The University of Chicago Library > The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center > Finding Aids > Guide to the Jimmy and Marian McPartland Collection 1923-1990
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The Jimmy and Marian McPartland Papers were processed and preserved as part of the "Uncovering New Chicago Archives Project," funded with support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
| Title: | McPartland, Jimmy and Marian. Collection |
|---|---|
| Dates: | 1923-1990 |
| Size: | 2.5 linear feet (2 boxes) |
| Repository: |
Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center |
| Abstract: | Jimmy and Marian McPartland, cornetist and pianist. The Jimmy and Marian McPartland Papers contain photographs, reviews, concert ephemera, correspondence, and material from the making of The Magic Horn, a television program part of the television series The Alcoa Hour. |
The collection is open for research.
Photographs of Bix Beiderbecke, Box 1, Folder 16-17, may not be reproduced.
When quoting material from this collection, the preferred citation is: McPartland, Jimmy and Marian. Collection, [Box#, Folder#], Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library
Jimmy McPartland was born in 1907 in Chicago, IL. A cornetist, McPartland and his brother Dick received early training from their bandleader father. They later attended Chicago’s Austin High School where with Bud Freeman (saxophone), Jim Lanigan (string bass), and Frank Teschemacher (clarinet), formed their first jazz band in 1922, the “Austin High Gang.” It was also at this time that McPartland began listening to the music of Bix Beiderbecke through the recordings of the Wolverines. When Bix left the Wolverines in 1924, McPartland was chosen to replace him.
By 1927, McPartland was invited to join the Ben Pollack Orchestra, sitting alongside such famous jazz musicians as Benny Goodman and Jack Teagarden. During the same year he recorded with McKenzie and Condon’s Chicagoans, which included the Austin High School Gang. These recordings are often considered to be definitive expressions of the Chicago jazz style. Upon leaving Pollack, McPartland began leading and recording with his own small groups in New York and Chicago. While in Europe during WWII, McPartland met and married English pianist Marian Turner.
After becoming one of the most influential figures in the history of jazz in Chicago, Jimmy McPartland died in 1991.
Marian (Turner) McPartland was born in 1918 and was classically trained. She was traveling Europe with a four-piano vaudeville act, entertaining Allied troops when she met her future husband. After the war, the two as part of a quartet recorded in Chicago.
As Marian McPartland’s musical focus shifted to bebop, she struck out on her own, establishing her own trio and taking up what would become an eight year residency at the Hickory House in New York City. The Hickory House became a gathering place for colleagues such as Oscar Peterson, Benny Goodman, and Duke Ellington. Marian also founded her own record label, Halcyon, which recorded such artists as Earl Hines, Teddy Wilson, and Dave McKenna. In addition to performing, she composed songs that were recorded by popular artists like Tony Bennett and Peggy Lee.
Marian hosts the longest running and most widely carried jazz program on National Public Radio. Marian McPartland’s Piano Jazz went on air for the first time in 1978. She has received numerous awards for her broadcast work, including an induction into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 2007.
The Jimmy and Marian McPartland Papers are divided into three series: Series I, Personal; Series II, Photographs; and Series III, Oversize.
Series I, Personal, contains correspondence to Jimmy McPartland, some of which regards the television program The Magic Horn. The concert ephemera include programs and advertisements from concerts given by Jimmy and Marian McPartland. There is biographical information and articles on Jimmy McPartland as well as performance reviews.
Series II, Photographs and Oversize, contains photographs of the McPartlands and other prominent jazz musicians such as Billie Holiday, Dizzy Gillespie, Bing Crobsy, and Bix Beiderbecke. Also included are posters from jazz events.
