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Mary Lou's Mass, at If It Rotates

SooksSooks 714 Posts
edited November 2007 in Announcements
Something different this week... a few weeks ago I opened the show with a track by American jazz pianist Mary Lou Williams. Born in 1910, Mary Lou Williams' first recordings were when she was a teenager with Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong. She recorded all her life, and, in the 1960s her music tended to focus on sacred music, like gospels and masses. "I am praying through my fingers when I play," she said. "I get that good 'soul sound,' and I try to touch people's spirits." In my opinion, her greatest expression of this 'soul sound' is in a record that she did called Mary Lou's Mass, originally released in 1964, but re-released in 1974 on her own Mary record label. In an unusual step for the If It Rotates show, I'm going to present the album in it's entirety. The album is broken up into two tracks, one for each side of the record, because the songs are quite short. I think it's an amazing album, with influences from jazz to funk to gospel, and, while I'm not a religious man, the track 'Lazarus' always kills me. I hope you like it. IF IT ROTATES

  Comments

  • kidinquisitivekidinquisitive 1,627 Posts
    Doesn't seem possible that album was recorded in '64. You sure about that?
  • On_the_Red_ClayOn_the_Red_Clay 1,728 Posts
    Doesn't seem possible that album was recorded in '64. You sure about that?

    the ST (aka Black Christ of the Andes) one was, i believe Mass is from the early seventies?
  • roistoroisto 879 Posts
    Isn't Mary Lou's Mass a reissue of her Peace album with some extra tracks thrown in? Year is ca. 1969-1970.

    Great music nonetheless.
  • SooksSooks 714 Posts
    Doesn't seem possible that album was recorded in '64. You sure about that?

    Yeah, I wasn't sure since I have the Mary records version which says 1974, but then on some discographies I read about Mary Lou's Mass from 1964... but I agree with you in that some of the sounds in there definitely don't sound like 1964.

    Here's what wiki says:

    Throughout the 1960's her composing focused on sacred music - hymns and masses. One of the masses, Music for Peace, was choreographed and performed by the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater as ???Mary Lou's Mass???. She performed the revision of "Mary Lou's Mass" on the television, The Dick Cavitt Show in 1971.

    So maybe it was composed earlier, but revised in the 70s?
  • anthonypearsonanthonypearson 2,442 Posts
    it was actually recorded in 1963. it is the same record as black christ.
  • leisurebanditleisurebandit 1,006 Posts
    it was actually recorded in 1963. it is the same record as black christ.

    ^ ^

    cosine on 'Lazarus'!!!!

    oh, and does anyone have an extra 'Black Christ'?
  • SooksSooks 714 Posts
    Does anyone have both Mary Lou's Mass and Music for Peace? I think that might solve the mystery.
  • Jonny_PaycheckJonny_Paycheck 17,825 Posts
    On the back of MLM it actually notes the difference between the two LPs. Look carefully. MFP was done in 1970, MLM in 72, and MLM has a few additional cuts; also, the sequencing is slightly different.

    It is not the same record as Black Christ of the Andes.
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