Jimmy McPartland

James Dugald McPartland (March 15, 1907 – March 13, 1991) was an American cornetist and one of the originators of Chicago Jazz. He worked with Eddie Condon, Art Hodes, Gene Krupa, Benny Goodman, Jack Teagarden, Tommy Dorsey and other jazz veterans, often leading his own bands.

Biography

McPartland was born in Chicago, Illinois. His father was a music teacher and baseball player. Family problems caused Jimmy and his siblings to be partly raised in orphanages. After being removed from one orphanage for fighting, he got in further trouble with the law. He credited music with turning him around: he started violin at age 5, took up the cornet at age 15, and stated that, without music, he probably would have been "a hoodlum".

McPartland was a member of the Austin High Gang with Bud Freeman (tenor sax), Frank Teschemacher (clarinet), brother Dick McPartland (banjo/guitar), brother-in-law Jim Lanigan (bass, tuba and violin), Joe Sullivan (piano), and Dave Tough (drums) in the 1920s. They were inspired by the recordings they heard at the local malt shop, The Spoon and Straw. They studied and tried to duplicate what they heard on recordings by The New Orleans Rhythm Kings and others, and would frequently visit with Louis Armstrong, only a few years their senior, and King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band at Lincoln Gardens.

After playing through high school, their first musical job was under the name The Blue Friars. In 1924, at age 17, McPartland went to New York to take Bix Beiderbecke's place in the Wolverine Orchestra.[1] Beiderbecke sat at the back of the club during the audition, and later commented, "I like ya, kid. Ya sound like me, but you don't copy me." They became friends and roomed together. At that time, Beiderbecke picked out the cornet for McPartland that he played throughout his career.

From 1926 to 1927, McPartland worked with Art Kassel. Also in 1927, he was a part of the McKenzie-Condon's Chicagoans recording session that produced "China Boy" and "Nobody's Sweetheart". Finally, in 1927 he joined Ben Pollack's band for two years, and was one of the main soloists (along with Benny Goodman, Bud Freeman, Jack Teagarden and Glenn Miller). McPartland played on the 1928 recording of "Room 1411". He also moonlighted in Broadway pit bands. McPartland then went to New York City, and played with a number of small combos. He co-wrote the song "Makin' Friends" with Jack Teagarden.

In 1930, McPartland moved back to Chicago, working with his brother Dick, in a group called "The Embassy Four". He was then a bandleader/singer/master-of-ceremonies at The Three Deuces nightclub. He also worked with Russ Columbo (1931–1932) and the Harry Reser band (1933–1935). During this period, he married singer Dorothy Williams, who along with her sister Hannah (who later married boxer Jack Dempsey), performed as "The Williams Sisters", and they had a daughter, Dorothy. They soon divorced and McPartland spent time in South America. During 1936–1941, McPartland led his own bands and joined Teagarden's Big Band until he was drafted into the army during World War II (1942–1944).

After participating in the Invasion of Normandy, McPartland met his future wife in Belgium, the English pianist Margaret Marian Turner, who became better known as jazz pianist Marian McPartland. They married in Aachen, Germany and moved back to Chicago, where Jimmy appeared on Windy City Jamboree, before finally settling in New York. Soon, Jimmy McPartland was part of the Willie 'The Lion' Smith band (along with Jimmy Archey, Pee Wee Russell, George 'Pops' Foster, and George Wettling) that won a Grammy for their soundtrack to the 1954 film After Hours.

McPartland knew that Marian's future was not in playing traditional jazz. He encouraged her to develop her own style and form her own group, which led to the establishment of her long residency at the Hickory House, with a trio including drummer Joe Morello.

McPartland's outgoing personality and stage presence led him to try acting, resulting in a featured role in The Alcoa Hour episode "The Magic Horn" in 1956 with Sal Mineo, Ralph Meeker, and other jazz musicians. He also later performed in a production of Show Boat.

In 1948 Jimmy and Marian performed at the Brass Rail in Chicago (Randpolph and Dearborn Streets) a tiny bar/ bar/lounge that was wedged into a corner of the S & S Woods Theater. The stage was so small it barely held the trio and they grew a large following.

In 1961, McPartland appeared on a DuPont Show of the Month musical extravaganza hosted by Garry Moore, called "Chicago and All That Jazz", featuring Gene Krupa, Jack Teagarden, Eddie Condon, Pee Wee Russell, and Lil Armstrong.

McPartland performed as guest star with many bands and at festivals during the 1970s in the US and out of the country. The McPartlands divorced in 1970. However, they continued to work together, stayed friends, and remarried just a few weeks before Jimmy's death.

McPartland died of lung cancer in Port Washington, New York in 1991, two days before his 84th birthday.

Honors

In 1992, Jimmy McPartland was inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame.

Discography

References

  1. ↑ Max Harrison, Charles Fox, Eric Thacker (2000). The Essential Jazz Records: Ragtime to swing. Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 133. ISBN 978-0-7201-1708-0.

External links