Writer 1949 - 2003

Becoming A Jazz Scribe

Margaret Marian Turner became a writer from a very young age growing up in England. ‘I guess it all started when I was little and we had to write and thank everybody for our birthday and Christmas gifts. And the letter had to be in good English.  It had to be properly written and spelled.  And there could be no blots, no scratching out.  Make a mistake, start over’ (Maher, 2003: xii).  

In 1949, when Jimmy McPartland was on the program at the Le Festival International de Jazz in Paris, Marian was not invited to play.  Standing in the wings listening, Marian McPartland suddenly thought of wiring DownBeat magazine to ask if they could use a description of the event.  ‘Maybe I just wanted to be noticed,’ she recalled (Maher, 2003: xiii).  The editors gave her the go-ahead to write a review covering different groups appearing at the week-long Festival, attended by 25,000 people. 

Although she had previously written small reports for Melody Maker, the UK jazz magazine, this was Marian McPartland’s debut as a jazz scribe commenting on international jazz.  What was interesting about the Festival publicity was that, in France, ‘Sidney Bechet was very big and bop was still on the edge.  The posters had Bechet’s name in huge letters, and Charlie Parker’s name was almost invisible.’  Jimmy was billed with a French group assembled for the occasion, named the New Sound Chicagoans, and other headliners were the Carlo Krahmer and Vic Lewis bands from the UK, the Tadd Dameron and Charlie Parker quintets from the USA, and Sidney Bechet backed by the Pierre Braslavsky band.  Marian wrote the piece as soon as she returned to Chicago, and her report was published in the July 1, 1949, issue of DownBeat with the byline Marian McPartland (McPartland, 1949 - Reprinted in DownBeat, May 2000, p. 49).

That Marian had a lively descriptive style of reporting on jazz was evident from the first paragraph:

Backstage at the Salle Pleyel, an excited crowd shuffled back and forth.  Musicians were warming up, stage technicians barked last minute directions, critics and kibitzers chattered excitedly and craned their necks as, 15 minutes late, a French emcee sidled in front of the curtain and announced ‘Le Festival International de Jazz est ouvert’ (McPartland, 1949).

That she was familiar with jazz and its musicians, was a keen observer of audience behaviour, and had the ability to write analytically, was also apparent.  When Vic Lewis’s British bop-styled 15-piece band played on opening night, French purists booed and hissed.  And when Carlo Krahmer's Dixie band held the stage, the progressive element loudly registered disapproval.  Marian referred to the modern Tadd Dameron Quintet as the most controversial group of the Festival, with its line-up of bop stars like trumpeter Miles Davis and drummer Kenny Clarke.  She set the scene to mirror the music: ‘Bespectacled, goateed Parisians nodded bereted heads sagely at each exciting harmonic change, screaming and whistling their approval at every soloist.'  Sidney Bechet, with his distinctive soprano sax sound, was a crowd pleaser even if the rhythm section of Pierre Braslavsky’s backing band was ‘somewhat plodding’, according to Marian.   Reviewing Jimmy’s group, Marian wrote:

Jimmy McPartland, with a French group ambiguously called the New Sound Chicagoans, brought down the house with driving choruses on ‘China Boy’ and ‘Singin' The Blues’, the latter dedicated to Bix [Beiderbecke]   But a battle of trumpets with Bill Coleman, Roland Greenberg, Aime Barelli, McPartland, ‘Lips’ Page and Miles Davis didn’t prove much except that six trumpets blasting away simultaneously on ‘Lady Be Good’ can make quite a lot of noise (McPartland, 1949).

Marian got right inside the music of the Charlie Parker Quintet, describing the boppers on the edges of their seats, and Parker ‘displaying his prodigious technique and originality of ideas, [as he] wove in and out of the rhythmic patterns laid down by [Max] Roach to the accompaniment of ecstatic cries of “Formidable!” from the fanatics.'  In just six short paragraphs, Marian McPartland, in her debut assignment of jazz reportage, brought the Le Festival International de Jazz to life.  She concluded the piece with the pithy sentence, ‘But whether their tastes were Bechet or Parker, for a whole week, 25,000 jazz fans were in their glory nightly’ (McPartland, 1949).

In 1950, using her former stage name Marian Page, Marian composed a strongly worded article for DownBeat protesting against the unions blockade preventing both American and English musicians from playing in each others’ countries (Page, 1950). 

In 1951, Marian Page wrote an article ‘Dixieland Can Marry Bop!’ for Melody Maker arguing against the labelling of Jimmy and herself as ‘Dixielander’ and ‘modernist’.  She made the point that both she and Jimmy were stylistically broadminded, and that it was essential to be versatile and fit in with any band (Page, 1951). 

In 1957, Marian McPartland went into print to explain the elusive term ‘jazz’ for Journal American, under the heading 'Lady In Jazz'.  She quoted from Duke Ellington, ‘Nobody discussed jazz – you just dig it!’ (McPartland, 1957).

Earlier in 1957, Marian McPartland was interviewed for DownBeat magazine, and her photograph appeared on the cover of the September 5, 1957 issue.  She revealed that one side of her personality emerged through her writing, confessing to ‘letter-itis’ and ‘telephone-itis’.  She scribbles letters to friends on postcards, the backs of night-club minimum charge announcements, or any other clean surface.  When she thinks of the time lapse between mailing and receiving, she will often drop the letter-writing and pick up the telephone’ (Cerulli, 1957: 13).  

