Happy **90th** Birthday, Marian McPartland!

[eppur_se_muova]

NEW YORK (AP) -- Marian McPartland celebrated her 90th birthday in a style befitting the "Grande Dame of Piano Jazz" with a little help from friends like Norah Jones and Wynton Marsalis at Jazz at Lincoln Center.

"Getting up here is really a job," quipped McPartland, who has been slowed by arthritis in her legs and is recovering from a fractured pelvis, after being assisted onstage.

But the years fell away once her hands touched the keyboard.

She started both sets Wednesday night -- on the eve of her actual birthday -- with the traditional jazz tune "Royal Garden Blues," which she used to play in the band led by her late husband, cornetist Jimmy McPartland. The British-born pianist met the Chicago jazzman when they were entertaining troops in Belgium in 1944 and he introduced his war bride to American jazz audiences in the late 1940s.

McPartland also included selections from her latest album "Twilight World," showcasing her stylistic range and encyclopedic approach to the jazz repertoire -- from solo piano versions of Burt Bacharach's "Alfie" and the obscure Alec Wilder ballad "Blackberry Winter" to avant-gardist Ornette Coleman's twisted blues "Turn Around," performed with her trio.
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more: http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/Music/03/21/music.marianmcpartland.ap/index.html

For those who don't know, her "Piano Jazz" program has been running on NPR for 29 years.

[dkf]

1. That is pretty danged amazing. I hope I'm that sharp at 90.

[jaysunb]

2. Wow !

I didn't realize she was that old !!!! Oops, forgot how old I am.....:rofl:

Happy B-Day Grand Lady !

[Ron Green]

3. Thanks for this post. She's a great lady and a hard-swinging player.

[parasim]

4. 90. wow! Happy Birthday, Marian!

Piano Jazz has always been my favorite radio program. Been listening to it for more years than I care to count.

It is something to behold when an interviewer and an interviewee talk to each other through their pianos.

[Lobster Martini]

5. This is from Allmusic...

"Just a few months shy of celebrating her 90th birthday at the time of these 2007 sessions, the pianist…(really big snip)… delves into the works of other jazz composers with equal enthusiasm, including two spirited explorations of songs by Ornette Coleman, John Lewis' spry "Afternoon in Paris," and a shimmering take of the modal masterpiece "Blue in Green" that is notable for its imaginative introduction. Marian McPartland's Twilight World is among the very best CDs of her long, impressive career."

(LM: That is pretty bloody impressive, if you ask me. How many musicians make their best recordings when they're closing in on 90?)

[Buck Laser]

6. Is she still doing Piano Jazz?

My local NPR station doesn't carry it.