Marian McPartland at 90
March 20, 2008 marks the 90th birthday of one of the jazz world's living legends and the indefatigueable Marian McPartland has quite of year of celebrating ahead of her. She not only continues to tape her acclaimed weekly radio show, Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz for NPR, but will release her first studio cd in 9 years, TWILIGHT WORLD on March 11 from Concord Records.
"The Grande Dame of Jazz", an NEA Jazz Master, celebrates her 29th year as a Concord Records artist as well as 29 years at Piano Jazz. The new cd, TWILIGHT WORLD features her regular Piano Jazz trio of bassist Gary Mazzaroppi and drummer Glenn Davis and is rich with sumptuous ballads including some rarely heard Marian originals and a handful of tunes she has yet recorded in her nearly 100 sessions over the years. Ms. McPartland, known for her encyclopedic knowledge of the jazz repertoire even includes two riveting versions of compositions by jazz innovator Ornette Coleman. She also interprets tunes by her friends songwriters Alec Wilder ("Blackberry Winter"), Burt Bacharach ("Alfie") But, anyone who has listened to her playing on on the radio or in the concert hall will not be surprised by the breadth and diversity of Marian's adroit pianistic versatility and taste.
"I'm so happy to have done this album," she says. "It's nice to have something you're this happy with at this stage of life."
Among the celebratory events planned are the following:
• During her birthday week (March 19-23), Marian and her trio will perform at Dizzy's Club Coca Cola at Jazz@Lincoln Center in New York City with a bevy of very special guests each night. These shows will be taped and highlights will be heard in a very special 90th Birthday Celebration edition of Piano Jazz. Among the artists paying tribute over the week's shows will be Karrin Allison, Regina Carter, Jason Moran, Jeremy Pelt, Ken Peplowski, Chris Potter and many more to be announced shortly. Dizzy's intimate setting, stellar sound and breathtaking view of the skyline over Central Park makes if one of the world's best venues to catch a jazz master & her friends at work.
• Another milestone for Ms. McPartland came this past November 15 and can be heard this April on NPR. On that day, Marian headed to Columbia, SC where she debuted her composition for symphony and improvised piano, "A Portrait of Rachel Carson". This is Marian's loving tribute to one of the environmental movements early heroes. Carson's book, "Silent Spring" was a groundbreaking work exposing the dangers of DDT and environmental carelessness years before such daring writing was widespread.
Long an admirer of Carson's book and a staunch environmentalist herself, McPartland penned the tribute and collaborated with renowned jazz and film pianist/arranger Alan Broadbent who sculpted the orchestrations around McPartland's piano based compositions.
Marian performed this piece with the University of South Carolina Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Dr. Donald Portnoy. The premiere was recorded and will be the centerpiece of a special Earth Day edition of Piano Jazz to be broadcast on NPR the week of April 21st, which will be co-hosted by a very special guest, musician and environmentalist Paul Winter.
* A yearly tradition for Ms. McPartland has been her Labor Day weekend appearance at the Tanglewood Jazz Festival. Each year her sold out shows are taped for popular live versions of Piano Jazz. Past programs from Tanglewood have featured Marian with guests such as Renee Rosnes, Elvis Costello and Diana Krall, Norah Jones, and Taylor Eigsti. This year will find multiple guests paying tribute and collaborating with Marian onstage in the beautiful setting Tanglewood provides in another star-studded birthday bash.
Read Marshall Bowden's piece, Marian McPartland Swings! written several years ago, based on an interview he conducted with her.
"The Grande Dame of Jazz", an NEA Jazz Master, celebrates her 29th year as a Concord Records artist as well as 29 years at Piano Jazz. The new cd, TWILIGHT WORLD features her regular Piano Jazz trio of bassist Gary Mazzaroppi and drummer Glenn Davis and is rich with sumptuous ballads including some rarely heard Marian originals and a handful of tunes she has yet recorded in her nearly 100 sessions over the years. Ms. McPartland, known for her encyclopedic knowledge of the jazz repertoire even includes two riveting versions of compositions by jazz innovator Ornette Coleman. She also interprets tunes by her friends songwriters Alec Wilder ("Blackberry Winter"), Burt Bacharach ("Alfie") But, anyone who has listened to her playing on on the radio or in the concert hall will not be surprised by the breadth and diversity of Marian's adroit pianistic versatility and taste.
"I'm so happy to have done this album," she says. "It's nice to have something you're this happy with at this stage of life."
Among the celebratory events planned are the following:
• During her birthday week (March 19-23), Marian and her trio will perform at Dizzy's Club Coca Cola at Jazz@Lincoln Center in New York City with a bevy of very special guests each night. These shows will be taped and highlights will be heard in a very special 90th Birthday Celebration edition of Piano Jazz. Among the artists paying tribute over the week's shows will be Karrin Allison, Regina Carter, Jason Moran, Jeremy Pelt, Ken Peplowski, Chris Potter and many more to be announced shortly. Dizzy's intimate setting, stellar sound and breathtaking view of the skyline over Central Park makes if one of the world's best venues to catch a jazz master & her friends at work.
• Another milestone for Ms. McPartland came this past November 15 and can be heard this April on NPR. On that day, Marian headed to Columbia, SC where she debuted her composition for symphony and improvised piano, "A Portrait of Rachel Carson". This is Marian's loving tribute to one of the environmental movements early heroes. Carson's book, "Silent Spring" was a groundbreaking work exposing the dangers of DDT and environmental carelessness years before such daring writing was widespread.
Long an admirer of Carson's book and a staunch environmentalist herself, McPartland penned the tribute and collaborated with renowned jazz and film pianist/arranger Alan Broadbent who sculpted the orchestrations around McPartland's piano based compositions.
Marian performed this piece with the University of South Carolina Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Dr. Donald Portnoy. The premiere was recorded and will be the centerpiece of a special Earth Day edition of Piano Jazz to be broadcast on NPR the week of April 21st, which will be co-hosted by a very special guest, musician and environmentalist Paul Winter.
* A yearly tradition for Ms. McPartland has been her Labor Day weekend appearance at the Tanglewood Jazz Festival. Each year her sold out shows are taped for popular live versions of Piano Jazz. Past programs from Tanglewood have featured Marian with guests such as Renee Rosnes, Elvis Costello and Diana Krall, Norah Jones, and Taylor Eigsti. This year will find multiple guests paying tribute and collaborating with Marian onstage in the beautiful setting Tanglewood provides in another star-studded birthday bash.
Read Marshall Bowden's piece, Marian McPartland Swings! written several years ago, based on an interview he conducted with her.
posted by Marshall at 11:52 AM
1 Comments:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MARIAN, FROM ONE OF YOUR FANS IN SAN ANTONIO TX.
I FAITHFULLY LISTEN TO YOUR SHOW ON RADIO EVERY SATURDAY EVENING AT 8:00PM HERE IN SAN ANTONIO.
THANK YOU FOR MANY YEARS OF JAZZ ENJOYMENT.
MANY HAPPY RETURNS OF THE DAY.
JIM NEWMAN
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