Mary Lou Williams › Similar Artists

Stan Kenton - 70% match to Mary Lou Williams

Stanley Newcombe Kenton, 15 December 1911, Wichita, Kansas, USA, d. 25 August 1979, Los Angeles, California, USA. After playing piano in various dance bands, including those of Everett Hoagland and Vido Musso, mostly on the west coast, Kenton decided to form his own band in 1941. Although geared partially to the commercial needs of the dancehall circuit of the time, Kenton&# Read more

Woody Herman - 47% match to Mary Lou Williams

Woodrow Charles Herman, 16 May 1913, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA, d. 29 October 1987, Los Angeles, California, USA. A child prodigy, Herman sang and tap-danced in local clubs before touring as a singer in vaudeville. To improve his act he took up the saxophone and later the clarinet, all by the age of 12. By his mid-teens he was sufficiently accomplished to play in a band, and Read more

Art Hodes - 38% match to Mary Lou Williams

Arthur W. Hodes, 14 November 1904, Nikoliev, Ukraine, d. 4 March 1993, Harvey, Illinois, USA. A few months after Hodes was born, his family emigrated from Russia and settled in Chicago, Illinois. He began playing piano and by his late teenage years was working in dancehalls and clubs. He played with several local bands, including Wingy Manone’s, but also established him Read more

Earl Hines - 26% match to Mary Lou Williams

Don Byas - 24% match to Mary Lou Williams

Carlos Wesley Byas, 21 October 1912, Muskogee, Oklahoma, USA, d. 24 August 1972, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. In his teens, Byas played alto saxophone with the Midwest bands of Bennie Moten, Terrence Holder and Walter Page, but switched to tenor in the early 30s while working on the west coast. He played in Lionel Hampton’s band at the Paradise Club in Los Angeles and, w Read more

Lorez Alexandria - 24% match to Mary Lou Williams

Delorez Alexandria Turner, 14 August 1929, Chicago, Illinois, USA, d. 22 May 2001, Los Angeles, California, USA. Like so many other young black singers, Alexandria began singing in church and later performed gospel music. Her early professional career was centred in clubs and took off towards the end of the 50s with a series of well-received albums. After working with Ramsey Read more

Irene Kral - 21% match to Mary Lou Williams

18 January 1932, Chicago, Illinois, USA, d. 15 August 1978, Encino, California, USA. Taking heed of the success of her older brother, Roy Kral, she began singing while still a teenager. She gained valuable on-the-road experience with bands led by Woody Herman and former Herman bass player Chubby Jackson before spending some time with a vocal group. In the late 50s she was wi Read more

James P. Johnson - 19% match to Mary Lou Williams

James Price Johnson, 1 February 1894, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA, d. 17 November 1955, New York City, New York, USA. Taught piano by his mother, Johnson assimilated a wide range of musical styles. In the years following his family’s relocation to New York, he continued his studies and by his late teens was working in clubs in the Hell’s Kitchen district. Johnso Read more

Teddy Wilson - 18% match to Mary Lou Williams

Theodore Shaw Wilson, 24 November 1912, Austin, Texas, USA, d. 31 July 1986, New Britain, Connecticut, USA. Born into a middle-class family, Wilson grew up in Tuskegee where his parents moved to take up teaching posts at the university. He studied violin and piano at Tuskegee and later extended his studies at college in Alabama. In 1929, by now concentrating on piano, he bec Read more

Bobby Short - 17% match to Mary Lou Williams

Robert Waltrip Short, 15 September 1924, Danville, Illinois, USA, d. 21 March 2005, New York, USA. A self-taught pianist, Short worked in vaudeville as a child and sang in clubs and on radio in Chicago, operating under the nickname of ‘the Miniature King of Swing’. In mid-1937 he went to New York where he played and sang for audiences unprepared for smart-suited so Read more

Elek Bacsik - 15% match to Mary Lou Williams

22 May 1926, Budapest, Hungary, d. 1994, Chicago, Illinois, USA. After studying violin Bacsik took up the guitar, although he frequently returned to his first instrument in later years. Bacsik’s early repertoire included gypsy music alongside classical music, but his switch to guitar coincided with a growing interest in jazz, a trend befitting a man who was believed to Read more

Erroll Garner - 15% match to Mary Lou Williams

Erroll Louis Garner, 15 June 1921, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, d. 2 January 1977, Los Angeles, California, USA. A self-taught pianist, Garner played on the radio at the age of 10 and within a few more years was playing professionally in his home town. Among the bands with which he played during this period were those led by Leroy Brown and, reputedly, Fate Marable. In 194 Read more

Lennie Tristano - 15% match to Mary Lou Williams

Leonard Joseph Tristano, 19 March 1919, Chicago, Illinois, USA, d. 18 November 1978, New York City, New York, USA. Encouraged by his mother, Tristano learned piano and various reed instruments while still a very small child, despite steadily deteriorating eyesight (he was born during a measles epidemic). By the age of 11 he was completely blind but, overcoming this handicap, Read more

Hampton Hawes - 14% match to Mary Lou Williams

13 November 1928, Los Angeles, California, USA, d. 22 May 1977, Los Angeles, California, USA. Born into a musical family (his mother played piano for the church run by his Presbyterian minister father), Hawes taught himself to play piano by listening to records of 30s jazz piano giants, among them Earl ‘Fatha’ Hines and Fats Waller. He began to play professionally Read more

Jimmy Yancey - 14% match to Mary Lou Williams

James Edward Yancey, 20 February 1898, Chicago, Illinois, USA, d. 17 September 1951, Chicago, Illinois, USA. While still a small child Yancey appeared in vaudeville as a tap dancer and singer. After touring the USA and Europe he abandoned this career and, just turned 20, settled in Chicago where he taught himself to play piano. He began to appear at rent parties and informal Read more