Early Sessions
Before the McPartlands set sail for the United States at
the end of World War II, they recorded with guitarist Vic Lewis in London on
January 6, 1946. Marian was the pianist on six tracks of the Vic Lewis Jam
Sessions Volume 3: 1945-1946, The Jimmy And Marian McPartland Sessions And The 1946 Jazzmen on the Harlequin label.
Marian McPartland's first recordings
with the Jimmy McPartland Band in 1948 reveal her immersion in, and grasp of,
the Chicago style. Marian's liner notes to Marian And Jimmy McPartland: Goin' Back A Ways, entitled 'Memories of Chicago', are illuminating:
Jimmy had already found his niche in jazz history when he replaced
Bix Beiderbecke with the Wolverines in 1924, and with his many recordings, notably
the Chicago Jazz album with the Austin High School Gang, for Brunswick Records - a collector's
item from the moment it was released. Now we thought it was the right time
to record together, with our existing quartet. Without any knowledge of the
record business, but with a lot of enthusiasm, we started our own label, Unison Records.
We recorded 'Royal Garden Blues', 'In A Mist', 'Daughter Of Sister Kate', and
'Davenport Blues'. I believe we must have been among the first musicians to
start our own record company. Jimmy's son-in-law, Don Kassel, designed the
label in silver and blue. In two sessions we recorded the four sides, featuring
various members of the groups who had worked with us at the Brass Rail and the
Blue Note. Making this record was important to us both - it was my first in the
United States (although I had recorded years before for English Decca and Billy
Mayerl) and the first for Jimmy since his return from Europe and the army.
The band included our regular rhythm section at the time: Mousie Alexander,
one of the best drummers around, and our solid, swinging bassist, Ben Carlton. In
1948, when the first four sides were made, the Chicago music scene had done
a complete turn-around. There had been a period of no recording and very little
jazz; suddenly there was a lot of jazz, and records were proliferating (McPartland, 1972).
The McPartlands later released the Unison sides in England,
on the Harmony label owned by their friend and jazz buff, Dick Auty. Later,
they leased them to Prestige Records. Marian recalled, 'Even now copies of these sessions
are still floating around Europe and are being picked up by other companies'
(McPartland, 1972). Other musicians hired for the recording were Harry 'Slip' Lepp on
trombone, and Jack McConnell on clarinet. During a visit to London in May
1949, Jimmy and Marian recorded an album for Esquire Records with Carlo Krahmer's Chicagoans
entitled The Carlo Krahmer Memorial Album: Carlo Krahmer's Chicagoans.
By the end of 1949,
Marian had absorbed the modern sounds of local groups such as Roy Kral and Jackie
Cain with saxophonist Charlie Ventura at Jump Town on the south side, and bands
touring through Chicago such as the George Shearing Quintet with Marjorie Hyams
on vibraphone, the Joe Mooney Quartet and the Lennie Tristano Trio. Marian
also absorbed jazz sounds on Dave Garroway's famous radio show on station WMAQ
in Chicago long before he took over The Today Show in New York.
Influenced
by these sounds, Marian arranged tunes such as 'Softly In A Morning Sunrise'
and Jerome Kern's 'Yesterdays' for a Quartet recording on December 7, 1949.
The group consisted of Marian (piano), Fred Rundquist (guitar), Ben Carlton
(bass) and Mousie Alexander (drums), but the recording was never issued on Unison Records.
At this time, the McPartlands made the decision to move to New York permanently. Then, on December
21 in Boston they made another four sides for Unison - 'Come Back Sweet Papa',
'Use Your Imagination', 'Manhattan' and 'Singin' The Blues'. Boston musicians
on this session were trombonist Vic Dickenson, Gene Sedric on clarinet, Bob Varney
on bass and Max Wayne on drums. Marian McPartland retained the masters of
these two sessions, added two tracks preserved on acetate, and later released
the ten tracks on her Halcyon label in 1972 under the title Marian And Jimmy McPartland: Goin' Back A Ways.