Series I: Personal |
| Box 1 Folder 1 | Articles, 1961-1990 |
| Box 1 Folder 2 | Biographical, 1991 |
| Box 1 Folder 3 | Concert Ephemera, circa 1940s-1990 |
| Box 1 Folder 4 | Correspondence, 1961-1971 |
| Box 1 Folder 5 | Correspondence, The Magic Horn, 1956 |
| Box 1 Folder 6 | The Magic Horn, Advertisements, 1956 |
| Box 1 Folder 7 | The Magic Horn, Script, 1956 |
| Box 1 Folder 8 | Reviews, 1961-1990 |
Series II: Photographs and Oversize |
| Box 1 Folder 9 | Al Haid Orchestra and Jimmy McPartland, 1923 |
| Box 1 Folder 10 | Anita O'Day, Joe Rushton, and Jimmy McPartland, circa 1940s |
| Box 1 Folder 11 | Austin High Gang, 1923-1926 |
| Box 1 Folder 12 | Austin High Gang, 1960 |
| Box 1 Folder 13 | Billie Holiday and Jimmy McPartland, circa 1940s |
| Box 1 Folder 14 | Billy Butterfield and Jimmy McPartland, circa 1970s |
| Box 1 Folder 15 | Bing Crosby and Jimmy McPartland, 1947-1950 |
| Box 1 Folder 16 | Bix Biederbecke, circa 1920s-1970s |
| Box 1 Folder 17 | Bix Biederbecke and his Rhythm Jugglers, 1925 |
| Box 1 Folder 18 | Bobby Hackett, George Wettling, and Jimmy McPartland, 1950 |
| Box 1 Folder 19 | Boyd Brown, Bud Johnson, and Jimmy McPartland, 1939 |
| Box 1 Folder 20 | Bud Freeman, 1946 |
| Box 1 Folder 21 | Dell Jones, Larry Madison, Herb Hall, and Jimmy McPartland, circa 1970s |
| Box 1 Folder 22 | Dizzy Gillespie and Jimmy McPartland, 1955 |
| Box 1 Folder 23 | Harold Arlen, Louis Onzer, and Jimmy McPartland, 1972-1973 |
| Box 1 Folder 24 | Hoagy Carmichael and Jimmy McPartland, undated |
| Box 1 Folder 25 | Jack Stive and Jimmy McPartland, circa 1980s |
| Box 1 Folder 26 | Jim Galloway and Jimmy McPartland, circa 1970s |
| Box 1 Folder 27 | Jimmy McPartland, 1927-1990 |
| Box 1 Folder 28 | Jimmy McPartland, 1946 |
| Box 1 Folder 29 | Jimmy McPartland and grandson, 1957 |
| Box 1 Folder 30 | Jimmy and Marian McPartland, 1946-1970s |
| Box 1 Folder 31 | Jimmy McPartland and Others, Three Deuces, 1937 |
| Box 1 Folder 32 | Jimmy McPartland and Others, 1948-1949 |
| Box 1 Folder 33 | Jimmy McPartland and Others, circa 1960s |
| Box 1 Folder 34 | Jimmy McPartland and Others, 1985 |
| Box 1 Folder 35 | Jimmy McPartland and Others, undated |
| Box 1 Folder 36 | Jimmy McPartland and Others, undated |
| Box 1 Folder 37 | Jimmy McPartland and Others, undated |
| Box 1 Folder 38 | Joe Tarto, undated |
| Box 1 Folder 39 | Louis Armstrong, Muggsy Spanier, and Jimmy McPartland, circa 1950s |
| Box 1 Folder 40 | The Maroon Six, 1924 |
| Box 1 Folder 41 | McPartlands and Other Musicians, circa 1940s-1960 |
| Box 1 Folder 42 | Paul Whiteman Orchestra, undated |
| Box 1 Folder 43 | Pee Wee Russell and Jimmy McPartland, undated |
| Box 1 Folder 44 | Roy Eldridge, Bud Freeman, and Jimmy McPartland, 1937 |
| Box 1 Folder 45 | Squirrel Ashecraft and Jimmy McPartland, 1970 |
| Box 1 Folder 46 | Tony Parenti, Bobby Pratt, Freddy Moore, and Jimmy McPartland, circa 1960s |
| Box 2 Folder 1 | Jimmy McPartland and Marian McPartland, circa 1930s-1940s |
| Box 2 Folder 2 | Poster, Barrelhouse Jazzband, 1975 |
| Box 2 Folder 2 | Poster, International Jazz Festival, 1949 |
| Box 2 Folder 3 | Poster, Jazzball Hot Dogs 20 Jahre, undated |
| Box 2 Folder 2 | Poster, Jazzkoncert, 1975 |