Interplay (Remastered) Marian McPartland

• 1 Twilight World 04:30
• 2 Indian Summer 05:59
• 3 Close Your Eyes 05:44
• 4 Here's That Rainy Day 06:12
• 5 Milestones 04:52
• 6 New Orleans 04:28
• 7 By the Time I Get to Phoenix 04:44
• 8 Illusion 04:39
• 9 Things Ain't What They Used to Be 03:30
• Total Runtime 44:38

Info for Interplay (Remastered)

Recipient of a Grammy, honored with Downbeat’s ‘Lifetime Achievement’ award, and host of National Public Radio’s longest running program, the iconic ‘Piano Jazz’, Marian McPartland was one of the pioneer women in jazz. “Elegant, tasteful, charming, sensuous” (Melody Maker), with a style that one critic called “flexible, complex, and almost impossible to pigeonhole”, she played everything from Dixieland to the avant-garde. McPartland teams up in a rare piano/bass duo, something she had always wanted to do, since “the possibilities of the music being free and uninhibited are much greater”. Her bassist, Linc Milliman, “sounds like a whole rhythm section…I may start a tune…but often he will set the tempo and the mood.” The ‘live’ settings in Rochester NY and Manhattan are perfect stages for the music’s intimacy. Two pieces are original ballads, Marian’s reflective Twilight World and her impressionistic Illusion. The evergreen Indian Summer begins as ballad before warming up for a medium-tempo stroll with bass and piano hand-in-hand, and Close Your Eyes follows with the duo’s sophisticated interaction. Here’s That Rainy Day drips bittersweet tones, whereas McPartland has her own modal take on the Davis classic, Milestones. There’s a bit of a traditional air to Hoagy Carmicheal’s New Orleans, and McPartland digs some depth into the country-pop of By the Time I Get To Phoenix. The tasty Mercer Ellington blues Things Aint What They Used To Be ends this exquisite album of Marian McPartland at her classy best. A must for those who love piano jazz!

„Marian McPartland rarely recorded with just a bassist, but this duet with little-known bassist Linc Milliman (a fine player according to McPartland who preferred not to venture far from his home) was a part of the pianist's own Halcyon catalog. Among the highlights are McPartland's superb solo renditions of her ballad "Twilight World" and the lesser known (but equally interesting) "Illusion," a lively duet of "Close Your Eyes," a dreamy "Here's That Rainy Day," and a rare venture into Miles Davis' memorable modal piece "Milestones." She tries valiantly to make something out of the then-current pop song "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" (a huge hit for country singer Glen Campbell), but the tune is clearly not in league with the remainder of this set. This seems to be a live recording that has been tightly edited to remove applause at the end of each piece. Recorded in the late 1960s or early '70s, this hard to find release was also briefly available as a CD reissue for a few years.“ (Ken Dryden, AMG)

Marian McPartland, piano
Linc Milliman, bass

Produced by Hank O'Neal

Digitally remastered

Marian McPartland
Best known as the host of the weekly national radio program Piano Jazz, Marian McPartland helped to popularize jazz with her intricate knowledge and prowess on the piano. She made the program one of the most popular in the history of public radio.

Born to a musical mother who played classical piano, she studied at the famed Guildhall School of Music in London. Her first professional activity was as part of a touring vaudeville act featuring four pianists. During World War II, she entertained the troops and while playing in Belgium met her late husband, cornetist Jimmy McPartland, whom she married in 1945. They relocated to the U.S. in 1946, whereupon she performed in his band in Chicago. She formed her first active trio in 1950 for an engagement at the Embers in New York. Two years later, she began what would be an eight-year residency at the Hickory House in New York with her trio.

In 1963, she worked with the Benny Goodman Sextet, and in 1965 she began her radio career, at WBAI in New York. In 1970 she started her own record company, Halcyon Records, one of the first jazz women to do so. In 1979, she began her weekly radio show Piano Jazz, which -- after 30 years of continuous programming -- became the longest-running syndicated National Public Radio program, and led to McPartland's induction into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 2007. An intimate program involving just her and a guest -- usually a pianist -- the program won numerous awards, including the Peabody Award. Many of the programs have been subsequently released on compact disc. As part of the segments, McPartland interviewed the guest, drawing out colorful anecdotes and stories about their careers. The shows also included performances of McPartland and the guest together. Taken as a whole, the series presents a formidable history of jazz.

Her playing career also included piano tours with such greats as Earl Hines, Teddy Wilson, Ellis Larkins, and Benny Carter. She performed with symphony orchestras and at many of the major jazz festivals, and received numerous awards, including a DownBeat Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997.

McPartland received several honorary doctorates as well as a Grammy Trustee's Award for lifetime achievement. She also authored The Artistry of Marian McPartland, a collection of transcriptions, and Marian McPartland's Jazz World: All in Good Time, a collection of her jazz profiles.

This album contains no booklet.