Flow State - Mary Lou Williams
You’re on the free tier of Flow State, the weekday focus music newsletter that highlights one artist and several of their albums. Paying subscribers get a daily playlist with additional recs and a weekly Tuesday mix that sources one-off discoveries and reader recommendations. Upgrade to paid to unlock those features and support what we do. Good morning. Today we’re listening to Mary Lou Williams, an American jazz pianist from Atlanta. She was born in 1910 to a mother who played piano for the local church.¹ As a baby Mary Lou sat on her mother’s lap as she practiced, and around age three started fingering melodies on the keys. By age six she was picking up gigs across the city, and by age 13 was playing with Duke Ellington. Williams became the go-to pianist for ensembles and big bands across the country, going on to mentor up-and-comers like Dizzy Gillespie and Thelonious Monk.² We’re playing her 1953 album Mary Lou Williams Plays in London, a collection of standards with only bass and drum accompanists. Then we’re playing Zodiac Suite, her 1945 record of original compositions and improvisations. Mary Lou Williams Plays in London - Mary Lou Williams (70m, no vocals) Zodiac Suite - Mary Lou Williams (40m, no vocals) Have a terrific Thursday. 1 Smithsonian Interviews with Jazz Musicians, via Rutgers. Most if not all of the facts in this post originated from this interview. Thank you to the Smithsonian for conducting this interview (in 1973) and to Rutgers for digitizing its collection. |
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Edvard Grieg
Wednesday, October 4, 2023
Good morning. Today we're listening to Edvard Grieg, a Norwegian composer and pianist. Born in 1843, Grieg began piano lessons with his mother at age six, and enrolled in Leipzig Conservatory at
Flow State Episode 196
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Listen now (97 mins) | Good morning. Today's mix opens with two ambient tracks from Haruhisa Tanaka, a Japanese ambient composer and sound engineer. We then move through new ambient music from
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Good morning. Today we're listening to William Basinski, an American ambient musician. We've featured Basinski four times to date, mostly focusing on the Disintegration Loops and newer works.
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Good morning. It's Friday so we're listening to something more upbeat. Today we're listening to Tom VR, an English electronic music producer based in London. Tom went to university in Leeds
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Good morning. Today we're listening to Chicago Underground Quartet, a jazz quartet from you guessed it – Chicago. The quartet was originally formed by guitarist Jeff Parker, trumpeter Rob Mazurek,
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