Mary Lou Williams: The Lady Who Swings the Band

Pictured: Mary Lou Williams and her Band

Provided by: APT

Working at a time when women were expected to stay at home and raise children, Mary Lou Williams forged her own path and created some of the most sophisticated big band hits.

Filmmaker Carol Bash’s documentary Mary Lou Williams: The Lady Who Swings the Band, airing Saturday, March 3 at 8 p.m. on WXXI World, brings to the screen one of the most innovative yet unsung jazz pianists, composers, and arrangers of all time. “Trailblazer,” “pioneer,” and “awesome,” are some of the adjectives that international jazz artists today like Geri Allen, Carmen Lundy, and Terri Lyne Carrington use to describe Mary Lou Williams.