The Magazine You Can Play  - (800) 759-3036

MARIAN

McPARTLAND

BY STUART ISACOFF

In the golden of age of jazz, outstanding performers could achieve celebrity status (though often without celebrity pay): Charlie Parker had a club named after him; Duke Ellington was heralded in the swankiest venues, made it into the movies, and appeared on television; Miles Davis, the Prince of Darkness, won countless Grammies, and even made a triple platinum recording. Times have changed, and few jazz musicians enjoy public recognition of that sort. Marian McPartland is an exception.

Of course, when jazz was golden, she was one of its crown jewels. Born in England in 1918, she has been a part of the tradition for nearly its entire lifespan. With her radio show, Piano Jazz, which, after thirty years, is still ongoing, she has promoted, elevated, and helped shape the art form. So when Jazz at Lincoln Center recently held an event to celebrate her ninetieth birthday at New York’s Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, the place was packed with admirers.

Marian first pursued classical studies at the Guildhall School of Music in London , but left to join a fourpiano act. Then, while touring to entertain the troops in 1944, she met her future husband, Chicago cornetist Jimmy McPartland, a Bix Beiderbecke protégé. From that moment on, her journey in jazz was unstoppable. She just released a new recording, Twilight World, and it is filled with the kind of harmonic sophistication and lyrical elegance for which she has been hailed. In speaking recently with Piano Today, she made it clear that, despite the wear and tear and fragility that comes from living nine decades, her plans do not include the notion of slowing down.

We wondered how, as a classical student, she became interested in pursuing a career in jazz. “I was into jazz long before I entered the Guildhall School,” she explains.

“I picked up everything I heard on the radio, and when I was fifteen I had a boyfriend who brought jazz records over to the house— Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington and others. I was really in love with jazz before I ever went to school. In fact, right from the start I was doing two things—trying to become a concert pianist, and, on the side, learning all the jazz tunes. That made my professor very annoyed. He came in one day when I was trying to play some Teddy Wilson licks, and said, “Stop playing that trash!” I’m afraid that did not stop me.”  

Continued in the Spring 2008 issue of Piano Today subscribe

From the editors of Piano Today