Remember Me: Celebrating Mary Lou Williams in Poetry and Music | Arts + Literature Laboratory | Madison Contemporary Arts Center

Remember Me: Celebrating Mary Lou Williams in Poetry and Music

A 2025 Madison Jazz Festival Event

Madison Jazz Festival 2025 and Arts + Literature Laboratory present Remember Me: Celebrating Mary Lou Williams in Poetry and Music, a celebration of the first lady of jazz, with poet Fabu Philis Carter and pianist Jane Reynolds on Tuesday, June 10, 2025 at 7:00pm.

Mary Lou Williams became one of the most influential pianists and composers in jazz history, whose work encompassed all eras and styles of jazz. Poet Fabu Phillis Carter and pianist Jane Reynolds share her story, from child prodigy to the “first lady of jazz.” They return home to Madison after presenting the Remember Me program at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. on May 10, 2025 as part of the Mary Lou Williams Jazz Festival. 

Poet Fabu

Fabu Phillis Carter is an artist professionally known as Poet Fabu in Madison, Wisconsin. She is a poet, columnist, storyteller, and teaching artist who writes to encourage, inspire and remind.  Selected as the first African American to become a Madison Poet Laureate (2008-2012), she continues to share the Black experience living in the South, the Midwest and in Africa. She served as poetry editor for Umoja Magazine and Madison Magazine. In 2019, she was poetry editor for the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets annual edition. She currently serves as poetry editor for the Capitol City Hues and is a culture columnist for the Cap Times newspaper. Dr. Fabu Carter has a PhD from the University of Nairobi, the African Women’s Center. She was recently selected as a Commissioner for the Madison Arts Commission. Also in 2021, she co-hosted Poetry for Life, a telephone poetry session every Thursday with Poet Gary Glazner. In 2022 that became the in-person... Read More

Pianist Jane Reynolds

Jane Reynolds

Jane Reynolds is one of the most respected pianists in the Madison area, known for her teaching, performing, and composition. She is an improvisor, an artist, and a teacher who helps her students discover and explore their own creativity.

Jane hosted WORT 89.9 FM’s Strictly Jazz Sounds for an incredible 37 years, including 17 years with co-host Steve Braunginn. Besides hosting the popular radio show, Jane is a pillar of the jazz community in Madison. In 1985, Jane helped found the Madison Music Collective and always made a point to highlight and interview local and regional artists on Strictly Jazz Sounds. She also created the Weekly Jazz Calendar to increase visibility for local jazz musicians in the Madison community.

 

with additional funds from the Endres Manufacturing Company Foundation, the Evjue Foundation, Inc., charitable arm of The Capital Times, the W. Jerome Frautschi Foundation, and the Pleasant T. Rowland Foundation.

PLAN YOUR VISIT

Arts + Literature Laboratory is located at 111 S. Livingston Street #100, Madison, Wisconsin, 53703.

Our galleries are open Tuesday through Friday 10am-5pm and Saturday noon to 5pm, and other programs take place throughout the week. Please check the events calendar and education section for details.

CALENDAR

Sign Up For Our Newsletter

Stay up to date on upcoming programs and opportunities through our monthly newsletter.