Requisites

Black Christ of the andes is a 1963 recording from Mary Lou Williams on the MPS label. Photographer Charles “Chuck” Stewart provided the original cover image for designer Gigi Berendt, however, there was a second image provided for the 2004 reissue. In the mid-to-late 1950s, the jazz composer and pianist retired from public performance for nearly four years. During her hiatus she converted to Catholicism, and the first record she made after her return was a marked departure from her previous work: it was a mass.

In 1962, the Catholic Church canonized a new saint: A Peruvian brother of the Dominican Order named Martin de Porres, the son of a freed slave named Ana Velazquez and a Spanish gentleman who refused to recognize him because he was born with his mother’s dark features. St. Martin de Porres was a gifted healer who was dedicated to the poor — today, he is the patron saint of those who seek racial harmony.

The fourteen tracks on the album are St. Martin de Porres, It Ain’t Necessarily So, The Devil, Miss D. D., Anima Christi, A Grand Night For Swinging, My Blue Heaven, Dirge Blues, A Fungus Amungus, Koolbonga, Forty-Five Degree Angle, Nicole, Chunka Lunka and Praise The Lord.

The opening hymn, “St. Martin de Porres,” begins with a choir singing a cappella. The chords — dense and full of satisfying tensions — showcase Williams’ previously underutilized aptitude for vocal arrangement. As they sing the saint’s name, the choir slows down, masterfully swelling on the vowels as if to prove their devotion. When Williams finally enters on the keys, she does so with an Afro-Latin groove, perhaps a nod to the heritage of the hymn’s subject.

Williams, a leading exponent of stride piano, a difficult style of playing similar to ragtime, was developed in New York City’s Harlem during World War I. As one of the most influential women in jazz, she was a mentor to the likes of Charlie Parker and Thelonious Monk.

Mary Lou Williams’ Black Christ of the andes is jazz for the soul and an overlooked choral masterpiece that should be a part of every collection.

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