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Marian McPartland's Jazz World: All in Good Time
In this collection of musical portraits, jazz pianist and radio host Marian McPartland pays tribute to such beloved and legendary figures as Benny Goodman, Bill Evans, Joe Morello, Paul Desmond, Alec Wilder, Mary Lou Williams, and others. McPartland's reminiscences and anecdotes about these jazz greats are informed by her encyclopedic knowledge of their music, making this richly detailed collection an important addition to the literature of jazz. In a preface to this new edition -- originally published as All in Good Time -- McPartland extends her commentary to include details of her long-running National Public Radio show "Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz" and memories of her late husband, famed Chicago trumpeter Jimmy McPartland.
165 pages, Hardcover
First published September 10, 1987
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
February 25, 2020
Outstanding book. McPartland has a wonderful way of sharing her memories of jazz musician that she has known throughout her life. The ones I enjoyed most were drummer Joe Morello, Benny Goodman, and of course Bill Evans. If you have heard her on NPR Piano Jazz, you know she had a deep love for jazz and was always engaged and deep into the music. The book will make me listen to the musicians mentioned in the book with a newfound intensity and interest and that’s a plus.
September 9, 2013
Interesting essays similar to stories she would tell on Piano Jazz. A nice mixture of humility and confidence. I will miss her.
June 23, 2022
How I miss Marian McPartland's distinctive voice. I used to listen to her weekly radio show few years before she retired. No doubt a great jazz musician and as well a great radio host and a writer! Her writing was so organized and succinct. She was a smart, well-bred, classy and talented woman.
In her book, she shared stories and her personal experiences with some of the biggest names in the jazz world. To name a few, Dave Brubeck, Joe Morello, Paul Desmond, Bill Evans, Benny Goodman and etc. I, in fact, learned a few bands and musicians that I have limited knowledge on. It was especially interesting to get to know what it was like back in the days on 52nd Street.
I enjoyed the audiobook, and will consider buying a great used copy of her book. Too bad it's out of print which is a crime if you ask me!
In her book, she shared stories and her personal experiences with some of the biggest names in the jazz world. To name a few, Dave Brubeck, Joe Morello, Paul Desmond, Bill Evans, Benny Goodman and etc. I, in fact, learned a few bands and musicians that I have limited knowledge on. It was especially interesting to get to know what it was like back in the days on 52nd Street.
I enjoyed the audiobook, and will consider buying a great used copy of her book. Too bad it's out of print which is a crime if you ask me!
March 12, 2021
I knew I was on my way to being a legit jazz fan when, after a few years of flipping past it, I started to appreciate Marian McPartland’s old Piano Jazz show on NPR. It took a while to get used to her voice, a stiff upper-lip quavering British accent, but then I recognized what her many talented guests knew coming in: she had the chops.
Over time, then, I came really to love the show. She’d have a fellow old-timer in to jam. They’d talk a little about the business or maybe get off an inside reference or two, but mostly they communicated through the music. McPartland has a crisp, generous tone, and it seemed to bring out good material from anyone who joined her. Like a good color analyst in a sporting event, she celebrated everyone she presented at the same time as she let drop just often enough that she could bring it herself.
When I saw this audiobook, I figured it would be a best-of piano jazz compilation, so I snatched it up. I liked the idea of listening to McPartland do what she does best: talk and play with other great musicians.
Except, this book turns out to be something very different (with an asterisk). It turns out to be a compilation of her writings about jazz, collected and then updated to when she first brought this out in 2005.
At its best, this is a corrective to what she saw as a flaw in the Ken Burns multi-part history of jazz documentary. In her estimate, Burns made jazz the exclusive property of its African-American inventors; she feels that plenty of others, women in particular, should have been included in that story.
The result is a series of essays on one or another jazz musician. Unfortunately, while McPartland celebrates her subjects, she often dodges the extended discussions of technique or theory-light that I’d have hoped for. Instead, we get compact biographies and sometimes even jazzland gossip. She’ll spend a lot of time telling us that she admired someone, but then she’ll cut short just why she felt that way.
On balance, it seems, McPartland did her best talking with her piano, drawing out her accompanists. She’d set up those sessions with nice bursts of conversation but here, the conversation alone doesn’t really carry the ball.
And then, somewhat annoyingly, she ends most chapters with an update. Sometimes we’ll learn that someone has died whom she has just spoken of as hoping to work with again. And sometimes she’ll reconsider a subject in light of later work. Through it all, I can’t help asking why she didn’t simply rewrite the chapters. As it is, this feels like a garage sale of her old work – mismatched pieces set out in an everything-must-go kind of way.
