Mary Lou Williams

Born Mary Winn in Atlanta in 1910, pianist and composer Mary Lou Williams played with nearly every major jazz performer during her long, illustrious and varied career. Black Christ of the Andes is easily one of the most individual albums created by Williams, or anyone else in jazz, for that matter; recorded in New York in late 1963 and first issued on Williams' own Mary Records, the album has jazz explorations of divine concepts, delivered with suitably complex arrangements; "Anima Christi" and "Praise The Lord" both feature soaring assembly by Melba Liston, "The Devil" and the title track have elaborate choral voices from the Howard Roberts Singers, and instrumentals such as "Miss D D" and "A Fungus Amungus" use her expert piano skills to shock, titillate and provide light relief.

PERSONNEL:

• Mary Lou Williams - piano
• Budd Johnson - tenor sax
• Grant Green - guitar
• Percy Heath - bass
• Howard Roberts and his Choral Group
• George Gordon Singers

New York October 9 & November 19, 1963

TRACKS:

• SIDE A
• 01. St. Martin De Porres
• 02. It Ain't Necessarily So
• 03. The Devil
• 04. Miss D.D.
• 05. Anima Christi
• 06. Praise the Lord

• SIDE B
• 01. A Grand Night For Swinging
• 02. My Blue Heaven
• 03. Dirge Blues
• 04. A Fungus A Mungus
• 05. Koolbonga
• 06. Forty-Five Degree Angle
• 07. Nicole
• 08. Chunka Lunka