By 1950, Marian McPartland was becoming known to listeners
of ABC's Piano Playhouse, and through appearances on the Dave Garroway and Fred
Robins shows. She proceeded to record for a variety of labels - Unison, Esquire,
Prestige, Federal, Parlophone, King, Savoy, Brunswick, Capitol, Jazztone, EmArcy,
Epic, Bainbridge, Cedar, Sesac, Dot and Argo from 1950 on, a total of thirty-four
albums, some with Jimmy and his line-up. In New York in March 1951, Marian
McPartland put together a quintet to record four tracks on the Federal label
- 'Flamingo', 'It's Delovely', 'Liebestraum No. 3' and 'Four Brothers'. This
was the first of Marian McPartland's recordings augmenting her trio sound with
strings. This album featured arrangements for harp and cello with Reinhardt
Elster playing the harp, and Barnard Greenhouse the cello, along with Bob Carter
on bass and Don Lamond on drums.
In 1950, the Marian McPartland Trio performed
at George Wein's Storyville Club in Boston, and the session was recorded. An
emcee announced Marian as 'Marian Page McPartland' and she and her sidemen,
Eddie Safranski and Don Lamond, had to contend with a tinny piano. Charlie Bourgeois,
George Wein's assistant, sent a tape of the concert to Herman Lubinsky, head
of Savoy Jazz, known as the label where bebop began:
Mr. Lubinsky liked the tape and wanted to produce a record from
it. Although I had previously recorded four sides for the Federal label, I
was naturally eager to have a whole album out, so I let Savoy use the tape,
even though the piano at Storyville was somewhat out of tune. I had made no
royalty agreement with Herman Lubinsky, but this didn't stop me. It was my
first record for Savoy, and it was more important to me than any financial arrangement.
Needless to say, such naivete is now a thing of the past (McPartland, 2003: 23).
The release of Marian McPartland's first Savoy Jazz recording,
Jazz At Storyville Vol 3: Featuring Marian McPartland, was supervised by critic Nat Hentoff, who also wrote the liner notes, and produced
by Charles Bourgeois. Eddie Safranski and Don Lamond, her sidemen for this recording, also worked with Marian McPartland at The Embers nightclub when she opened in New York. There is evidence of Marian
McPartland recording four tracks with Safranski and Lamond for
Savoy Jazz in New York City. Only three of these tracks, identified as tracks 5, 6 and 7, are on the Savoy release Great Britain's: Marian McPartland And George Shearing Trios. 'Moonlight In Vermont' was not included.
In April 1952, Marian McPartland recorded four tracks for Savoy, Moods:
Volume 2, with Max Wayne on bass and Mel Zelnick on drums. These tunes
are tracks 1, 2, 3 and 4 on the Savoy album. On December 12, 1952, with Mousie
Alexander replacing Zelnick on drums, Marian recorded six tracks for Savoy,
with the title The Magnificent Marian McPartland At The Piano. Marian
McPartland, Safranski and Lamond are listed as recording tracks 5 to 7 on December
22, 1952, for the album Great Britain's. These tracks are three of the four
tunes, minus 'Moonlight In Vermont', from the June 4, 1951, session. Great
Britain's featured the George Shearing Trio playing the remaining eight
tracks on the album, re-released in 1992 on the Denon Records label. A new cover design was observed on this Great Britain's CD in Tower Records, New York, in 2005.
In April 1953, the Marian McPartland Trio recorded six
tracks in a studio in New York for Savoy Jazz, with Bob Carter on bass and Joe Morello
on drums, the title being Lullaby Of Birdland. However, there is evidence
of these tunes being released under the different title Marian McPartland: Moods. Although
Marian McPartland was resident pianist at the Hickory House at this time, the
album was a studio session.
In late May 1953, the Marian McPartland Trio recorded with trumpeter 'Hot Lips' Page in Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, for the Brunswick label. This recording, featuring a fine 'Sheik Of Araby', is on an LP called Jazztime, USA, Vol. II on Brunswick/Coral.
