Jazz pianist Marian McPartland performed professionally since the 1930’s, at clubs and concert halls around the globe and on scores of recordings. To millions of radio listeners, she is also the host of Marian McPartland’s Piano Jazz, the popular Peabody Award winning National Public Radio series which has celebrated more than 30 years on the air. This documentary contains archival photos, footage from a variety of programs and interviews which present highlights of Marian’s career and document the amazing journey of the jazz loving English teenager with a gifted musical ear.
Young Margaret Marian Turner was one of jazz’s biggest fans, listening to and learning music on the BBC. With a certificate for performance from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama for classical music, Margaret shocked her family by abandoning the classics and school to join and tour with a vaudeville group headed by Billy Mayerl in 1938. At the onset of World War II Marian was entertaining troops in England and a few days after D-day, performed with the USO. In Belgium she met Jimmy McPartland, a coronet player from Chicago and they married in Germany in 1945. The couple settled in Manhattan in 1949 and from 1952 to 1960 Marian McPartland led a trio at the Hickory House on Manhattan’s legendary 52nd Street. With mentors like Duke Ellington, the pianist grew in stature among her peers. As her versatility increased, she started composing her own pieces. In 1958, Marian was invited to participate in the Great Day in Harlem photoshoot for Esquire Magazine.
In the 1950s, Marian advocated teaching jazz in the schools. In the 60s and 70s Marian started her own record label and writing music reviews. Marian McPartland’s Piano Jazz, a radio program developed and produced by South Carolina Educational Radio was launched on NPR in April 1979. On the air for over 30 years, with over 700 shows, it reached listeners worldwide.
Side Notes
- Jimmy and Marian McPartland: Profiles in Jazz - Cornetist Jimmy McPartland and pianist Marian McPartland were married for 22 years (1945-67). Their careers in jazz, if taken together, spanned a remarkable 90 years. https://syncopatedtimes.com/jimmy-and-marian-mcpartland-profiles-in-jazz/
- Marian McPartland's Hickory House Trio on Piano Jazz.
- Duke Ellington - April 1899 - May 1974 An originator of big-band Jazz, Duke Ellington was an American composer, pianist and bandleader who composed thousands of scores over his 50-year career. Biography of Duke Ellington.
- Bill Evans was a giant of jazz piano and one of Marian McPartland's first guests on Piano Jazz in 1979.
- Oscar Emmanuel Peterson (August 15, 1925 – December 23, 2007 was a Canadian jazz pianist and composer. Considered a virtuoso and one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time, Peterson released more than 200 recordings, won eight Grammy Awards, as well as a lifetime achievement award from the Recording Academy, and received numerous other awards and honors. Oscar Peterson on Piano Jazz.
- Julian Waterfall Pollack - Performed with Marian McPartland when he was 18. Pollack is a Los Angeles-based pianist/keyboardist and producer described by Timeout New York as a musician who “deftly balances virtuosity with tenderness.” Julian is known for his innovative use of keyboards and synthesizers in jazz, fusion, hip-hop, and electronic styles of music.
- Keith Jarrett played with Marian McPartland for Piano Jazz at his barn.
