Soul On Soul. - The Music Shelf

Bookwatch, The, Sept, 2004

Soul On Soul

Tammy L. Kernodle

Northeastern University Press.

360 Huntington Avenue, 416CP

Boston, MA 02115

1555536069 $30.00 www.nupress.neu.edu

Soul On Soul: The Life And Music Of Mary Lou Williams is a superbly researched, written, and presented biography by Tammy Kernodle (Associate Professor of Music, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio) of one of the most accomplished African-American pianists, composers, and arrangers of American jazz. Mary Lou Williams (1910-1981) was a versatile musical phenomena who experimented with and mastered most of the emerging styles in the evolution of jazz. She wrote for and arranged music for such legends as Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman, was a friend, mentor and teacher to Theolonious Monk, Charlie Parker, and Dizzy Gillespie. Strongly recommended for 20th Century American Music History and Black Studies reading lists and reference collections, Soul On Soul is a fitting and superbly presented biography that provides a long neglected respect to one of the truly important and influential women in the evolution of jazz.