Her ‘writing-writing’ (as opposed to song-writing) was spurred by Charlie Bourgeois of Boston’s Storyville (‘Now, how did he know I wrote?’ Marian mused).   Bourgeois convinced her and the editorial powers at the newspaper that the Boston Globe needed a column about Duke Ellington:

‘I wrote it on a plane,’ she grinned.  ‘And when I saw my by-line, it gassed me.’  Since then she has written columns on Helen Merrill, the Modern Jazz Quartet, Dave Brubeck, George Shearing, and Errol Garner.  She also did a piece on Art Tatum for the Detroit Free Press (Cerulli, 1957: 13).

She went on to write a series of bright, perceptive articles on jazz figures for the Boston Globe, Melody Maker in England, and for other magazines, including columns for Contemporary Keyboard and DownBeat.  Also, already recognized as an articulate writer, Marian McPartland was invited to submit an article for a book, Just Jazz 3, on ‘Playing Like A Man' (Traill and Lascelles, 1959: 54-60). 

Cleverly, she began the article by quoting from Leonard Feather's famous prediction of her three-way handicap as a jazz musician because of being ‘English, white and a girl'.  She followed that by quoting from an article by critic Nat Hentoff on the 'internationalization' of jazz:

Of all the extended American test runs by British, Canadian, French and other European jazz hopefuls, perhaps the most difficult but self revealing has been that of Marian McPartland, an English girl who not only had to prove that she could play authentic jazz, despite being a European, but who also had to counter the pervasive male chauvinism among jazz musicians and listeners.  The consensus prejudice is that while it may be possible for a female to ‘play alright for a woman’, no woman instrumentalist can be said to really swing, at least not with the emotional depth of a man.  Provisional exceptions may be made for a Mary Lou Williams, but by and large it's as difficult for a woman non-singer to be fully accepted in jazz as it is for a non-American of either gender (Hentoff quoted in McPartland, 1959: 55).   

In the 1960s, Marian was invited by editor Don DeMichael to write record reviews for DownBeat and a career sideline was born.  After a time Marian relinquished the role of jazz reviewer because of the difficulty of having to say things she didn’t like about other musicians (McDonough, 2000).   

On October 17, 1968, a piece entitled 'Marian McPartland Interviews Bill Evans' was published in DownBeat, and later incorporated into a chapter on Evans in the 1987 book All In Good Time (McPartland, 1987: 104-111), reprinted in 2003 in the Illinois Edition Marian McPartland’s Jazz World: All In Good Time (pp, 97-104 – including Postcript).

From 1968, Marian McPartland wrote several pedagogical articles for the DownBeat’s Music Workshop series.  Tutorials published included 'How To Comp', ‘Learning To Play Jazz’, ‘Voicing Piano Chords' and ‘The Anatomy Of Ambiance’, an expose on her own composition.  In 1969, two appraisals of the pieces of jazz musicians gave insights into John Coltrane’s ‘Giant Steps' and the Quincy Jones tune 'The Midnight Sun Will Never Set'.  In 1972, Marian wrote an article analyzing her waltz 'A Delicate Balance’, guiding the reader through the intricacies of the piece (DownBeat Workshop Series, 1968-1972).

Marian had been an Advisory Board Member for Contemporary Keyboard since its inception, contributing tutorials and reviews.  As part of a series called ‘Tips From CK’s Advisory Board’, Marian used ‘Giant Steps’ as the basis of an article on ‘Playing Solo Jazz Piano’.  Drawing on her experience, she was able to explain jazz theory in clear and concise terms, and soon attracted a legion of eager aspirants who got started in jazz piano through her encouraging words (McPartland, 1977: 18). 

Paying tribute to other jazz figures, Marian wrote a feature article on Benny Goodman entitled ‘Benny Goodman: From The Inside -The Sideman’s View’ for DownBeat in 1964.  Marian had played piano in the Goodman group for six months in 1963 (McPartland, 1964: 20-22).  Also in 1964, Marian’s piece on Mary Lou Williams, ‘Into The Sun’, was published in DownBeat (McPartland, 1964: 16-17).  

An article on her friend, composer Alec Wilder, ‘Alec Wilder: The Compleat Composer’, was published in DownBeat in October 1976, after Wilder organized a television broadcast featuring Mabel Mercer and Bobby Short (McPartland, 1976: 16-17, 49-50, 52). 

Interviewed in 1976 in San Francisco, Marian McPartland informed jazz writer Len Lyons that she contributed to a whole section of Arnold Shaw’s book about the heady jazz days of 52nd Street, from her perspective as a bandleader at the Hickory House (Lyons, 1983: 170).

Marian McPartland also participated in Blindfold Tests for DownBeat in 1952, 1957, 1964, 1971 and 1996.  The first was a joint test with Jimmy McPartland, and from then on Marian undertook the tests alone.  Leonard Feather conducted all the Blindfold Tests except the last, which was with Larry Birnbaum in 1996 (DownBeat, Blindfold Tests). 

