Mary Lou Williams (album)

Mary Lou Williams, alternatively titled Black Christ of the Andes, is a jazz album by pianist Mary Lou Williams, which was released in 1964 by Folkways Records.[1] Released after Williams's conversion to Catholicism,[2] the album incorporates a variety of styles from spirituals, blues and avant-garde jazz.[3] The title track is a choral Mass hymn in honor of the Afro-Peruvian saint St. Martin de Porres.

Mary Lou Williams Presents / Black Christ of the Andes
Studio album by
Mary Lou Williams
Released1964
StudioCue Studios, NYC; Nola Studios, NYC
Genre
Length52:27
LanguageEnglish
LabelFolkways, Mary
ProducerTommy Nola
Mary Lou Williams chronology
Messin' 'Round in Montmartre
(1959)		 Mary Lou Williams Presents / Black Christ of the Andes
(1964)		 Music for Peace
(1970)

Background

Following the amendments to the Constitution of Sacred Liturgy by the Second Vatican Council in 1962, Williams was encouraged by her peers in the church to create a work of "sacred jazz."[4] Williams, who had hardly written or performed since her appearance at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1957. In the mid-50s, Williams had converted to Catholicism following a spiritual journey. At the time of Vatican II, Williams was a member of St. Francis Xavier Church of Greenwich Village, where she was known by members of the parish community for her talents.

In 1962, she wrote "St. Martin de Porres" in preparation of the feast day for Martin de Porres's sainthood. This would become the basis for the compilation work to follow.[4] The record primarily features original works by Williams with covers of previous works to expand her developing idiom of sacred jazz.

Martin de Porres

Reception and legacy
Retrospective professional reviews
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[5]

The album was listed at #140 in Pitchfork's Top 200 Greatest Albums of the 1960s, with critic Seth Colter Walls describing it as 'visionary'.[6] AllMusic singled out Williams' piano solos as a highlight of the album.[7]

Track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."St. Martin de Porres"Mary Lou Williams6:36
2."It Ain't Necessarily So"George Gershwin/Ira Gershwin4:45
3."The Devil"Ada Moore/Mary Lou Williams4:04
4."Miss D.D."Mary Lou Williams2:32
5."Anima Christi"Mary Lou Williams2:50
6."A Grand Night for Swinging"Billy Taylor2:52
7."My Blue Heaven"Walter Donaldson/George A. Whiting3:10
8."Dirge Blues"Mary Lou Williams3:26
9."A Fungus Amungus"Mary Lou Williams3:01
10."Koolbonga"Mary Lou Williams3:25
11."Forty-Five Degree Angle"Denzil Best2:55
12."Nicole"Mary Lou Williams3:41
13."Chunka Lunka" 3:11
14."Praise the Lord"Mary Lou Williams5:54
Total length:52:22

References
  1. "Mary Lou Williams". Discogs.
  2. "Black Christ of the Andes".
  3. "Black Christ of the Andes".
  4. Murchison, Gayle (2002). "Mary Lou Williams's Hymn "Black Christ of the Andes (St. Martin de Porres):" Vatican II, Civil Rights, and Jazz as Sacred Music". The Musical Quarterly. 86 (4): 591–629. ISSN 0027-4631.
  5. "Black Christ of the Andes".
  6. "200 Greatest Albums of the 1960s".
  7. "Black Christ of the Andes".
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