Marian McPartland
Encyclopedia
Margaret Marian McPartland, OBE
(née
Turner; born March 20, 1918) is an English
-born jazz pianist
, composer
, writer
, and the host of Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz
on National Public Radio, NPR.
and the violin
, in addition to the piano
.
in London. Much to the dismay of her family, she developed a love for American jazz and musicians such as Duke Ellington
, Fats Waller
, Teddy Wilson
, Mary Lou Williams
, and many others. In 1938, despite her family's efforts to keep her at Guildhall, Marian left to join Billy Mayerl's
Claviers, a four-piano vaudeville
act, performing under the stage name of Marian Page. The group toured throughout Europe during World War II
, entertaining Allied troops.
While touring with USO shows in Belgium
, she met and began performing with Chicago
cornetist Jimmy McPartland
in 1944. The couple soon married, playing at their own military base wedding in Germany
.
After the war, they moved to Chicago to be near Jimmy's family. Then, in 1949, the McPartlands settled in Manhattan
, living in an apartment in the same building as the Nordstrom Sisters
. With Jimmy's help and encouragement, Marian started her own trio which enjoyed a long residency at a New York City
jazz club, the Hickory House, during 1952-1960. The drummer Joe Morello
was a member of the group until he departed to join Dave Brubeck
's Quartet. She also played at The Embers.
In the 1953-1954 season, McPartland appeared as a regular on NBC
's Judge for Yourself
quiz program emceed by Fred Allen
, with Dennis James
as the announcer.
After many years of recording for labels such as Capitol
, Savoy
, Argo
, Sesac, Time, and Dot, in 1969 she founded her own record label, Halcyon Records, before having a long association with the Concord Jazz label.
In 1964, Marian McPartland launched a new venture on WBAI-FM (New York City), conducting a weekly radio program that featured recordings and interviews with guests. Pacifica Radio
's West Coast stations also carried this series, which paved the way for Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz
, a National Public Radio series that began on June 4, 1978. It is the longest-running cultural program on NPR as well as being one of the longest-running jazz programs ever produced on public radio.
Several programs in the new series, which features McPartland at the keyboard with guest performers (usually pianists), have been released on CD by the Concord Records
label. McPartland celebrated the twenty-fifth anniversary of the NPR series with a live taping at the Kennedy Center
for which Peter Cincotti
was the guest.
, for her work as an educator, writer, and host of NPR Radio's long-running Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz. Although a master at adapting to her guest's musical styles and having a well-known affinity for beautiful and harmonically-rich ballads, she also has recorded many tunes of her own. Her compositions include "Ambiance", "There'll Be Other Times", "With You In Mind", "Twilight World", and "In the Days of Our Love".
Just before her 90th birthday, she composed and performed a symphonic piece, A Portrait of Rachel Carson
to mark the centennial of the environmental pioneer.
She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2010 New Year Honours.
She also is a synesthete, associating different musical keys with colors, stating that: "The key of D is daffodil yellow, B major is maroon, and B flat is blue".
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(née
Married and maiden names
A married name is the family name adopted by a person upon marriage. When a person assumes the family name of her spouse, the new name replaces the maiden name....
Turner; born March 20, 1918) is an English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
-born jazz pianist
Jazz piano
Jazz piano is a collective term for the techniques pianists use when playing jazz. The piano has been an integral part of the jazz idiom since its inception, in both solo and ensemble settings. Its role is multifaceted due largely to the instrument's combined melodic and harmonic capabilities...
, composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
, and the host of Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz
Piano Jazz
Piano Jazz is a weekly one hour radio show produced and distributed by National Public Radio. It began on June 4, 1978 and has always been hosted by jazz pianist Marian McPartland. It is the longest running cultural program on NPR. The show features a single guest, and usually consists of about an...
on National Public Radio, NPR.
Early life
Marian Turner was a musical prodigy from the time she could sit at the piano, about the age of three. She studied classical musicClassical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
and the violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
, in addition to the piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
.
