Mary Lou Williams (May 8, 1910 – May 28, 1981) was an American
jazz pianist, arranger, and composer. She wrote hundreds of compositions and arrangements and recorded more than one hundred records. Williams wrote and arranged for
Duke Ellington and
Benny Goodman, and she was friend, mentor and teacher to numerous other jazz musicians. The second of eleven children, she was born in
Atlanta, Georgia, and grew up in the
East Liberty neighborhood of
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. A young musical prodigy, she taught herself to play the piano at the age of three. This photograph of Williams at the piano was taken by
William P. Gottlieb around 1946.
Photograph credit: William P. Gottlieb; restored by Adam Cuerden