In October
1953, Marian recorded Marian McPartland: At The Hickory House, an
informal session at the club with Vinnie Burke on bass and Joe Morello on drums.
This was released on Savoy as a 2-LP set. Marian remembered going to see Herman
Lubinsky at his cramped cluttered Savoy Jazz office in Newark, New Jersey:
Sometimes we would listen to tapes, and I would tell him which
tracks I thought we should use and which ones we should discard. He would nod
solemnly in agreement and assure me that my wishes would be carried out. Nevertheless,
over the years almost everything I recorded for Savoy, including the
rejects I had hoped were consigned to the wastebasket, surfaced on albums in
one form or another. And they are still floating around today (McPartland, 2003: 23).
In 1993, Savoy Jazz reissued four tracks from Jazz at Storyville
and seven tracks from At the Hickory House as Marian McPartland: In
Concert. As part of the Savoy Jazz Originals CD series, the company re-released
in 2000 the 1953 session recorded live at the Hickory House on October 8, 1953,
with Vinnie Burke and Joe Morello (12 tracks) and the studio recording with
Bob Carter and Joe Morello from April 27, 1953 (5 tracks). This CD is entitled
Marian McPartland: On 52nd Street, and the first twelve tracks
were recorded by the legendary Rudy Van Gelder, even then a skilled and respected
young technician (Keepnews, 2000). For the cover design, Marian McPartland provided
archival photographs and a hand-written letter to Herman Lubinsky requesting
the live session at the Hickory House.
Another compilation in the 'Timeless' series includes tracks from April 1952 with Max Wayne and Mel Zelnick, from
December 1952 with Eddie Safranski and Don Lamond, and five further tracks
recorded live at the Hickory House in October 1953. Timeless: Marian McPartland was released in 2002 (Milkowski, 2000).
Released on May 4, 2004, on the Savoy Jazz label is Marian McPartland's most recent offering - Giants Of Jazz: Marian McPartland, a compilation of trio tracks recorded in New York in the 1950s (www.bestprices.com).
In September 1954, Marian recorded eight studio tracks
with Bill Crow on bass and Joe Morello on drums for her first Capitol recording,
the album named The Marian McPartland Trio. Bill Crow reminisced:
It was in February of 1954 that Marian McPartland called me to
join her trio at the Hickory House on 52nd Street in New York City.
She had settled into that historic jazz venue a couple of years earlier, and
at the time she called me, Joe Morello was her drummer. I quickly said 'Yes'
without even asking about the salary. I was eager to play a steady gig with
such fine musicians. We were comfortable together as a trio right away. Marian
worked out interesting arrangements with us, and gave us a lot of room to develop
as soloists. We all learned from each other, strove to expand our musical abilities,
and soon were practically reading each other's minds while improvising. In
the process we became good friends. Before long we were being touted by the
jazz writers as the hot new trio around town. Metronome Magazine even
named us 'Best Small Group of the Year' in 1955 (Crow, 1999).
The same year, Joe Morello was named New Star in Drums in
DownBeat's Jazz Critics' Poll. For her next recording on Capitol Records, Marian McPartland
again added the warmth of strings to the trio sound. With Ruth Negri on harp
and George Koutzon on cello, she recorded four tracks, experimenting with the gentle,
lyrical quality the strings imparted to ballads. The Marian McPartland Trio
With Strings was recorded in December 1954. Capitol issued another Marian
McPartland Trio recording in October 1955, again involving four tracks
with her Hickory House sidemen, Crow and Morello.