Career
She pursued classical studies at the Guildhall School of Music and DramaGuildhall School of Music and Drama
Guildhall School of Music and Drama is an independent music and dramatic arts school which was founded in 1880 in London, England. Students can pursue courses in Music, Opera, Drama and Technical Theatre Arts.-History:...
in London. Much to the dismay of her family, she developed a love for American jazz and musicians such as Duke Ellington
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
, Fats Waller
Fats Waller
Fats Waller , born Thomas Wright Waller, was a jazz pianist, organist, composer, singer, and comedic entertainer...
, Teddy Wilson
Teddy Wilson
Theodore Shaw "Teddy" Wilson was an American jazz pianist whose sophisticated and elegant style was featured on the records of many of the biggest names in jazz, including Louis Armstrong, Lena Horne, Benny Goodman, Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald.-Biography:Wilson was born in Austin, Texas in...
, Mary Lou Williams
Mary Lou Williams
Mary Lou Williams was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger. Williams wrote hundreds of compositions and arrangements, and recorded more than one hundred records...
, and many others. In 1938, despite her family's efforts to keep her at Guildhall, Marian left to join Billy Mayerl's
Billy Mayerl
Billy Joseph Mayerl , was an English pianist and composer who built a career in music hall and musical theatre and became an acknowledged master of light music. Best known for his syncopated novelty piano solos, he wrote over 300 piano pieces, many of which were named after flowers and trees,...
Claviers, a four-piano vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
act, performing under the stage name of Marian Page. The group toured throughout Europe during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, entertaining Allied troops.
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, she met and began performing with Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
cornetist Jimmy McPartland
Jimmy McPartland
James Dugald McPartland , better known as Jimmy McPartland, was an American cornetist and one of the originators of Chicago Jazz...
in 1944. The couple soon married, playing at their own military base wedding in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
After the war, they moved to Chicago to be near Jimmy's family. Then, in 1949, the McPartlands settled in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, living in an apartment in the same building as the Nordstrom Sisters
Nordstrom Sisters
The Nordstrom Sisters were an American cabaret act which performed internationally from 1931 to 1976.Dagmar Nordstrom the younger of the two sisters was a composer, arranger and the pianist of the duo...
. With Jimmy's help and encouragement, Marian started her own trio which enjoyed a long residency at a New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
jazz club, the Hickory House, during 1952-1960. The drummer Joe Morello
Joe Morello
Joseph Albert Morello was a jazz drummer best known for his 12½-year stint with The Dave Brubeck Quartet. He was frequently noted for playing in the unusual time signatures employed by that group in such pieces as "Take Five" and "Blue Rondo à la Turk"...
was a member of the group until he departed to join Dave Brubeck
Dave Brubeck
David Warren "Dave" Brubeck is an American jazz pianist. He has written a number of jazz standards, including "In Your Own Sweet Way" and "The Duke". Brubeck's style ranges from refined to bombastic, reflecting his mother's attempts at classical training and his improvisational skills...
's Quartet. She also played at The Embers.
In the 1953-1954 season, McPartland appeared as a regular on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's Judge for Yourself
Judge for Yourself
Judge for Yourself, at first subtitled The Fred Allen Show, is an unconventional Mark Goodson and Bill Todman quiz and audience participation television program, with comedian Fred Allen as the emcee. It aired on NBC from August 18, 1953, to May 11, 1954...
quiz program emceed by Fred Allen
Fred Allen
Fred Allen was an American comedian whose absurdist, topically pointed radio show made him one of the most popular and forward-looking humorists in the so-called classic era of American radio.His best-remembered gag was his long-running mock feud with friend and fellow comedian Jack Benny, but it...
, with Dennis James
Dennis James
Dennis James was an American television personality, actor, and announcer. He is credited as the host of television's first network game show, the DuMont Network's Cash and Carry in 1946...
as the announcer.
