Mary Lou Williams
(1910-1981)

woman and jazz musician

Died aged 71

Mary Lou Williams (born Mary Elfrieda Scruggs; 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 (in 78, 45, and LP versions). Williams wrote and arranged for Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman, and she was friend, mentor, and teacher to Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Tadd Dameron, Bud Powell, and Dizzy Gillespie.

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Commemorated on 1 plaque

Crawford Grill. A center of Black social life where musicians such as Art Blakey, Mary Lou Williams, John Coltrane drew a racially mixed, international clientele. Here, Crawford Grill #2, the second of three clubs opened 1943; was owned by William (Gus) Greenlee, later by Joseph Robinson.

Wylie Ave. at Elmore St., Pittsburgh, PA, United States where they played