Soul on Soul: The Life and Music of Mary Lou Williams » (1st Edition)

A chronicle of the stormy personal and professional life of the legendary but underappreciated jazz pianist, composer, and arranger.

Library Journal

Mary Lou Williams was a musician's musician, respected by other jazz instrumentalists, particularly other pianists and arrangers. She was also the only person to have been a creative force in every era of jazz, from ragtime through modern. In this welcome biography, Kernodle (music, Miami Univ.) does not include new material or counter Linda Dahl's Morning Glory: A Biography of Mary Lou Williams (2000), but she does present a portrait gritty with the day-to-day adversities Williams faced in her early years and shows that she emerged more confident. While Dahl's book is a better read, Kernodle's knowledge of jazz and of music in general enables her to discuss Williams's playing with greater depth and specificity. She also more intimately portrays Williams as a woman contending with segregation and even the prejudice of fellow black musicians whose balky acceptance of her came only with their realization that she played "like a man." Sadly, 23 years after her death, her place in jazz history remains undecided. Kernodle's book, in conjunction with Dahl's, is pushing to change that. Highly recommended for all jazz collections.-Harold V. Cordry, Baldwin, KS Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.