Biography
Jimmy McPartland, a Dixieland cornetist whose personal lyrical approach first drew from Bix Beiderbecke, performed the music he loved across more than six decades. The younger sibling of guitarist Dick McPartland (1905-1957), he joined the storied Austin High School Gang during the 1920s. McPartland succeeded Bix Beiderbecke in the Wolverines in 1925, entered Ben Pollack’s band in 1927, and took part in the landmark session by McKenzie & Condon’s Chicagoans. Serving as one of Pollack’s chief soloists alongside Benny Goodman, he remained until 1929, after which he settled in Chicago and worked steadily through the 1930s. Stationed abroad in World War II from 1942 to 1944, he met English pianist Marian Turner, his future wife. Across the following four decades McPartland appeared at numerous Dixieland dates, collaborating with Eddie Condon, Art Hodes, and other Chicago jazz veterans while frequently leading his own groups. Though they later divorced, he and Marian McPartland remained close and played together occasionally, remarrying only weeks before his death two days before his 84th birthday. An MCA two-LP anthology issued in the 1970s gathered many of his strongest early recordings. As a leader he also recorded for Harmony, Prestige, MGM, Grand Award, Jazztone, Epic, Mercury, RCA, Design, Jazzology, Halcyon (Marian’s label), and Riff.
Albums