In the same month, another concept album of 'Marian McPartland Trio With Strings' appeared, this time with Betty Glamann
on harp and Lucien Schmidt on cello, along with Crow and Morello. Then Margaret
Ross replaced Betty Glamann on harp for four tracks in November 1955, also on
Capitol Records. This album was released as Marian McPartland: After Dark, with the cover portraying
Marian playing the piano with a harp in the background. According to critic
Nat Hentoff, Marian McPartland went on her first extended tour in two years
when she traveled from March to September in 1955. Liner Notes for the album
After Dark, released on January 1, 1956, explain that:
Marian experimented further with her use on the earlier set of
an added harp and cello on the slow numbers. She doesn't use them as jazz instruments
but for coloring. If this new album does as well as Capitol's executives expect,
Marian may go on the road with the added instruments. 'I'd like to use the sound
of the cello and harp with my regular trio,' she explains, 'as a wedge to get
into places that aren't usually receptive to jazz. I refuse to do anything
corny or gimmicky in the use of cello and harp in a jazz context, but I think
the instruments are valuable coloristically when written for with taste and
played with ability' (Hentoff, 1956).
From 25 to 28 July, 1956, William Britto replaced Bill Crow
on bass for three separate recording sessions for Capitol Records, resulting in ten
tracks for a trio album The Marian McPartland Trio. On January 16 and
29, and February 6, 1957, Marian recorded a further 'Marian McPartland Trio
With Strings' session for the Capitol label, with Jimmy Campbell on drums for two sessions,
and Gus Johnson on drums for the February date. The string quartet consisted
of Max Cohn, George Ricci, Arnold Eidus and Isador Zir, with Margaret Ross on
harp. This album of eleven tracks was entitled Marian McPartland: With You
In Mind, the title of one of Marian's original compositions. This was during
the heyday for 52nd Street, and was also a prolific recording period
for most jazz artists.
Perhaps through further naivete, Marian lost artistic
control over her Capitol recordings:
And all those things I recorded for Capitol years ago. I don't know
where they are. I tried to get them back. They won't even listen to me when
I say I'd like to take them or borrow them or rent them or whatever (Waz, 1978: 35)
In February 1956, Marian had recorded with the Jimmy McPartland
Quintet with Jimmy Raney on guitar, Trigger Alpert on bass and Joe Morello on
drums. The recording was released for the labels Grand Award, Top Rank and Columbia. In New York in 1956,
she recorded with Jimmy, Vic Dickenson on trombone, Bill Stegmeyer on clarinet,
Bud Freeman on tenor saxophone, Milt Hinton on bass and Joe Morello on drums. This recording was released
as Jimmy McPartland's Chicago Stompers for the Jazztone Records label. Marian
McPartland appeared on piano, backing singer Helen Merrill, on nine tracks with
the Hal Mooney Orchestra for the EmArcy label in 1957. Jimmy McPartland's All
Stars, a fifteen-piece band, recorded again in January 1958, and the session
was released on Epic Records. Marian does not appear on some tracks, except in spirit
on the tune 'Marian The Librarian'. Returning to the trio format, Marian recorded
ten tracks, with William Britto on bass and Joe Cusatis on drums, at the London
House, Chicago, for the Argo Records release Marian McPartland: At The London House.
In September 1960, Marian McPartland was one of seven compatible
players who came together for early morning sessions to record arrangements of superior TV themes
by horn player and arranger, Dick Cary. Members of the
group, apart from the McPartlands, were drummer Mousie Alexander and bassist
Ben Tucker (then working with Marian at the Hickory House), trombonist Urbie
Green identified as 'Manhattan Red' for contractual reasons, clarinettist Andy
Fitzgerald (a key member of the Joe Mooney Quartet), and arranger Dick Cary,
fluent on all brass instruments as well as piano. The themes included 'Peter
Gunn' and 'Mr. Lucky' by Henry Mancini, 'Sentimental Journey' from the Dave
Garroway show, and the title tune 'Thanks For Dropping By', the catchy theme
from the Garry Moore show. Jimmy & Marian McPartland: Thanks For Dropping By was originally released
in 1960 on the Design Records (DCF) label, but later released in 1998 on CD on Simitar Entertainment Inc (Hall, 1960).