Her opinions on the music she heard give valuable insights into her critical perspective on jazz.  From the first test, Marian indicated she was listening for harmony and changes, but was able to tune in to the dynamics of ensemble playing, pick out the essential qualities of piano players like George Shearing, Barbara Carroll, Bud Powell, Dave Brubeck, Art Tatum, Erroll Garner, Joanne Brackeen and Keith Jarrett, if not always identifying them on the spot.  Despite her familiarity with classical music and Bill Evans' style, Marian failed to recognize Evans playing the Scriabin ‘Prelude’ from Trio With Symphony Orchestra, arranged by Claus Ogerman (Feather and McPartland, 1971). 

In 1968, recognized as a perceptive writer as well as an innovative educator, Marian McPartland was asked to write about her experiences and impressions after performing for students in the Huntington schools.  Her key words outlined her belief in familiarizing students with jazz music to enable them to understand the art form better and express themselves through improvising:

I know that they can absorb jazz and all other art forms if they are made more familiar with them (McPartland, 1968: 48A).

In 1969, Marian McPartland wrote a lengthy article, ‘Music Is My Life’, for International Musician, tracing her beginnings in jazz, her wartime experiences, the Chicago years, the different trios she has led, and her involvement with jazz education:

Jazz is certainly not dying as some people have said, but is going through a period of growth and change which is inevitable, I think.  To me, it is more vital, more swinging, more inventive than ever before – a statement of the exciting age we are living in.  I’m happy to be around to hear it all unfolding and to be a small part of it myself (McPartland, 1969: 8).  

In 1973, Marian McPartland, described as ‘a mainstay of the American jazz scene for three decades’, wrote a piece for The New York Times about her crusade to bring jazz to high schools, colleges, elementary schools and even kindergartens (McPartland, 1973).  

In 1975, her most significant contribution to writing thus far was an article on women in jazz commissioned by Esquire Magazine for an issue entirely devoted to jazz, Esquire’s World Of Jazz.  Marian’s article, ‘You’ve Come A Long Way, Baby’, highlighted the lives of exceptional women who transcended the label ‘woman musician’.  In this groundbreaking piece Marian inscribed into jazz history her own life, and the lives of other jazz women (McPartland, 1975: 134-139). 

Gaining credentials as a jazz writer, Marian McPartland was commissioned in 1980 to write a jazz essay about an all-female band The International Sweethearts of Rhythm.  She entitled the well-researched article ‘The Untold Story Of The International Sweethearts Of Rhythm’ (McPartland, 1980: 638-651).  It revealed the story of a sixteen-piece, racially-integrated, all-girl band.  The story captured the world of the thirties and forties in which the band flourished, and the triumphs and obstacles it encountered.  This piece enticed band members of  the ‘Sweethearts’ out of obscurity to be honored at the Kansas City Women’s Jazz Festival in 1980, a documentary film about them was released in 1987, and a movie based on their lives was proposed.

The above article, and several profiles or portraits of prominent musicians written by Marian McPartland from 1960 to 1983, were first published in a collection by Oxford University Press.  Entitled All In Good Time, the book was released in 1987 (McPartland, 1987).  Marian’s affectionate impressions of these artists, brought together in one volume, draw out the individuality of each musician through her shrewd observations.  Her recollection of her years at the Hickory House in the 1950s is warmly, affectionately and humorously depicted in the book, later expanded, updated and republished as the Illinois Edition – Marian McPartland’s Jazz World: All In Good Time (2003).

She writes perceptively about musicians who have inspired her (such as Mary Lou Williams and Bill Evans) and about players with whom she has shared the bandstand (sucn as Benny Goodman and Joe Morello).  Instead of a jazz history, the books portray Marian’s appreciation of some of her favorite jazz musicians, their talents and idiosyncrasies (McPartland, 1987 and 2003).   

She is quoted as saying, ‘The first writing I did was record reviews for DownBeat but some of the records were terrible, and I felt so badly after writing about them.  I told the magazine that in the future I would only write about people I like.  I remember titling a piece on Dave Brubeck “Half Square, Half Genius”’ (Gewertz, 1987).   She spoke on another occasion about her reluctance to review other musicians:

In the 1960s, Don DeMichael invited McPartland to write record reviews for DownBeat.  She did a few, but she ‘had to stop because I felt embarrassed having to say things I didn’t like about other musicians.  I remember having to review a John Coltrane record that was one of those things he did when he was totally in the stratosphere, and I said something very uncomplimentary about him.  That’s when I told Don I couldn’t do any more.  I just couldn’t do an honest review about some things that, to me, were just awful and still be out there as a working player.  Also, Coltrane seemed to be coming from another place by that time, and I didn’t understand what it was he was bringing back.  So it wasn’t fair to either of us’ (McDonough, 2000: 49).

Early in her career, Marian McPartland had sent articles to Melody Maker, keeping her British fans up to date.  She also wrote several pieces for The New York Times, particularly about her involvement with jazz education.   In the 1957 DownBeat interview with Dom Cerulli, Marian McPartland admitted that she would enjoy writing liner notes, not necessarily for her own recordings.  ‘I’d love to do a set for Billy Taylor,’ she said willingly.  ‘But it might read like a publicity blurb’ (Cerulli, 1957: 27). 

