| By Terry Perkins
This series began with a look at the
National Public Radio show,
Jazz Profiles, and its host
Nancy Wilson. NPR is also the home of
another very popular jazz program,
Piano Jazz, hosted by famed pianist Marian
McPartland. The premise of Piano Jazz
is deceptively simple. McPartland welcomes
a guest for each hour-long episode, they
talk about music, and McPartland and the
guest play music in interludes between the
on-going conversations.
The results over the past 27 years speak
for themselves. Piano Jazz is now
the longest-running cultural program to
ever air on NPR, and it reaches listeners
in 45 states and more than 20 foreign countries
every week. Over the years, almost every
important jazz artist of the time has appeared
on the show as well as many young, rising
stars on the music scene. You can find information
about the Piano Jazz series at the
website
Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz.
But what may seem like a simple premise
for a radio show is not always so easy to
execute. What makes piano jazz special is
McPartland herself. Her combination of English
civility and courtesy (she was born in a
small village near Windsor castle outside
London), her genuine love of jazz, and her
curiosity about the musicians she interviews
help create a relaxed setting that puts
her guests at ease. As a result, nearly
40 Piano Jazz shows have become memorable
classics and released as CDs on the Jazz
Alliance label.
As you might expect, many jazz standards
are discussed and performed on episodes
of Piano Jazz. But the real focus
of the series is on the creative process
of jazz itself rather than on specific material.
However, in a recent conversation from her
home in New York, McPartland emphasizes
that the show serves as real education for
her in terms of wide-ranging interpretations
of jazz standards.
Marian McPartland Plays the Music of
Mary Lou Williams
“Since it’s a jazz show,” explains
McPartland, “you hear a lot of the same
tunes. But they are played so
differently that those standards really
serve as mirrors to reflect the creative
approach of the musicians who are guests
on the show.”
Examples abound, ranging from the first
Piano Jazz show featuring the legendary
Mary Lou Williams playing “Caravan” to a
recent episode with Elvis Costello that
showcases him singing “My Funny Valentine”
and “You Don’t Know What Love Is.” For McPartland,
those great tunes that have established
themselves as jazz standards serve as a
real touchstone for succeeding generations
of jazz musicians.
“I think all of the tunes we know so
well by Cole Porter, Harold Arlen, Hoagy
Carmichael, and everyone–those to me are
all the great tunes,” she states. “Rodgers
and Hart, Rodgers and Hammerstein and the
other great writers–those are the songwriters
who produced memorable tunes that will always
be with us. For example, yesterday I was
playing a concert in Rochester at the Eastman
School, and I heard a young pianist, a student
there, who is just terrific. I thought I’d
have him on the show. And when he came on,
he knew every standard I could name. So
there’s no question that those songs continue
to be played and continue to make a strong
impression on young musicians.”
McPartland herself has left many lasting
impressions on the world of jazz since she
first began playing music professionally
in England. In 1938 at the age of 20 she
performed in a four-piano vaudeville review
called the Claviers. Her first love remained
jazz, and after marrying cornet player Jimmy
McPartland during World War II she moved
to the States. McPartland established a
long-standing engagement at the Hickory
House in Manhattan from 1952 to 1960 in
a trio setting that showcased her talent
and cemented her reputation in the jazz
world.
Since then McPartland has recorded more
than 60 albums as a leader in addition to
her appearances on the Piano Jazz
series of recordings. Her most recent recording,
Marian McPartland & Friends: 85 Candles–Live
in New York, is a 2-CD live set
recorded at Birdland and featuring an amazing
array of guest artists from vocalists Karrin
Allyson, Nnenna Freelon, Norah Jones and
Curtis Stigers to legendary players such
as Billy Taylor, Clark Terry and Phil Woods
to young stars like Roy Hargrove, Chris
Potter and Regina Carter.
It’s clear that her involvement with
Piano Jazz has become a touchstone
in McPartland’s musical career. It brings
together her talents as a pianist, her curiosity
about the many styles of jazz, and her interest
in jazz education. But when Piano Jazz
first started, replacing Alec Wilder’s radio
show based on his book,
American Popular Song: The Great Innovators,
1900-1950, McPartland had no expectations
of the program lasting more than a year
at the most.
“When Alec’s show ended, they were looking
for somebody else, and Alec recommended
me, although I never knew it at the time,”
she recalls. “So I ended up getting a call
from someone at the radio network about
doing it, and, of course, I was very excited.
At the same time, I thought, ‘This isn’t
going to be something that lasts too long,
but it should be great for a few months.’
That’s how it started. And after awhile,
everyone could tell it was something that
was pretty good.”
At first, McPartland focused solely on
fellow pianists as guests, but as the show
evolved, she began to gradually expand the
criteria for guests.
“In the beginning, I just had piano players
on,” she states. “I hurried up to get people
like Bill Evans and Hazel Scott, John Lewis
and George Shearing. I was like a kid in
a candy store, trying to talk to everyone
I knew and all the best names around. Then,
as time went on it seemed to be a good idea
to me if we could have people who play other
instruments as well as the piano. For instance,
we had Garry Burton and Dizzy Gillespie.
I loved Dizzy and he taught me a lot about
piano that day too!
 “As time went on, we got to the point
that we had people on who didn’t have to
play piano–J.J. Johnson, Tony Bennett. Then
I thought we could actually have people
who didn’t play at all. I invited the writer
Nat Hentoff, because he was such a knowledgeable
person about jazz. We’ve also had contemporary
musicians like Donald Fagen and Walter Becker
of Steely Dan, Bruce Hornsby, and Elvis
Costello. The audience seems to like it
when we mix things up.”
Thinking back over the many Piano
Jazz shows she has done over the years,
McPartland made it a point to emphasize
in her typically English fashion that “…
in a way, they all bring back fond memories.”
 But she finally did admit that one of her
early shows with the great pianist Bill
Evans (still available in the Piano Jazz
CD series) just might be her favorite.
“Having Bill on was probably one of the
best shows I’ve had in all the years I’ve
been on the air,” she recalls. “He really
opened up and talked about how he went about
creating his music. It was done just a couple
of years before he passed away, and it was
just a wonderful moment.”
In addition to her work on Piano Jazz,
McPartland still maintains regular concert
appearances throughout the year as well,
although she does limit them to just
a few per month. She’s also getting ready
to record a new CD. And naturally enough,
the idea came about through a conversation
on Piano Jazz.
“I will be doing another record this
year,” states McPartland. “I’m going to
be doing some Burt Bacharach tunes. He was
on the show and told me he was disappointed
that very few jazz people recorded his songs.
He has so many great songs, so that’s what
I’m going to do. But I’m not going to tell
him beforehand, though!”
You can visit Marian McPartland's website
at:
Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz
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