Marian McPartland returned to Chicago
later in September 1960 to record a tribute to the music of Leonard Bernstein
with Ben Tucker on bass and Jake Hanna on drums for Bainbridge Records. She
played twelve Bernstein tunes on Marian McPartland Plays The Music Of Leonard Bernstein, and
this selection was also released on Time Records. The New York Times jazz critic John. S. Wilson wrote the liner notes for this session:
Full freedom for improvisation is one of the essentials that Marian
looks for in her playing. She invariably works in a trio because, she once
told Dom Cerulli in DownBeat, 'I like to be free and able to improvise.
If someone calls out a tune and we have no arrangement of it, even if we don't
know it, it's always fun to work it out as we go. To me, that's jazz' (Wilson, 1960).
A puzzle is that when later released on CD on Cedar Records,
the album Marian McPartland Plays Leonard Bernstein with this title contained eight tracks not attributable to Bernstein. These tracks were in fact recorded in 1963 by the Marian McPartland Group (Marian, Ben
Tucker, Dave Bailey, Ralph Dorsey on conga drum and Bob Crowden on tambourine)
and released on the Time Records label as Marian McPartland: Bossa Nova +
Soul.
[Author's note: It is possible the Cedar CD was a bootleg copy, as it carries minimal
discographical information and no indication of place of manufacture (See Discography)].
Marian McPartland wrote the liner notes for the Time session, outlining her
different approach to recording:
This album is quite different from anything I have ever recorded.
One of the interesting and unusual features is the addition of the conga drum
and tambourine to my regular group. We have been playing the Bossa Nova since
Dave Bailey joined the trio several months ago and demonstrated this new rhythm
that he and Ben Tucker had heard while on tour in Brazil earlier this year. I
also decided to experiment with the Wurlitzer electronic piano on 'Love For
Sale', 'Stranger In A Dream' and 'Comin' Home, Baby'. After hearing the playback
we were pleased with the funky sound of the little electronic piano (McPartland, 1963).
On November 28, 1963, Marian McPartland appeared at a concert
in Houston, Texas, with Benny Goodman. Although Marian shared the piano duties with John
Bunch, only the Benny Goodman/Marian McPartland Quintet segment of the concert
was recorded and the tape's audio quality was apparently quite good. In January
1964, Marian recorded with the Frank Hunter Orchestra, an album released on
Sesac Records as She Swings With Strings and on The Jazz Vault label as Marian McPartland
& Trio.
Jimmy McPartland And His All-Stars recorded at the First Annual
Manassas Jazz Festival on the Memorial Day Weekend of 1966. Hank O'Neal was
the recording engineer, and George H. Buck Jr. the executive producer. The
album was initially released on the Jazzology label, and later released on CD in 2001.
Marian
McPartland attracted fine New York players, bassist Ron Carter and drummer Grady
Tate, for a June 1968 recording, along with an unnamed vocal quintet. Dedicated
to the compositions of Sam Coslow, the album was released on Dot Records as My Old Flame: Marian McPartland Performs The Classic Hits Of Sam Coslow.
In February 1969, Marian McPartland gathered together trumpeters Bobby Hackett
and Jimmy McPartland, along with her regular bassist Michael Moore, to record
four tracks for the More Informal Sessions (MIS) label.
It is interesting to note that Marian McPartland had begun
to record some of her own compositions during this period. 'There'll Be Other
Times' was recorded in 1956, 'With You In Mind' in 1957, and again in 1963, along
with 'Stranger In A Dream'. 'Melancholy Mood', based on a phrase Jimmy played
to warm up, was recorded in 1969.
While ensconced in the Hickory House during
the 1950s, Marian McPartland continued to record on different labels until the
rumbling of rock 'n' roll sounded the death knell for jazz. Although recordings
from 1963 to 1970 on appear to indicate that Marian McPartland was able to surround
herself with top flight New York musicians, she was struggling to survive in
the recording industry. The big recording companies were favoring the rock
stars and regarding jazz as non-commercial. Marian McPartland was about to take revenge
by founding her own record company, Halcyon Records.
