Search - Mary Lou Williams :: NiteLife

DEEP SOUL

Nathan C. Larson | Los Angeles, CA USA | 10/23/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Mary Lou Williams was by any measure, a complex personality. She was a sensitive, serious, and religiously devout woman. She was also as great and profound a Jazz musician as has ever come down the pike. The Spring 1971 sessions that are the subject of this collection are particularly special to me. The album that was originally produced from these sessions was a very early one in my listening experience. My uncle, who introduced me to Jazz, gave me this album when I was in my early teens. I was immediately mesmerized by the special mood of these performances. So obsessed was I with this album, that I listened to it constantly. Very quickly I became familiar with it's every phrase and nuance. Now I only pull it out during the fall and early winter. It still excites."

Thank heavens for the augmented dominant substitution

jive rhapsodist | NYC, NY United States | 02/19/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"...and that's why the fifth star is missing. Overreliance on a particular harmonic formula.As a composition teacher of mine once said, "too much slow music". Nonetheless, there is some really great music on the set. The Joplin interpretations are fascinating. Her reinvestigations of her early music show her incredible ability to synthesize 50 years of Jazz style while maintaining her specificity, her individuality. Highly recommended - with minor cavils"