An icon of jazz broadcasting in the United States, English-born pianist Marian McPartland has died at the age of 95. McPartland presented US public radio station NPR’s longest-running jazz programme from 1978 until 2011, a show that even bore her name: Marian McPartland’s Piano Jazz. She passed away yesterday of natural causes at her Port Washington home on Long Island, Time magazine has reported, quoting a spokeswoman for NPR. Born Margaret Marian Turner in 1918 in Windsor, before leaving England she studied at the Guildhall School of Music and as part of a four-piano act entertained allied troops during World War II.

During the war she met her husband-to-be, cornetist Jimmy McPartland, and moved to the States later making her name at the Hickory House in New York where she was in residence for eight years. She mostly recorded for Concord, but on her own Halcyon label recorded such luminaries as Earl Hines and Teddy Wilson. McPartland was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 2007 and received numerous honorary degrees as well as an OBE. The National Endowment for the Arts in the US in a statement commented on Ms McPartland's passing: "As host of the renowned public radio show Piano Jazz, McPartland played a key role in helping to popularise jazz through her intricate knowledge of the art form and her prowess on the piano. NEA senior deputy chairman Joan Shigekawa said: 'Marian McPartland faced many challenges playing jazz as a woman in the 1940s. She was one of the first women to lead her own band, landing an eight-year residency at the historic Hickory House in New York City before going on to a career as the host of Piano Jazz where she was integral to raising the profile of jazz nationwide'. The NEA joins the jazz community and beyond in mourning her death while celebrating her career and dedication to jazz."
Marian McPartland above photo: Concord Records; and pictured in the famous 1958 Great Day in Harlem Art Kane photograph seen in this detail to the left of Mary Lou Williams, with Thelonious Monk beside Mary Lou looking at the camera.