However, she did bring her jazz knowledge and writing skills into play for several sets of liner notes for her own recordings.  Some of her most articulate insights into jazz are to be found on liner notes she has written for these recordings (particularly on her label Halcyon Records), and for the recordings of other artists.  These encapsulate rich reflections on the music and the interpretations. 

Like the renowned jazz writer, Whitney Balliett, Marian McPartland is able to hear ‘inside’ the way jazz is put together, and give the reader an articulate idea of the ‘experience’.   Marian McPartland once wrote, ‘Whitney Balliett’s words are magic.  His descriptions of the music and musicians are very affecting, and his love for jazz shines through with every elegant phrase’ (Quoted in Newton, 2004: 2).

One example from a set of liner notes is worth quoting in its entirety to demonstrate Marian's rich writing style in this genre.  With every sentence, she draws out the individuality of pianist Joanne Brackeen:

I first heard about Joanne Brackeen through drummer Joe Morello.  She had worked with him on several occasions and he raved about her playing, making me extremely eager to hear this pianist whom he described as a ‘fantastic musician'.  One night last November, after I finished my set at Michael’s Pub, a friend and I went to hear Joanne at a small club in Greenwich Village.  She was playing an enormous antique grand piano, accompanied by an excellent bassist, and she completely knocked us out!  Joanne’s playing is fiery and intense, she has superb technique, and her harmonic ideas are complex.  She uses these qualities to good effect on this, her first album, and her choice of tunes by Wayne Shorter, Miles Davis, and her own originals highlight her style to perfection.

There is a strange misconception, even in these days, that women, when they play jazz, should sound frilly, vague, and inconsequential.  If a woman has strong, innovative ideas, an original approach and a firm touch, people say she ‘plays like a man.’  Mary Lou Williams believes the reason for this is that, years ago, women were not supposed to think.  It was the man’s prerogative to think for them and make the decisions; therefore, improvisation, which takes initiative, thought, originality, and strength, was never believed possible for a woman to undertake.  Joanne’s playing is a prime example of how mistaken this belief is.  (Incidentally, there are male musicians who play with a soft touch, in a tender, lyrical style, but no one would ever for a moment suggest that they sound like women!  They would probably be furious!)

Joanne has a strong, forceful approach to the piano.  In her playing, she reflects her enjoyment of such musicians as Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, and McCoy Tyner, but her strongest influences – the people to whom she attributes much of her musical growth – are Joe Henderson and Art Blakey.  She has worked with both of them a great deal during the past few years, and no doubt her continuous development stems from her long association with them.  Digging in with furious intensity, she executes runs and short passages as fast as a hummingbird’s wings; her chords are dark as a rain forest, splashes of sound that ebb and flow with the current of the music.  Cross-rhythms challenge each other, then merge, lines meet and veer off again as each member of the trio adds a fresh idea, enriching the texture of the tunes.

Joanne has set a high standard of playing by her choice of drummer Billy Hart and bassist Cecil McBee, two highly skilled musicians, known for their imagination and sensitivity.  Their creative ideas heighten the exciting interchange among all three musicians.

Joanne has said that she finds conventional standard tunes restricting, and she obviously prefers the freedom of ‘Circle’, ‘Nefertiti’, and her own pieces, in which she can improvise over a tonal center; nevertheless, she does amazing things with the two standards ‘Old Devil Moon’ and ‘I Didn’t Know What Time It Was’, taking the melodies out of their conventional rhythmic and harmonic structures and reshaping them to her own style.  She gives ‘Circle’ a cloudy, diffuse beauty, and the hypnotic, rhythmic drive of ‘Zulu’ provides an exciting background for the solos, in a dramatic tour de force.

Now having seen and heard Joanne, I can picture her playing this entire collection of pieces with her typical air of concentration and quiet enjoyment.  One can sense through her music, her depth, strength and determination, her warmth and high spirits. The quality of her playing confirms my faith in the continual growth of music and musicians.  It does my heart good to listen to her! (McPartland, 1975).  [Reprinted in its entirety with permission from Joanne Brackeen (performer) and Marian McPartland (author)]

This writing goes beyond mere description or 'publicity blurb', and highlights the special qualities of Brackeen's approach to playing and her repertoire, heard to advantage on this album.

One jazz writer pointed out that Marian McPartland’s book All in Good Time, reviewed as a collection of articles, reminiscences and anecdotes, received critical acclaim.  This collection featured musical portraits of beloved and legendary figures such as Bill Evans, Paul Desmond, Alec Wilder, Mary Lou Williams, and Benny Goodman.   Critics praised Marian’s ability as a writer, acknowledging that All In Good Time does not claim to be a history of the period, but a loving commentary on some of its creators (Gewertz, 1987). 

Another critic praised Marian McPartland's persistence in researching her subjects and, in particular, shining a light on The International Sweethearts Of  Rhythm, who were rediscovered after Marian drew them out of the ‘obscuring shadows’ and became the subjects of an award-winning documentary (Sachs, 1987). 

The comment from another critic was:

Ms. McPartland’s style is anecdotal rather than analytical and more concerned with personal details than musical movements. But it must be said that she has a tendency to lapse into jazz-crit clichés and that she sometimes lets personal feelings cloud her musical judgement. Ms. McPartland is considerably less polished as a writer than she is as a pianist, but she has a pleasant, breezy touch, and she occasionally writes with real passion – particularly when her subject is the plight of the female jazz musician (Keepnews, 1987).  

