"I've known Deanna Witkowski as a friend and jazz pianist for more than two decades. I've experienced her compassion, her artistry, her gift for translating the sacred into intricate and gorgeous melodies. I've known her as a musician, but now I'm pleased to also know her as an author. I can think of few people better equipped to bring the story and music of Mary Lou Williams to life. Deanna shines brilliant light on Williams's humanity, faith, and immense influence on jazz music. But she also builds a strong case for why Williams was one of our most important modern composers of sacred works. I suspect the music of Mary Lou Williams will be added to many new playlists as a result of this excellent book."
Edward Gilbreath, author of Reconciliation Blues and Birmingham Revolution

"Deanna Witkowski’s Mary Lou Williams: Music for the Soul is a thrilling account of the extraordinary life of a brilliantly successful African American jazz artist who became a devout Catholic—and it is so much more besides. The reader who accompanies Mary Lou on her journey bears witness to the historical circumstances that shaped her era: the evolution of jazz music in America, the challenges African American musicians faced as they tried to practice their art, the sexism of the jazz world, the difficult and often tragic lives of professional musicians, and the powerful appeal of the Catholic Church to artists in search of meaning in life, stability, and a spiritual home. Witkowski, as a jazz artist herself who converted to Catholicism, is the ideal person to write this biography of Mary Lou, a figure from the great pantheon of jazz musicians in whom she 'unexpectedly found a soul companion and lifelong mentor.' Her extensive musical knowledge makes her the perfect guide to Williams’s work, and her identity as a fellow Catholic enables her to empathize with Mary Lou’s spiritual journey. A meticulously researched and well-told tale, Mary Lou Williams is rife with cliffhangers, foreshadowing, tragic losses, psychic and religious visions, and unexpected intrusions of grace. It is also, to this reader’s delight, a labor of love."
Angela Alaimo O’Donnell, author of Flannery O’Connor: Fiction Fired by Faith

Deanna Witkowski is a professional jazz pianist, composer, and liturgical musician. She is the winner of the Great American Jazz Piano Competition and most recently, a featured performer with the Pittsburgh Symphony. As a noted Williams scholar, Witkowski is dedicated to bringing the pioneering jazz pianist-composer Mary Lou Williams’s soulful legacy to communities across the United States.