We discovered a gold mine of music, when we discovered Mary Lou Williams. Her music is not the same stuff warmed over, it's something brand new. We both know how old the blues is, but you ain't heard the blues until you hear hers; it causes me to spiral into the inner recesses of my mind, and let the lives of the people who created the blues flash before me.
She is the most individualistic musician I've heard since Mingus. That was in 59 when I first heard Mingus; you have to put things into their proper perspective; nobody had heard anything like Mingus, and we didn't know what to make of him, but I had to keep playing Mingus over, and over.
Now, every time I hear the same tune by Mary Lou, I hear something new; that's when you know you're listening to a gifted artist.