The doyen of jazz writers, Whitney Balliett, revisited Marian's collection of descriptive and biographical sketches in his 2000 compilation of writings,describing Marian as ‘the English-born Renaissance person (pianist, composer, record-label owner, teacher, and radio producer and personality)':

Mrs. McPartland keeps herself out of the way much of the time (although she is a born self-publicizer, an ability few jazz musicians have and all need), and is nowhere in sight in her highly effective chapter on [Paul] Desmond. Mrs. McPartland is equally good on her old friend Alec Wilder, who wrote music for her and marveled at her improvisations (Balliett, 2000: 708).

In a feature piece entitled ‘So Much Of Bill’, Marian McPartland wrote of her pianistic influences for Piano & Keyboard Magazine in 1999:

One of my greatest influences was Duke Ellington.  I listened to Fats Waller (though not as much as Duke), [but] I never really got into stride piano.   Benny Goodman and Lionel Hampton, with whom I later worked, influenced me, as did the pianists who worked for Benny, Mel Powell, Teddy Wilson, Jess Stacy.  Then other people came into the picture, like Art Tatum.   What has stayed with me [from the 1950s] is Bill Evans.  There’s still so much of Bill that seems to permeate through everything that is played today, even though in some areas he wouldn’t be thought to be an influence on every piano player I can think of, everybody!

Marian McPartland was one of three artists ‘who know this century’s jazz keyboard scene intimately’ who were asked to reflect on who has influenced them for this article.  The other two were pianists Cedar Walton and Dave Brubeck (McPartland in Salmon, 1999: 49).

Also in 1999, the University of Illinois Press commissioned Marian McPartland to expand and update All In Good Time, and this new publication was released worldwide in March 2003, entitled Marian McPartland’s Jazz World: All In Good Time.  Marian herself wrote the Preface to the Illinois edition, including details of her long-running National Public Radio show Piano Jazz and memories of her late husband, famed Chicago cornettist Jimmy McPartland, who encouraged her into jazz. 

Interviewed in 1999, Marian McPartland described the difficulties of the writing process:

The woman at University of Illinois Press, who is, I hope, going to put the book out again, wants four new pieces.  So I’ve really worked hard on a piece about Jimmy.  All these years, I’ve never done anything good about Jimmy.  I haven’t done anything about Jimmy except some liner notes for ‘Sentimental Journey’.  That’s about my speed.  I can do something like that with continued re-writing.  Then I call up this friend of mine who works at Oxford and is an editor, and she looks it over and types it up.  She sends it back to me and I look at it and read it, and this goes on, just over one little piece.  That’s how hard it is for me to write something.  I haven’t seen my dining-room table for weeks.  I’ve got a whole pile of stuff I’ve accumulated on Jimmy, and I haven’t looked at it for a while.  Maybe when I look at it, some of it will appeal to me, and I’ll be able to get the piece done (Hansson, Interview of Marian McPartland, November 2, 1999).

In the re-issued edition, Marian also explained how her radio program Piano Jazz got started, and recounted some memorable shows with her guests.  One of her highlights as a radio host was presenting her husband, Jimmy, and his five-piece group on Piano Jazz.  This led her to reminisce on her life with Jimmy, his personality, and his influence on her, and his unceasing support of her jazz career.  Postscripts to each chapter bring the reader up to date on the musicians still active in jazz music, or give Marian’s impressions of the influence of those who contributed to jazz history:

Should we be surprised that such a fine and enduring pianist as Marian McPartland can also be such an excellent writer?  The same intelligence and insight that is a mark of her playing is now turned upon her fellow musicians, with this up-dated commentary on some of her favorite people. It is always good to receive an insider’s view on some of the people we often listen to but really know nothing about.  One feels that Marian can be trusted; her views are positive and loving, and she does offer the opinions of other people to balance her own (Maylin, 2003).

On several occasions from 1978 on, Marian McPartland was quoted as saying that she was working on a book about women jazz musicians, past and present:

I’ve got so much material and interviews and people write to me out of the blue that I’ve never heard of.  A woman wrote me from California named Jane Sager and in her bio she said she worked for Charlie Barnet – that kind of thing that you don’t find out (Rusch, 1980: 14).

The New York Times reported in 1984 that ‘[Marian] is writing a history of the women of the jazz world’ (Wilson, 1984).   However, before a radio interview with Studs Terkel in Chicago in October 1987, Marian revealed:

I had been trying to work on a book about women musicians. But there was so much research that I fell by the wayside and another book on the subject was published.  I thought there was no point in working on it now (Sachs, 1987).

The encyclopedia of women musicians gave way to the notion of writing about her own life in jazz and she began working on her autobiography.  Marian McPartland recalled publishers’ interest in this autobiography back in the 1980s:

I’ve really been diddling with this thing for years.  A long time ago, when we were living in Merrick, there actually was a lot of interest.  At that particular time, I think I could have had almost any publisher I wanted.  Different publishers called me up and I  - I mean, it’s just not that easy to do a book.  When you are working as a full time musician, and I guess I thought I was so clever that in my spare moments I could write off the end of the kitchen table.  But I found I couldn’t.  I did write a lot of stuff, which was the reason that All In Good Time came out.  Because what the publisher wanted was an encyclopedia of women musicians – their names, their ability, their background, the whole thing.  I started doing that and then I thought, ‘Why am I going to spend my time writing about a lot of other people?  I should be giving this time to myself.'  I got all excited about how I was going to do the book, and it never materialized (Hansson, Interview of Marian McPartland, November 2, 1999).