So, I find the book a disappointment, one that I powered through (sometimes in the background, I admit) because of the rare snippets of music and the occasional observation about what to listen for in someone’s playing.
There is an asterisk, as I say, though. At the very end, after the official book ends, we get four or five excerpts of the old show. Suddenly, when McPartland accompanies Rosemary Clooney or plays alongside Oscar Peterson, we get a whole different ballgame. This is the McPartland I wanted to hear, a confident woman who brings out the best in others.
I’ve had enough of this book, I’m afraid, but it’s reintroduced me to a show that I’m even readier to appreciate now than when it went off the air 15 years ago.
Over time, then, I came really to love the show. She’d have a fellow old-timer in to jam. They’d talk a little about the business or maybe get off an inside reference or two, but mostly they communicated through the music. McPartland has a crisp, generous tone, and it seemed to bring out good material from anyone who joined her. Like a good color analyst in a sporting event, she celebrated everyone she presented at the same time as she let drop just often enough that she could bring it herself.
When I saw this audiobook, I figured it would be a best-of piano jazz compilation, so I snatched it up. I liked the idea of listening to McPartland do what she does best: talk and play with other great musicians.
Except, this book turns out to be something very different (with an asterisk). It turns out to be a compilation of her writings about jazz, collected and then updated to when she first brought this out in 2005.
At its best, this is a corrective to what she saw as a flaw in the Ken Burns multi-part history of jazz documentary. In her estimate, Burns made jazz the exclusive property of its African-American inventors; she feels that plenty of others, women in particular, should have been included in that story.
The result is a series of essays on one or another jazz musician. Unfortunately, while McPartland celebrates her subjects, she often dodges the extended discussions of technique or theory-light that I’d have hoped for. Instead, we get compact biographies and sometimes even jazzland gossip. She’ll spend a lot of time telling us that she admired someone, but then she’ll cut short just why she felt that way.
On balance, it seems, McPartland did her best talking with her piano, drawing out her accompanists. She’d set up those sessions with nice bursts of conversation but here, the conversation alone doesn’t really carry the ball.
And then, somewhat annoyingly, she ends most chapters with an update. Sometimes we’ll learn that someone has died whom she has just spoken of as hoping to work with again. And sometimes she’ll reconsider a subject in light of later work. Through it all, I can’t help asking why she didn’t simply rewrite the chapters. As it is, this feels like a garage sale of her old work – mismatched pieces set out in an everything-must-go kind of way.
So, I find the book a disappointment, one that I powered through (sometimes in the background, I admit) because of the rare snippets of music and the occasional observation about what to listen for in someone’s playing.
There is an asterisk, as I say, though. At the very end, after the official book ends, we get four or five excerpts of the old show. Suddenly, when McPartland accompanies Rosemary Clooney or plays alongside Oscar Peterson, we get a whole different ballgame. This is the McPartland I wanted to hear, a confident woman who brings out the best in others.
I’ve had enough of this book, I’m afraid, but it’s reintroduced me to a show that I’m even readier to appreciate now than when it went off the air 15 years ago.
April 26, 2021
Not what I expected, but still enjoyed. It includes interviews with jazz artists from Benny Goodman, Bill Evans, Alec Wilder, Mary Lou Williams, a couple of bassists who I can’t remember now and an all girl jazz big band, called the International Sweet Hearts (I think). Anyway, it was a good read, and the newer edition includes a sections where she talks about herself and the start of her Piano Jazz show on NPR.
I bought it with another pianist’s bio, Keith Jarrett, and did not read the description closely. I thought this was a biography or memoir. But again, I liked it and would recommend the little book.
I bought it with another pianist’s bio, Keith Jarrett, and did not read the description closely. I thought this was a biography or memoir. But again, I liked it and would recommend the little book.
July 10, 2018
I used to listen to her show regularly and adored her. I'm a big jazz fan. This is mostly a skim, but has some great stories in it. Very interesting chapter on The International Sweethearts of Rhythm, an all girl mixed race swing band in the 40s.
April 27, 2021
In the post scripts it is sad that she talks about so many greats who have passed away and of course she's gone now too. But some wonderful stories and fine writing.
May 7, 2012
I found it really, really interesting to get to know Marian McPartland through her own words. This is an audio book I keep in my phone. The only problem is that I found the first part more interesting. I'm now on the second half and it's hard to stay awake through the stories.
But she is under-rated and this a great way to get to know her.
But she is under-rated and this a great way to get to know her.
September 23, 2013
This book is a collection of articles. Fun anecdotes about great jazz players and the nightclubs where they played. A peak into the 1940s and 1950s jazz scene.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews