Jazz Articles about Marian McPartland

Marian McPartland & Friends: 85 Candles - Live in New York

by Samuel Chell
June 3, 2005

As might be expected, this is a quite uneven collection, capturing the festive occasion that was Marian McPartland's 85th birthday party. There are no truly “low" points, but a few are inessential. Norah Jones reprises Hoagy Carmichael's “The Nearness of You," the single standard from her gold record “Come Away with Me" (Karrin Allyson, despite having vocal difficulties on this date, proves more engaging with her reading of McPartland's “Twilight World"). Both McPartland and the great (always underrated) Billy Taylor ...

Marian McPartland & Friends: 85 Candles - Live in New York

by Ken Franckling
May 17, 2005

Pianist Marian McPartland has made a boatload of friends during her many years in jazz. Many of them turned out for her 85th birthday soirée at New York's Birdland club two years ago. That's right, the grand dame of jazz is now 87! Fortunately for jazz history buffs and McPartland fans alike, a large number of them took active roles in the four-hour midtown bash as performers. Some took the stage with Dame Marian to mix it up musically, while ...

Marian McPartland & Friends: 85 Candles: Live in New York

by Jim Santella
April 4, 2005

On the day after Marian McPartland turned 85, this large group of her jazz friends got together at Birdland in New York to celebrate with her. She played piano with them in an endearing program of love songs that belie their affection for each other. Everybody loves Marian McPartland and respects her for her many accomplishments.

Concord's 2-CD set captures this event in detail. It has aired on NPR several times. McPartland enjoyed the get-together. Of the evening's ...

Marian McPartland and Lionel Hampton: Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz with Lionel Hampton

by Aaron Rogers
July 16, 2004

For over twenty years, jazz pianist Marian McPartland has hosted NPR's Piano Jazz, a radio broadcast that showcases some of the most important artists in jazz history. Piano Jazz not only presents McPartland's piano playing along with the music of jazz greats like Bill Evans and Dizzy Gillespie, but it also provides a forum for her to engage in informative and delightful conversation with guest artists about their lives in the colorful world of jazz.

On Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz ...

Marian McPartland: Windows

by Steven Robinson
May 14, 2004

Windows is a combined CD reissue of two out-of-print albums recorded by pianist Marian McPartland in 1979. Disc one, originally released as Portrait of Marian McPartland, is a studio trio recording with Brian Torff (bass) and Jake Hanna (drums) with the addition of the immensely talented Jerry Dodgion. It’s simply a great set. The trio plays an appealing mix of standards and originals with warmth, style and intimacy. Dodgion’s flute solo on the McPartland original “Time and Time Again” is ...

Marian McPartland: Piano Jazz with Mary Lou Williams

by Terrell Kent Holmes
March 22, 2004

Pianist and world treasure Marian McPartland, who received a NARAS Trustees Award at this year’s Grammy Awards, has hosted her radio show Piano Jazz for about a quarter century. The Jazz Alliance label has captured a few of these jewels on CD, including the wonderful premiere featuring the very underappreciated pianist, arranger and composer Mary Lou Williams (1910-1981). From the moment McPartland gushes “Mary Lou!” the listener is in for a special treat: two jazz legends and good friends, performing ...

Marian McPartland in Huntsville, Alabama, February 27, 2004

by Ken Dryden
March 17, 2004

Still going strong at 85, Marian McPartland hardly coasts her way through a concert, playing a predictable set. She does have her favorite quips, quoting Lawrence Welk’s insistence on introducing Billy Strayhorn’s best known composition as “Take a Train," or dedicating Chick Corea’s “Windows" to Microsoft founder Bill Gates, but her performances always contain (as Whitney Balliett describes memorable jazz) “the sound of surprise."

Two favorite collaborators from Chicago, bassist Jim Cox and drummer Charles Braugham, accompanied her ...