Savoy Jazz is now renamed Savoy Label Group.
References
McPartland, M. (1972)
Liner Notes to Marian And Jimmy McPartland: Goin' Back A Ways, Halcyon Records
McPartland, M. (2003) Marian McPartland's Jazz World: All In Good Time, Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press
Blumenthal, B. (2000) Liner Notes to Marian McPartland: On 52nd Street, Savoy Jazz Inc
Keepnews, O. (2000) Reissue Producer's
Liner Notes to Marian McPartland: On 52nd Street, Savoy Jazz
Milkowski, B. (2000) Liner Notes to Timeless: Marian McPartland, Savoy Jazz Inc
Unknown author (2004) 'Giants Of Jazz: Marian McPartland (New Music CD)', Available: http://www.bestprices.com [January, 2005]
Crow, B. (1999) Liner Notes to
Marian McPartland's Hickory House Trio: Reprise, Concord Records Inc
Hentoff, N. (1956) 'Marian McPartland:
British Gift To Jazz', Record Whirl, February
Waz, J. (1978) 'Marian McPartland:
A Fine Romance', Jazz Forum, pp. 34-36
Hall, F. (1960) Liner Notes to Jimmy And Marian McPartland: Thanks For Dropping By, Design Records - (1998) Simitar Entertainment Inc
Wilson, J. S. (1960) Liner Notes
to Marian McPartland Plays Music Of Leonard Bernstein, Bainbridge Records
McPartland, M. (1963) Liner Notes
to Marian McPartland: Bossa Nova + Soul, Time Records
Marian McPartland Recordings On Various Labels To 1969
Harlequin Records - Vic Lewis Jam Session,
Volume 3: 1945-1946, The Jimmy And Marian McPartland Sessions and The 1946 Jazzmen
Unison Records - Jimmy McPartland Band, never released on Unison (later released as Marian And Jimmy McPartland: Goin'
Back A Ways on Halcyon Records)
Esquire Records - The Carlo Krahmer
Memorial Album, Carlo Krahmer's Chicagoans
Federal Records - The Marian McPartland
Quintet
Savoy Jazz - Jazz At Storyville Vol 3: Featuring Marian
McPartland
Savoy Jazz - Marian McPartland: Moods Vol 2
Savoy Jazz - The Magnificent Marian McPartland
Savoy Jazz - Great Britain's: Marian McPartland And George Shearing Trios
Savoy Jazz - Lullaby Of Birdland (Moods)
Savoy Jazz - Marian McPartland: At The Hickory
House
Brunswick/Coral Records - Jazztime, USA, Vol II (With 'Hot Lips' Page)
Capitol Records - Marian McPartland Trio With Strings
Capitol Records - The Marian McPartland Trio
Capitol Records - Marian McPartland: After Dark
Capitol Records - Marian McPartland: With You In Mind
Grand Award Records - Jimmy McPartland Quintet
Jazztone Records - Jimmy McPartland's Chicago
Stompers
EmArcy Records - Helen Merrill With The Hal Mooney Orchestra
Epic Records - Jimmy McPartland All Stars
Argo Records - Marian McPartland: At The London
House
Design Records - Jimmy & Marian McPartland: Thanks For Dropping By (later released on Simitar Entertainment Inc)
Bainbridge Records - Marian McPartland Play Music Of Leonard Bernstein
Time Records - Marian McPartland Play Music Of Leonard Bernstein
Cedar Records - Marian McPartland Plays Leonard Bernstein
Time Records - Marian McPartland: Bossa Nova + Soul
Sesac Records - She Swings With Strings (Marian McPartland
With The Frank Hunter Orchestra)
Jazzology Records - Jimmy McPartland And His All-Stars
Dot Records - My Old Flame: Marian McPartland Performs
The Classic Hits Of Sam Coslow
MIS Records - Marian McPartland (With Jimmy McPartland,
Bobby Hackett and Michael Moore)
Savoy Jazz - Marian McPartland: In Concert (Reissue
1993)
Savoy Jazz - Marian McPartland: On 52nd
Street (Reissue 2000)
Savoy - Timeless: Marian McPartland (Reissue
2002)
Savoy Jazz - Giants Of Jazz: Marian McPartland (Reissue 2004)
Reviews
Apart from liner notes, and Marian McPartland's opinions
expressed in interviews, only two reviews are available to this researcher from
