McPartland, Marian (1920—)

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McPartland, Marian (1920—)

English-born jazz pianist who organized her own trio, made numerous recordings, and hosted her own show on public radio . Name variations: Marian Page. Born Margaret Marian Turner in Slough near Windsor, England, on March 20, 1920; daughter of Frank Turner (a civil engineer) and Janet (Payne) Turner (a pianist); attended Guildhall School of Music, London; married Jimmy McPartland, on February 4, 1945 (divorced then remarried two weeks before he died in 1991).

Composed "Twilight World" and "Ambience." Albums include: Ambience, Fine Romance, Now's the Time, Solo Concert at Haverford, Personal Choice, and In My Life.

Studied classical music at the Guildhall School of Music before moving into jazz; toured English vaudeville theaters as pianist with Billy Mayerl (1941); toured with Britain's ENSA in Europe (1943) and with USO camp shows in France (1944); came to U.S.(1946); formed group with husband, played with Billie Holiday; formed own trio (1951); toured U.S. nightclubs; played Hickory House in New York City (1952–60); performed with Benny Goodman (1963); founded Halcyon Records (1969); toured South America with Earl Hines and Teddy Wilson (1974); made numerous recordings; won Peabody Award for hosting her National Public Radio series "Piano Jazz" (1984); given lifetime achievement award from Down Beat (1994).

As a jazz artist, Marian McPartland had three strikes against her—she was English, white, and a woman. Jazz was created by black musicians, many of them male, and some of them unwilling to share the spotlight with an interloper. Once, a group of eminent black male musicians played an entire set with their backs turned to her. Over time, however, McPartland earned their respect, because she was an extremely fine musician. After many decades at the keyboard, she became a much-beloved figure, her musicianship winning over her critics.

Marian McPartland's background was atypical for a jazz musician. She was born in Slough (a name she disdains), near Windsor, England. "I like to say I was born near Windsor Castle, which is true," she said. "Members of my family actually had homes inside the castle grounds and I've been able to tour places in the castle the public never sees." She began to play the piano by ear at the age of three or four, picking out the Chopin waltzes she heard her mother playing on the piano. In kindergarten, she was already a performer, playing away at the keyboard while admirers gathered around. When she was in her late teens, a teacher convinced her parents that she should study music seriously. McPartland was accepted at London's Guildhall School of Music, one of the world's preeminent institutions. Here she studied theory, sight-singing, piano, violin, and composition, sometimes practicing eight hours a day. Her piano teacher, Orlando Morgan, disapproved of popular music, but McPartland listened to it anyway and played it whenever she had the chance; she always played by ear. McPartland knew little about jazz; when she picked out tunes from Duke Ellington, Art Tatum, or Teddy Wilson, she knew nothing about the performers or their music.

Before McPartland received her degree at Guildhall, she snuck off to play for Billy Mayerl, a popular pianist in the West End. When he hired her for a piano act, her parents were frantic. Her father, who wanted her to become a nurse, offered her £1,000 to turn him down, until he learned she would be paid £5 a week, then a small fortune. McPartland began traveling with Mayerl's four-piano group, performing throughout Great Britain in vaudeville theaters; it was a happy period for her. In 1943, during World War II, she volunteered for the Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA) and later switched to the USO, going to France with the first group after the Normandy invasion. She enjoyed the opportunity to meet and hear American performers like Fred Astaire, Dinah Shore , James Cagney, and Edward G. Robinson. She was sitting in on a jam session in Belgium when Jimmy McPartland, the famed cornetist, walked in; he reacted like many musicians: "O, God, a woman player!," he groaned. "And she's going to sit in—I know she's going to be lousy." Wrote McPartland: "It so happens he was right. In those days I hadn't learned how to back up a jazz soloist. I didn't really keep steady time, or listen enough to the other players. I was so eager to prove myself that I just went barging in with lots of enthusiasm and not too much expertise." Soon they were entertaining troops on the front lines, and he began to appreciate her talent and her harmonic ideas. They were married in Aachen, Germany, on February 4, 1945. Shortly afterwards, she returned with him to Chicago, and then to New York.

Marian McPartland had entered the center of the jazz world at the right time. Her husband encouraged her to form her own group, so in 1951 the Marian McPartland Trio opened at the Embers Club. In February 1952, they opened at the Hickory House; she would play there off and on throughout the 1950s. "Having my own combo," said McPartland, "I was never in the position of waiting to be hired by some leader who might have harbored one prejudice or another. … Being a woman could be an asset. It was unusual enough for people to remember me, and club owners hire musicians who draw audiences; they don't care if the draw is a man or a woman."

Having started her own trio, in 1969 McPartland founded her own recording label, Halcyon, on which her work as well as that of other musicians was released; she also wrote songs including "Twilight World," and "There'll Be Other Times." Her radio career began on WBAI, New York's public radio station, with a two-hour jazz show, "A Delicate Balance." She has since hosted an hourly show, "Piano Jazz," for over 15 years on National Public Radio (NPR), conversing and improvising duets with top musicians, including Bobby Short, Stephen Sondheim, and Susannah McCorkle .

A legend in her own right, McPartland has been hailed by jazz critic Leonard Feather as "one of the great jazz pianists." When "she gets her left hand going," wrote jazz commentator Len Lyons, "she can make the piano seem to be strutting across the stage." But McPartland not only plays a good show, she talks it. Educating the public about jazz has been an ongoing mission, in jazz workshops and clinics at all levels, as well as on radio. She particularly enjoyed touring public schools to teach about jazz. Improvisation, she felt, is an important skill for children. When Down Beat singled McPartland out for its annual lifetime achievement award in 1994, they were recognizing in her work "her ongoing interest in subsequent generations of jazz musicians."

Marian McPartland is synonymous with piano jazz. Her soothing, upper-class voice conveys elegance and style as does her piano playing. Although jazz was born in the drums of Africa, the streets of New Orleans, Memphis, and Chicago, and in black churches throughout America, it is not a culturally narrow form. It invites diversity and creativity. Marian McPartland's career demonstrated the international nature of this musical form. She has recorded over 40 albums, the latest being a salute to composer Mary Lou Williams . "If you go hear a Chopin recital," said McPartland, "you know what you're going to hear. But if you're going to hear a jazz group, you really don't know what you're going to hear. It's all very on the spur of the moment. It's such a creative thing."