Marian McPartland contacted the editor at Oxford University Press and said, ‘Look, all these various pieces I’ve written for magazines, why don’t you put those together into a book?  I’ll gather up everything I’ve written, old and new.  They are all good pieces, but they are old now’ (Hansson, Interview of Marian McPartland, November 2, 1999).  

Just as All In Good Time grew out of this series of well-written articles, with updates on various musicians lives, so its sequel Marian McPartland’s Jazz World: All In Good Time was structured in this same format.  The publisher’s faith in Marian McPartland’s ability to bring the lives and times of special musicians to the page, and to expand and redraft the content, was justified when the 2003 rewrite was a sold-out edition (Hansson, Telephone Interview with Marian McPartland, January, 2004).

Recently, the trend for jazz journalists and critics, who are often hard pressed to make a living in a highly competitive and volatile market, has been to recycle previously published pieces in book form.  One example is the recent release of a compilation of jazz articles reviewing the New York jazz scene from 1954 to 2000 by one of New York’s most esteemed jazz critics (Balliett, 2000).  Another example is critic Nat Hentoff’s American Music Is, a 2004 compilation of many of his essays which earlier appeared in different publications (Hentoff, 2004). 

This format was also used successfully by Marian McPartland when she updated her first volume All In Good Time (1987) by expanding on previous articles and adding new material for Marian McPartland’s Jazz World: All In Good Time (2003).   By applying a musician’s perspective to these portraits of an era, she succeeded in transferring the expressive uniqueness of each artist to the printed page, and giving the new edition renewed vitality and energy.

According to a 1998 article:

Jazz literature is dominated by collected profiles and reviews, biographies, encyclopedias and discographical guides.  Much of it is interesting, some of it is useful (Heckman, 1998).

The requirement for good jazz literature, according to Don Heckman, is that it ‘illuminate the music from a perspective of broad historical insight and be well-conceived and thoughtfully-written’ (Heckman, 1998).  Marian McPartland could have been listed under the occupation of jazz writer alone, had she not been such an active musician, educator, recording artist and broadcaster.  There is no doubt that her style is anecdotal and one of her great strengths is taking the reader inside the music with her recollections and descriptions of the jazz rooms, the jazz times, the colorful jazz characters, and, above all, of how the music is put together.  Her writings are undoubtedly well-conceived and thoughtfully-written, and as her anecdotal and affectionate style covers so many decades, her pieces do take an historical perspective in illuminating the music.

University of  Illinois Website (http://www.press.uillinois.edu/s03/mcpartland.html) contains some of the following reviews of Marian McPartland’s Jazz World: All In Good Time:

The title alone tells you that Marian McPartland is as wittily incisive a writer-memorist as she is a pianist and radio sage.  The new postscripts enhance a jazz class - portraits of an era, from the other side of the footlights (Gary Giddins, author of Bing Crosby: A Pocketful of Dreams).

I wonder if Marian McPartland fully realizes what an elegant prose stylist she is.  But then, it’s only natural that her choices with language should be no less sensitive or discriminating than those she makes at the keyboard.  In the truest sense these word portraits are McPartland compositions and remain among my most treasured music reading.  What a joy to have an expanded and updated edition (Richard M. Sudhalter, author of Stardust Melody: The Life And Music Of Hoagy Carmichael).

Marian McPartland has always been one of my favourite pianists, and this book shows that she is every bit as good a writer as she is a musician (Dave Brubeck).

She has done her studying from the inside: as one of the few working jazz musicians to write about the music with any frequency, she offers a perspective on the men and women who play jazz for a living that seldom finds its way into print (The New York Times).

Marian McPartland is that rare combination, a first rank jazz musician who can also write about her music, its milieu and musicians. [She] writes with wit, acumen, and vivacity (San Diego Union-Tribune). [These comments are also printed on the Dust Jacket of the Illinois Edition]

A recent release from Indiana University Press is a showcase of eighty black and white pictures of jazz musicians dating from the 1950s to the present by photographer Duncan Schiedt.  Each photo is prefaced by a brief biography, along with Schiedt's anecdotal memories of musicians and venues.  Schiedt shot in black and white because, 'Jazz is a black and white music.  Its range, from blinding brilliance to deepest shadings, seems to demand the drama that black and white can so easily provide' (Schiedt, 2004).

Who better than Marian McPartland, active in jazz since the 1950s, to comment on this attractive volume?  In her words:

Looking at these beautiful photos evokes a warm remembrance of times gone by.  Many of the musicians were friends of mine and thinking of the lives of these great men and women, devoted to their art, reminds me of the fine jazz they played.  The short biography of each musician, like a mini-jazz history, serves to illuminate lives that were filled with music, which still echoes in our hearts and minds (Quoted in Schiedt, 2004).

These words echo Marian McPartland's own approach to writing about jazz music, speaking out for jazz musicians, and capturing the times in which they played and lived.

