anyone could get this far and be successful , and not feel accomplished.
I play all styles, everybody should ( jazzbrat.com ). You can't be a true musician until you can be open to any kind of music you hear. I try not to put any limits on my music. Music doesn't have a type or kind to me. If you feel it, you can pretty much make music of it. I put my heart and soul into my pieces, which is the best method you could ever use.
Q: What were the key opportunities you had that were turning points in your life as a musician?
6. I guess you could say my key opportunity was when I started playing with Harris Revue and Buzz , a traveling show, around 1922. I was only a substitute pianist but at my age , that was outta sight ! I was 12 tears old , playing sows with these big bands. Who has opportunities like that at such a young age? Not many.
Another one of my opportunities was how I began to write music. I didn't just play , I wrote what I felt would make good music. I wrote for famous bandleaders like Duke Elliington and Benny Goodman ( freebase.com ). They wanted MY music. Who would've known , huh ?
Q:What personal choices did you make to become successful?
7. I really didn't have to make many choices. My mother wasn't hard on me because she needed me to help support the family. She would let me go out and play. Not only because she needed the money , but because she knew I loved what I was doing.
The only thing I had to do was drop out of school ( allaboutjazz.com ). I was only 15 but I wanted to play with Seymour and Jeanette , a very successful vaudeville team. I met plenty of famous and upcoming artists while traveling with them. Even my first husband, John Williams ( en.wikipedia.org ) .
Q:What obstacles did you have to overcome in your life to be so revolutionary in instrument design?
8. I had to begin to show what I was made of. I remember Seymour had seen me seated at the piano at the first rehearsal and he shouted " What's that kid doing here? Call your piano player and lets get started " ( icelebz.com ). I was a child playing with these big and serious bands. I would look like a fool if I didn't know how to act. I played like no other kid around, I had to have the potential to show what I could do.
I would clown around and be , you know , a regular kid. But as I began to mature , my mind was still off in a fairy-tail type of mind set. I didn't know why but I wouldn't have noticed it if no one had told me. They told me how ridiculous the clowning was, and there and then I decided to settle down and play seriously ( icelebz.com ).
Q:What kind of limitations did you face as an artist?
9. I had no limitations. I was one of the best players out there. I would play from music , by ear , and from my heart. Nobody tied me down or told me what to do. I would get offers from artist who wanted me to write for them but I didn't want to get tied down. I was a freelancer.
I remember one night in Paris I had an emotional collapse. I had to come to peace with myself , and performing wasn't really helping. So I took a break and focused on other things. I helped recovering musicians get back to performing. While doing so, I converted to Catholicism ( allaboutjazz.com ). I came to peace with myself once again.
Q:What personal stories best illustrate how you became successful in the arts?
10. Let's see now. I really can't name a time of when I became successful because I was always a success, even before I made it big. But the moment I had seen Lovie Austin in that theater, saying to myself how I was going to do what she did one day, was when I became a success. I told myself what I was gonna do, and I did it. No exceptions ( ratical.com ).
I think success is a state of mind. You can't be successful if your not open to opportunities in life. Take 'em while you can and never let 'em go. That's what I did. I can honestly look back on my life and say " I did it, didn't I? Through muck and mud " ( answers.com ).
