Web Extra: Marian McPartland at Ravinia, 2000


Renowned jazz pianist and composer Marian McPartland died on Tuesday, August 20, at age 95. She was a pioneer for women in the field of jazz, and became a popular and enthusiastic exponent of the genre all her life.

Born in England, McPartland met her Chicago-born husband, cornetist Jimmy McPartland, while on a USO tour in 1944. The two of them settled in Chicago after World War II but later moved to New York where McPartland’s career took off.

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She appeared on television in its early days and started what would become a long career in radio in the early 1960s. In 1978, she began her long-running NPR radio series, Marian McPartland’s Piano Jazz, which earned her a Peabody Award.

McPartland was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award in 2004. In October 2000, McPartland performed at Ravinia with two other legendary artists: Rosemary Clooney and Dave Brubek, a performance that was turned into a WTTW special. Watch Marian McPartland and Rosemary Clooney in an unforgettable rendition of the Gershwin classic, "Our Love is Here to Stay" in this web extra video.

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