References

Keepnews, P. (1987) ‘Playing For Keeps’, The New York Times, October 25

McPartland, M. (1987) All In Good Time, New York: Oxford University Press

McPartland, M. (1949) ‘Crowds Jam Paris Festival’, DownBeat, July 1 (Reprinted in DownBeat, May 2000, p. 49)

Page, M. (1950) ‘British Cats Fight To Sound Their "A"'’, DownBeat, April 7 (This article also appeared with the heading 'British Struggle Futilely To Hear Jazz', n.d.)

Page, M. (1951) ‘Dixieland Can Marry Bop!’, Melody Maker, July 7

McPartland, M. (1957) ‘Lady In Jazz: Pianist McPartland Tells Of Jazz Idiom’, Journal American, November 3

Cerulli, D. (1957) ‘Meet Maid Marian’, DownBeat, September 5, pp. 13, 32

McPartland, M. (1959) ‘Playing Like A Man’, in Traill, S. and Lascelles, G. (eds.) Just Jazz 3, London: Landsborough Publications Limited, pp. 54-60

Hentoff, N. (1965) ‘Britain’s First Lady Of Jazz’, unknown source

McDonough, J. (2000) ‘Marian McPartland: On the Witness Stand’, DownBeat, vol. 67, no. 5, May, pp. 46-49

McPartland, M. (1968-1969) DownBeat Music Workshop Series

McPartland, M. (1977) 'Playing Solo Jazz Piano', Contemporary Keyboard, January, p. 18

McPartland, M. (1964) 'Benny Goodman: From The Inside', DownBeat, April 9, pp.22-23

McPartland, M. (1964) 'Into The Sun', DownBeat, August 27, pp. 16-17

McPartland, M. (1976) 'Alec Wilder: The Compleat Composer', DownBeat, October, pp. 16-17, 49-50, 52

Lyons, L. (1983) The Great Jazz Pianists, New York: Da Capo Press Inc

Feather, L. (1952) ‘Bunk To Bud With McPartlands’, DownBeat, April 18, p. 12

Feather, L. (1957) Marian McPartland: Blindfold Test', DownBeat, n.d

Feather, L. (1964) ‘Marian McPartland: Blindfold Test’, DownBeat, December 31, p. 39

Feather, L. (1971) ‘Marian McPartland: Blindfold Test’, DownBeat, March, p. 28

Birnbaum, L. (1996) ‘Marian McPartland: Blindfold Test’, DownBeat, October, p. 78

McPartland, M. (1969) ‘Music Is My Life’, International Musician, September, pp. 6-8

McPartland, M. (1973) ‘I Was Indignant That Rock Reigned Supreme’, The New York Times, September 23

McPartland, M. (1975) ‘You’ve Come A Long Way, Baby’, in Esquire’s World Of Jazz, New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, pp. 134-139

McPartland, M. (1980) ‘The Untold Story Of The International Sweethearts Of Rhythm’, in All In Good Time, New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 137-159

Gewertz, D. (1987) ‘Music's Renaissance Lady Keeps Breaking New Ground', Unknown source

Newton, P. J. F. (ed.) (2004) The Jazzdag’s Bookshelf, October, pp. 1-10

McPartland, M. (1975) Liner Notes to Joanne Brackeen: Six Ate, Candid Productions

Sachs, L. (1987) ‘McPartland’s Persistence Pays’, Chicago Sun-Times, October 1

Balliett, W. (2000) Collected Works: A Journal Of Jazz 1954-2000, New York: St. Martin’s Press

McPartland, M. (1999) 'So Much Of Bill...', in Salmon, J. 'A Bold New Stride', Piano & Keyboard, November/December, pp. 48-55

McPartland, M. (2003) Marian McPartland’s Jazz World: All In Good Time, Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press

Hansson, C. (1999) Interview of Marian McPartland, Port Washington, NY, November 2,

Maylin, F. (2003) ‘Marian McPartland’s Jazz World’, Available: http://www.jazznow.com [November 13, 2004]

Rusch, B. (1980) ‘The McPartlands: Interview’, Cadence, March, pp. 11-14, 83

Wilson, J. S. (1984) ‘Jazz’, The New York Times, October 28

Balliett, W. (2000) Collected Works: A Journal Of Jazz, 1954-2000, New York: St. Martin’s Press

Hentoff, N. (2004) American Music Is, Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press Inc

Heckman, D. (1998) ‘All That Jazz: Getting A Better Read On New Jazz Books’, Home Edition, Los Angeles Times, March 20

Unknown author (2003) Reviews of Marian McPartland's Jazz World: All In Good Time, Available: http://www.press.uillinois.edu/s03/mcpartland.html [March, 2003]

Schiedt, D. P. (2004) Jazz In Black And White: The Photographs Of Duncan Schiedt, Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press

Writings By Marian McPartland

McPartland, M. (1949) ‘Crowds Jam Paris Festival’, DownBeat, July 1 (Reprinted in DownBeat, May 2000, p. 49)

Page, M. (1950) ‘British Cats Fight To Sound Their "A"’, DownBeat, April 7 (This article also appeared with the heading 'British Struggle Futilely To Hear Jazz', n.d.)

