Deanna Witkowski on her new biography of jazz artist Mary Lou Williams

5825 Forbes Avenue,Pittsburgh PA 15217

23 September, 2021

Description

Local composer, pianist, and author Deanna Witkowski will discuss her biography of the pioneering jazz pianist-composer Mary Lou Williams Though jazz composer and pianist Mary Lou Williams, who died in 1981, is not as well-known today as contemporaries such as Thelonious Monk, Bud Powell, and Dizzy Gillespie, her musical and spiritual legacy is lately the focus of renewed, and well-deserved, appreciation. This year has already seen the release of two new interpretations of her signature work, Zodiac Suite. Now, a new biography of Williams explores the spiritual journey that led her to convert to Catholicism, and to spend the rest of her life sharing her gospel message that “jazz is love.” In Mary Lou Williams: Music for the Soul (Liturgical Press, $16.95 paper, September 15, 2021), Williams scholar Deanna Witkowski, offers a poignant portrait of the pioneering jazz pianist-composer. DEANNA WITKOWSKI is an award-winning jazz pianist and composer who recently relocated to Mary Lou Williams’s hometown of Pittsburgh after spending twenty-three years as a New Yorker. Her seven recordings include the forthcoming Force of Nature (MCG Jazz) featuring all Williams compositions, and Makes the Heart to Sing: Jazz Hymns (Tilapia Records), featuring 14 jazz arrangements of classic hymns alongside a companion sheet music book. As a frequent guest music leader, Witkowski has shared her original liturgical jazz in over one hundred churches throughout the United States. She has lectured and performed the music of Mary Lou Williams at venues including the Kennedy Center, Duke University, Fordham University, and with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. She is currently a PhD student in jazz studies at the University of Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh's premier independent bookstore, Riverstone Books features a well-curated selection of literary and popular fiction, nonfiction, and children’s books.  In addition, we offer a variety of gift items, greeting cards, and children’s puzzles, educational games, and literary stuffed animals. Our experienced booksellers are voracious readers who love to match people to books they will love.