Marian McPartland
Marian McPartland was a prolific jazz pianist who recorded four tracks with Federal Records, a subsidiary of King, in the year 1951. Classically trained, she began her touring career playing popular music with a piano quartet at the age of 20. During WWII, she served as an entertainer for the Allied troops throughout Europe.
After the war, she began to experiment with modern styles of music such as bebop and jazz. By 1950 she had established a small jazz ensemble, with whom she recorded "It’s Delovely" and "Flamingo" with Federal Records.
McPartland soon became a staple at Hickory House nightclub in New York, and toured across the world. She also began to teach jazz in American schools to students of all ages in 1956, and continued to do so for the rest of her career. Starting in 1979, she began hosting her own radio show called Piano Jazz, which became the longest-running jazz program on National Public Radio— a 30 year run. Her first guest on the show was Mary Lou Williams, who also recorded jazz piano for King Records from 1949-1950, and whom Marian called “my role model forever.”
McPartland was well-known for her expansive repertoire which spanned many genres, mirroring King Records’ penchant for genre mixing and crossovers.