Page, M. (1951) ‘Dixieland Can Marry Bop!’, Melody Maker, July 7

McPartland, M. (1957) ‘Lady In Jazz: Pianist McPartland Tells Of Jazz Idiom’, Journal American, November 3

McPartland, M. (1959) ‘Playing Like A Man’, in Traill, S. and Lascelles, G. (eds.) Just Jazz 3, London: Landsborough Publications Limited, pp. 54-60

McPartland, M. (1961) ‘Jazz Goes To Grade School', DownBeat, September 28 (Reprinted in DownBeat, July 1994, p. 70)

McPartland, M. (1964) ‘Benny Goodman: From The Inside, The Sideman’s View’, Down Beat, April 9, pp. 22-23

McPartland, M. (1964) ‘Into The Sun’, DownBeat, August 27, pp. 16-17

McPartland, M. (1968) ‘How To Comp', DownBeat, May 3, pp. 40-41

McPartland, M. (1968) ‘Marian McPartland Interviews Bill Evans', DownBeat, October 17, p. 39

McPartland, M. (1968) ‘This Jazz Course Is One For The Books’, Newsday, November 29, p. 48A

McPartland, M. (1968) ‘Learning To Play Jazz’, DownBeat, December 14, p. 36

McPartland, M. (1969) ‘Quincy Jones', DownBeat, March 4, pp. 39-40

McPartland, M. (1969) ‘John Coltrane', DownBeat, May 1, p. 45

McPartland, M. (1969) ‘Voicing Piano Chords’, DownBeat, June 6, p. 43

McPartland, M. (1969) ‘Music Is My Life’, International Musician, September, pp. 6-8

McPartland, M. (1971) ‘The Anatomy Of Ambiance’, DownBeat, April 1, pp. 31-32

McPartland, M. (1972) ‘A Delicate Balance’, DownBeat, October 26, pp. 36-38

McPartland, M. (1973) ‘I Was Indignant That Rock Reigned Supreme’, The New York Times, September 23, pp. 17, 29

McPartland, M. (1975) ‘You’ve Come A Long Way, Baby’, in Gillenson, L. W. (ed.) Esquire’s World Of Jazz, New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, pp. 134-139

McPartland, M. (1976) ‘Alec Wilder: The Compleat Composer’, DownBeat 43, October 21, 16-17, 49-50, 52

McPartland, M. (1977) ‘Playing Solo Jazz Piano’, Contemporary Keyboard, January, p. 18

McPartland, M. (1980) 'The Untold Story Of The International Sweethearts Of Rhythm', reprinted in (1987) All In Good Time, New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 137-159.  [Also reprinted in the Illinois Edition (see listing below)]

McPartland, M. (1982) ‘At The Piano With Eubie Blake: An Informal Interview', Keyboard, December 18, pp. 56-58

McPartland, M. (1987) All In Good Time, Oxford University Press: New York

McPartland, M. (1991) ‘Mecca In Manhattan’, Newsday, June 21

McPartland, M. (1999) ‘So Much Of Bill’, in Salmon, J. ‘A Bold New Stride’, Piano & Keyboard, November/December, pp. 48-55

McPartland, M. (2003) Marian McPartland’s Jazz World: All In Good Time, Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press

Liner Notes By Marian McPartland

McPartland, M. (1972) Liner Notes to Marian And Jimmy McPartland: Goin' Back A Ways, Marian And Jimmy McPartland et al, Halcyon Records

McPartland, M. (1963) Liner Notes to Marian McPartland: Bossa Nova + Soul, Marian McPartland Group, Time Records

McPartland, M. (1970) Liner Notes to Ambiance: The Marian McPartland Trio, Halcyon Records (Released on The Jazz Alliance, 1996)

McPartland, M. (1970) Liner Notes to Elegant Piano: Solos And Duets By Teddy Wilson And Marian McPartland, Halcyon Records (Released in January 1974 on Swaggie Records - Australia)

McPartland, M. (1971-1972) Portion of Liner Notes to Marian McPartland: A Delicate Balance, The Marian McPartland Trio, Halcyon Records

McPartland, M. (1973) Liner Notes to Marian And Jimmy McPartland: A Sentimental Journey, Marian And Jimmy McPartland et al, Halcyon Records (Released on The Jazz Alliance, 1994)

McPartland, M. (1973) Portion of Liner Notes to Marian McPartland: Plays The Music Of Alec Wilder, The Marian McPartland Trio, Halcyon Records (Released on The Jazz Alliance, 1992)

McPartland, M. (1975) Liner Notes to Joanne Brackeen: Six Ate, The Joanne Brackeen Trio, Candid Productions

McPartland, M. (1978) Liner Notes to Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz With Guest Bill Evans, The Jazz Alliance

McPartland, M. (1987) Liner Notes to Cleo Brown: Living In The Afterglow, With Special Guest Marian McPartland, Audiophile Records

McPartland, M. (1995) Portion of Liner Notes to Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz With Guest Henry Mancini, The Jazz Alliance

McPartland, M. (1996) Liner Notes to Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz With Guest Oscar Peterson, The Jazz Alliance

McPartland, M. (1997) Liner Notes to An NPR Jazz Christmas With Marian McPartland And Friends, Marian McPartland and other musicians, NPR Classics

McPartland, M. (1999) Liner Notes to Marian McPartland: Portraits, Musical portraits improvised on several programs of Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz, NPR Classics