After many years of recording for labels such as Capitol
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
, Savoy
Savoy Records
Savoy Records is an American record label specializing in jazz, R&B and gospel. Starting in the mid 1940s, Savoy played an important part in popularizing bebop.Savoy Records is an American record label specializing in jazz, R&B and gospel. Starting in the mid 1940s, Savoy played an important part...
, Argo
Argo Records
Argo Records was started in December of 1955 to accommodate some of the rapidly growing recording activity at Chess Records. Originally the label was called Marterry, but bandleader Ralph Marterie objected, and within a couple of months the imprint was renamed Argo.Initially, Argo offered a...
, Sesac, Time, and Dot, in 1969 she founded her own record label, Halcyon Records, before having a long association with the Concord Jazz label.
Radio career
Pacifica Radio
Pacifica Radio is the oldest public radio network in the United States. It is a group of five independently operated, non-commercial, listener-supported radio stations that is known for its progressive/liberal political orientation. It is also a program service supplying over 100 affiliated...
's West Coast stations also carried this series, which paved the way for Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz
Piano Jazz
Piano Jazz is a weekly one hour radio show produced and distributed by National Public Radio. It began on June 4, 1978 and has always been hosted by jazz pianist Marian McPartland. It is the longest running cultural program on NPR. The show features a single guest, and usually consists of about an...
, a National Public Radio series that began on June 4, 1978. It is the longest-running cultural program on NPR as well as being one of the longest-running jazz programs ever produced on public radio.
Several programs in the new series, which features McPartland at the keyboard with guest performers (usually pianists), have been released on CD by the Concord Records
Concord Records
Concord Records is a U.S. record label now based in Beverly Hills, California. Originally known as Concord Jazz, it was established in 1972 as an off-shoot of the Concord Jazz Festival in Concord, California by festival founder Carl Jefferson, a local automobile dealer and jazz fan who sold his...
label. McPartland celebrated the twenty-fifth anniversary of the NPR series with a live taping at the Kennedy Center
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is a performing arts center located on the Potomac River, adjacent to the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C...
for which Peter Cincotti
Peter Cincotti
Peter Cincotti is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He attended the Horace Mann School and Columbia University.-Biography:...
was the guest.
Awards and compositions
Marian was awarded a Grammy in 2004, a Trustees' Lifetime Achievement AwardGrammy Trustees Award
The Grammy Trustees Award is awarded by the Recording Academy to "individuals who, during their careers in music, have made significant contributions, other than performance, to the field of recording". Through 1983, performers could also receive this award...
, for her work as an educator, writer, and host of NPR Radio's long-running Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz. Although a master at adapting to her guest's musical styles and having a well-known affinity for beautiful and harmonically-rich ballads, she also has recorded many tunes of her own. Her compositions include "Ambiance", "There'll Be Other Times", "With You In Mind", "Twilight World", and "In the Days of Our Love".
Just before her 90th birthday, she composed and performed a symphonic piece, A Portrait of Rachel Carson
Rachel Carson
Rachel Louise Carson was an American marine biologist and conservationist whose writings are credited with advancing the global environmental movement....
to mark the centennial of the environmental pioneer.
She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2010 New Year Honours.
Musical style
McPartland's encyclopedic knowledge of jazz standards, highly musical ear, involvement in over 60 years of evolving jazz styles, and rich experience blending with radio guests has led to a musical style that has been described as: "flexible and complex, and almost impossible to pigeonhole". She is known as a harmonically and rhythmically complex and inventive improviser: "She was never content to be in one place, and always kept improving. She has great ears and great harmonics. Because of her ear, she can go into two or three different keys in a tune and shift with no problem."She also is a synesthete, associating different musical keys with colors, stating that: "The key of D is daffodil yellow, B major is maroon, and B flat is blue".
Honorary degrees
- Ithaca CollegeIthaca CollegeIthaca College is a private college located on the South Hill of Ithaca, New York. The school was founded by William Egbert in 1892 as a conservatory of music. The college has a strong liberal arts core, but also offers several pre-professional programs and some graduate programs. The college is...
