Marian McPartland

[Kyo]

Are her early Savoy recordings worth getting? There are two

official compilations out there that cover most of the stuff.

[king ubu]

I love her "Piano Jazz" show, I've collected quite a few of them by now... yes, she indeed seems like a sweet lady, and the way she's able to deal with the most different settings is im rpessive (CT has been mentioned, another fun one is the Chick Corea session done in Chick's home studio, with him on various keys and synths).

She did one show (I think in the late 90s) that reunited the Hickory House trio - good fun!

[Big Beat Steve]

Are her early Savoy recordings worth getting? There are two

official compilations out there that cover most of the stuff.

Yes they definitely are! Her Savoy 2-LP set gets frequent spins here.

I have only casually explored the subsequent Capitol stuff but what I've heard is nice too.

Yet somehow she is valued only for her latter-day recordings. Great as they may be, they don't tell the whole story.

Marian McPartland is one of those jazz artists where somehow the key years of her career (when these artists were closer to the jazz scene at large) tend to get overlooked. She was very much part of the 50s jazz scene yet somehow she is among that part of jazz history that is unfairly ignored. Everybody drools over Bud Powell, Duke Jordan, the "Miles Davis Quintet pianists", Elmo Hope and other hard hitters etc. but fails to realize there was another (or in fact several other) school(s) of modernist jazz piano playing and those female-led piano trios had a lot going for themselves. And white jazz piano playing in the 50s wasn't all George Shearing after all.

Edited February 21, 2008 by Big Beat Steve

[fent99]

Has anyone heard here great recording called "Silent Pool"? It's great! All the orchestrations/arrangements are by Alan Broadbent (who's a great pianist as well).

I haven't heard Silent Pool, bluenote82, but it probably should be on my "short list" of must-hears. Alan Broadbent is a marvelous arranger. There are maybe five or six jazz "with strings" albums - tops - that reach me. This sounds like a candidate for a spot on that list. Any other reactions to this album?

I don't know the album but the title tune is one of my faves of hers. The with strings version is on a compilation and there's a trio version on a live album at Yoshi's. I first heard it played solo on one of her Piano Jazz progs, maybe with Jim Hall?

[sidewinder]

And white jazz piano playing in the 50s wasn't all George Shearing after all.

And they are two of our most illustrious musical exports to the US - along with Victor Feldman the ony ones who 'made' it in the USA, before Tubby Hayes. Whereas Shearing has high profile over here, that of Mrs McPartland should be higher !

[Ken Dryden]

Twilight World is an excellent trio session, opening with the title track, followed by "In the Days of Our Love" (originally titled "Interlude" when it was an instrumental) and Ornette Coleman's "Turnaround."

Ms. McPartland has been a great interview and just fun to talk to any time I've had the opportunity. But one of my favorite moments was her putdown of a lousy Baldwin baby grand provided to her for a concert. Her comment during the soundcheck was priceless.

[Guest bluenote82]

Are her early Savoy recordings worth getting? There are two

official compilations out there that cover most of the stuff.

Yeah, I would definitely try and track those down. I own "Live At The Hickory House" and it's a 2-LP concert on Savoy and it's really good.

[7/4]

March 21, 2008

Music Review | Marian McPartland

Marking a Milestone With a Light Touch

By NATE CHINEN, NY Times

After settling into her station at the piano on Wednesday night at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, Marian McPartland took a stab at solidarity. “Is anybody else here 90?” she asked, polling the crowded room.

There were no affirmative responses, so after a brief moment she moved on. In this place, at this moment, she was unique in more ways than one.

Ms. McPartland was presiding over her own 90th-birthday party with characteristic lightness and aplomb. While her gold lamé gown underscored a sense of occasion, she made sure to dispense with formality. “I guess I should say thank you to the Arthritis Foundation,” she said, eliciting much laughter. She seemed pleased by the piano-shaped cake that was eventually presented to her, but her focus was chiefly on the music.

This should surprise no one who has heard “Piano Jazz,” the entertaining and edifying show Ms. McPartland has had on public radio for nearly 29 years. “Piano Jazz” features thoughtful conversation and tandem playing by Ms. McPartland and her guests. The first set at Dizzy’s conveyed a similar feeling, though there wasn’t room enough for two pianos on the stage. So the only pianist to sit in was Jason Moran, who offered a warm and knowing solo rendition of “Time and Time Again,” one of Ms. McPartland’s compositions. The other musical guests fell in with Ms. McPartland and her longstanding trio, featuring Gary Mazzaroppi on bass and Glenn Davis on drums.

