Pearl Williams-Jones ( née Williams) (June 28, 1931 – February 4, 1991) was an American gospel musician.
A native of Washington, D.C., Williams was the daughter of Smallwood Edmond Williams, pastor of the Bible Way Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ. [1] She attended public schools in the District, graduating from Charles Young Elementary, Brown Junior High School and Dunbar High School. [2] She studied piano with Hazel Harrison and Natalie Hinderas while attending Howard University, from which she received both a bachelor's degree and a master's of music, [1] and from which she graduated magna cum laude. [3] She served as minister of music at her father's church and performed as a singer and pianist throughout the United States and Europe, [1] appearing in such venues as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, Wigmore Hall in London and the Suphiensalle in Munich. [4] A well-regarded scholar of gospel music, she spent decades as a professor of music at the University of the District of Columbia, where she developed the first degree program in the United States dedicated to the study and performance of gospel. [1] She taught jazz history and music appreciation as well, and directed the university's gospel choir. [3] She served as a technical advisory on the film Say Amen, Somebody. [5] For two decades she consulted with the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, and worked as an administrative staff member of its African Diaspora Advisory Group. [1] Williams-Jones published a number of works, including a study of the work of Roberta Martin written with Bernice Johnson Reagon. [1] As a composer she was especially known for her performance of "Jesus, Lover of My Soul" to the accompaniment of Johann Sebastian Bach's " Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring". [6] [7] [8]
Williams-Jones received an honorary degree from Lynchburg College in 1972. [1] She died in 1991 after an 18-month battle with cancer. [3] She was married to Williams V. Jones, MD, with whom she had two children, Yvonne and Virgil Jr. [2]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g The Grove Dictionary of American Music. OUP USA. January 2013. ISBN 978-0-19-531428-1.
- ^ a b "Washington, DC Ready to Honor DR. PEARL WILLIAMS JONES". 7 February 2013. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
- ^ a b c Harris, H. R. (9 February 1991). "GOSPEL COMMUNITY LOSES A PIVOTAL VOICE". Retrieved 13 November 2016 – via washingtonpost.com.
- ^ "Pearl Williams Jones's Biography — Free listening, videos, concerts, stats and photos at". Last.fm. Retrieved 2016-11-13.
- ^ "Filmography for Pearl Williams-Jones". Retrieved 13 November 2016.
- ^ Horace Clarence Boyer (1995). The Golden Age of Gospel. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-252-06877-5.
- ^ Bernice Johnson Reagon (2001). If You Don't Go, Don't Hinder Me: The African American Sacred Song Tradition. U of Nebraska Press. p. 30. ISBN 0-8032-8983-9.
- ^ "African American Heritage Hymnal 453. Jesus, lover of my soul - Hymnary.org". Retrieved 13 November 2016.
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External links
- Pearl Williams-Jones Papers at the Library of Congress
- 1931 births
- 1991 deaths
- American gospel singers
- American Pentecostals
- Singers from Washington, D.C.
- Howard University alumni
- University of the District of Columbia faculty
- Deaths from cancer in Washington, D.C.
- Dunbar High School (Washington, D.C.) alumni
- American women academics
- 20th-century African-American women singers
- 20th-century American women singers
- 20th-century American singers