this early period of Marian's career as a recording artist:
Marian McPartland Plays Music Of Leonard Bernstein
Rating: 2 1/2 stars
Cast predominantly in an Andre Previn-Shelley Manne format, this
album offers Miss McPartland's trio playing a dozen selections from the pen
of Bernstein. All three musicians are thoroughgoing professionals, both in conception
and execution. Professionalism, however, is not in itself sufficient; some
sort of emotional undercurrent is needed if the listener's attention is to be
held. Accordingly, about halfway through the LP, one begins to hope that the
trio will throw caution and their ensemble routine to the wind and dig in and
swing. Unfortunately, this doesn't happen (Author's Initials only - ( F. K.) Magazine not verified, 2/2/1961).
Marian McPartland: In Concert
(Released in 1993, this album combines four tracks from At Storyville (1951) and seven tracks from At The Hickory House (1953)
English-born pianist Marian McPartland had been in America for
about four years when she took the bass player Eddie Safranski and drummer Don
Lamond into the Storyville Club, Boston, in 1951 and the first four tracks on
this CD were recorded there. The final seven came two years later from the
Hickory House, New York, with McPartland leading Vinnie Burke on bass and Joe
Morello on drums.
All the tunes are well-known pop/jazz standards and McPartland
is in superb touch throughout sounding a little like George Shearing with block
chords interspersed with long rippling runs. She has able support from both
rhythm sections with the drummers using brushes throughout and Lamond dropping
bass-drum bombs. The only adverse criticism is that the Storyville piano sounds
tinny (probably caused by the acoustics not the piano tuner) while the balance
brings Safranski's bass too far forward.
At 73 she is still playing as well as ever and still making records. This Savoy
reissue is an excellent example of young Marian's early work in the New World
(Ric Prestidge, 2MBS-FM Program Guide, September, 1993).
From Liner Notes Of Selected Recordings During This Period
Jimmy McPartland And His All-Stars On Stage
The Jimmy McPartland All-Stars recorded this session at Virginia's
first annual Manassas Jazz Festival in 1966. It was a spontaneous session played
by a group of skilled musicians under the leadership of Jimmy McPartland, who
plays the cornet given to him by Bix Beiderbecke. Of particular interest is an
impromptu performance of 'Hello Dolly', the hit from the show recorded for posterity
by Louis Armstrong. Marian McPartland had never played this tune before, and
picked up the chords instantly. When musicians of this calibre get together
in a live session, there is a special rapport with an audience (Quoted from
Liner Notes by Hank O'Neal)
Timeless: Marian McPartland
The popular 'grand dame of piano jazz' has been a fixture on the
jazz scene for a half-century. The genesis of her remarkable career is captured
here with the exuberant swing and lush readings she is famous for. Four tracks
were recorded in 1952 with Max Wayne on bass and Mel Zelnick on drums, while
three featured Marian's trio from The Embers with Eddie Safranski on bass and
Don Lamond on drums, also in 1952. In 1953 Rudy Van Gelder recorded five tracks
of the Marian McPartland Trio live at the Hickory House, with Vinnie Burke on
bass and Joe Morello on drums, just prior to his joining the Dave Brubeck Quartet.
Marian is in fine fettle on all tracks, ranging from the sprightly 'Strike Up
The Band' to the romantic ballad 'Embraceable You' to the rococo rendition of
'All The Things You Are' (Quoted from Liner Notes by Bill Milkowski)