Jeremy Pelt, playing fluegelhorn, brought an easy grace to the songbook standard “Moonlight in Vermont.” Regina Carter imbued her violin with a hauntingly vocal quality on an exquisite reading of “Come Sunday,” the Duke Ellington hymn. Karrin Allyson sang a pair of enduring ballads by Ms. McPartland: “Twilight World” (lyrics by Johnny Mercer) and “There’ll Be Other Times” (lyrics by Margaret Jones).

And Norah Jones, who recalled seeing Ms. McPartland when Ms. Jones was 13 and hoarding bootleg cassettes of “Piano Jazz” — “You killed my social life, Marian,” she said — sang three standards in a row. They got progressively better: “Blame It on My Youth” was likable, but “Yesterdays,” sung at Ms. McPartland’s request, felt rewardingly like a stretch. For a moment Ms. Jones sounded like a true-blue jazz singer, even as she sounded like herself.

Ms. McPartland still has her pellucid touch and her careful yet comfortable style, as she demonstrated on several trio numbers, including “Turnaround,” a blues by Ornette Coleman. That tune can be heard on “Twilight World” (Concord), Ms. McPartland’s sparkling new studio album.

So can “Alfie,” the Burt Bacharach movie theme, which Ms. McPartland plays as a solo meditation. She included it in her set at Dizzy’s, and it was a quiet gem: sophisticated but simple, without an ounce of pretense or self-absorption. In other words, entirely appropriate.

[Teasing the Korean]

Bossa Nova + Soul

[six string]

Has anyone heard here great recording called "Silent Pool"? It's great! All the orchestrations/arrangements are by Alan Broadbent (who's a great pianist as well).

I haven't heard Silent Pool, bluenote82, but it probably should be on my "short list" of must-hears. Alan Broadbent is a marvelous arranger. There are maybe five or six jazz "with strings" albums - tops - that reach me. This sounds like a candidate for a spot on that list. Any other reactions to this album?

Silent Pool is a favorite of mine. I have a small book shelf in the living room with one shelf devoted to early morning kind of discs and this one has never left. It is one of the most beautiful jazz w/strings albums I have ever heard. The strings are well integrated into the music, not some "topping" as a second thought.

That Wallace Roney album is very nice too.

[trane_fanatic]

At 90, she just keeps on going. Congrats.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2 articles from the Wall Street Journal...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120579772720443531.html

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120579919942343669.html

[AndrewHill]

Bossa Nova + Soul

Found this used yesterday (along with In Concert on Savoy, which I have on hold). So I'm a little confused; it says that she plays just piano in the credits, but I swear I hear a whole lot of electric piano in there. Is that true?

This is the first time I've ever heard anything by McPartland and she sort of sounds Brubeckish at times. Anyone else hear that?

And lastly, what are your opinions on 'In Concert'? I'm diggin' Bossa Nova enough, but I wasn't sure how her other stuff was.

If someone has already recommended 'In Concert' sorry for not looking harder for it

[Christiern]

Here's a Polaroid™ of two of my favorite ladies, Alberta and Marian.

[Teasing the Korean]

NPR recently ran a GREAT vintage Piano Jazz installment with Henry Mancini as guest:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.p...toryId=94772943

And yes, there is Wurlitzer electric piano on Bossa Nova + Soul.

[mrjazzman]

haven't heard it but for some strange reason Im interested in her album "Now's The Time" on Halcyon 1977.

Can't find it anywhere. Has anyone heard it?, tell me about it.......................

[marcello]

I'll show you something strange.

Here's some photos I took the noght before and during the recording, which is a live set recorded in Rochester, N.Y. June 1977:

Mary Osborne, Vi Redd, Dottie Dodgion, Marian McPartland and Lynn Milano.

Edited October 9, 2008 by marcello

[mrjazzman]

I'll show you something strange.

Here's some photos I took the noght before and during the recording, which is a live set recorded in Rochester, N.Y. June 1977:

Mary Osborne, Vi Redd, Dottie Dodgion, Marian McPartland and Lynn Milano.

fantastic photos, wish I could find the LP

[Peter Friedman]

I'll show you something strange.

Here's some photos I took the noght before and during the recording, which is a live set recorded in Rochester, N.Y. June 1977:

Mary Osborne, Vi Redd, Dottie Dodgion, Marian McPartland and Lynn Milano.

Marcello,

These photographs bring back some nice memories. I was at that gig the evening you took the pictures. That is when I was living in Henrietta, NY.

[ghost of miles]

Marian McPartland on Afterglow last week.