- Hamilton College
- Union CollegeUnion CollegeUnion College is a private, non-denominational liberal arts college located in Schenectady, New York, United States. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents. In the 19th century, it became the "Mother of Fraternities", as...
- Bates CollegeBates CollegeBates College is a highly selective, private liberal arts college located in Lewiston, Maine, in the United States. and was most recently ranked 21st in the nation in the 2011 US News Best Liberal Arts Colleges rankings. The college was founded in 1855 by abolitionists...
- Bowling Green University
- University of South CarolinaUniversity of South CarolinaThe University of South Carolina is a public, co-educational research university located in Columbia, South Carolina, United States, with 7 surrounding satellite campuses. Its historic campus covers over in downtown Columbia not far from the South Carolina State House...
- Eastman School of MusicEastman School of MusicThe Eastman School of Music is a music conservatory located in Rochester, New York. The Eastman School is a professional school within the University of Rochester...
- Berklee College of MusicBerklee College of MusicBerklee College of Music, located in Boston, Massachusetts, is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known primarily as a school for jazz, rock and popular music, it also offers college-level courses in a wide range of contemporary and historic styles, including hip...
- City University of New York
Other awards
- Down BeatDown BeatDown Beat is an American magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond" to indicate its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chicago, Illinois...
Lifetime Achievement Award - 2007 - National Radio Hall of Fame
- 2006 - Long Island Music Hall of FameLong Island Music Hall of FameThe Long Island Music Hall of Fame is an organization whose office is located in Port Jefferson, New York. It was incorporated in July 2005 under the New York State Board of Regents as a non profit organization and holds a provisional charter to operate as a museum in the state of New York...
induction - 2004 - Grammy Trustees Award from the Recording Academy
- 2001 - American Eagle Award from the National Music CouncilNational Music CouncilThe National Music Council of the United States is a United States national organization listed under Title 36 of the United States Code, founded in 1940 and chartered by the 84th Congress in 1956. The Council is composed of organizations of national scope interested in the development of music...
- 2001 - Gracie AllenGracie AllenGrace Ethel Cecile Rosalie Allen , known as Gracie Allen, was an American comedian who became internationally famous as the zany partner and comic foil of husband George Burns...
Award from the American Women in Radio and Television - 2000 - NEANational Endowment for the ArtsThe National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
Jazz Masters Award - 2000 - Mary Lou WilliamsMary Lou WilliamsMary Lou Williams was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger. Williams wrote hundreds of compositions and arrangements, and recorded more than one hundred records...
Women in Jazz Award - 1991 - ASCAP-Deems TaylorDeems TaylorJoseph Deems Taylor was a U.S. composer, music critic, and promoter of classical music.-Career:Taylor initially planned to become an architect; however, despite minimal musical training he soon took to music composition. The result was a series of works for orchestra and/or voices...
Award - 1986 - International Jazz Association of Jazz Education Hall of Fame induction
- 1983 - Peabody AwardPeabody AwardThe George Foster Peabody Awards recognize distinguished and meritorious public service by radio and television stations, networks, producing organizations and individuals. In 1939, the National Association of Broadcasters formed a committee to recognize outstanding achievement in radio broadcasting...
External links
- The Sweet and Lovely Legacy of Marian McPartland
- Marian McPartland's Official Facebook Page
- Marian McPartland bio
- Piano Jazz: Meet Marian McPartland
- Marian McPartland, Grande Dame of 'Piano Jazz'
- NPR's version of Marian McPartland's biography
- "Marian McPartland Plays Ornette Coleman (and Everything Else!") by Ted Gioia, Jazz.com.
- "Interview with Marian McPartland" by Arnold Jay Smith, Jazz.com.
- "Marian McPartland, Jazz Pianist: An Overview Of A Musical Career"
- "ETV Radio celebrates 90th birthday of jazz legend Marian McPartland"