Jimmy McPartland

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Jimmy McPartland
Birth nameJames Dugald McPartland
Born(1907-03-15)March 15, 1907
Dixieland
Occupation(s)Musician
Instrument(s)Cornet
Years active1930s–1970s
LabelsPrestige, MGM, Grand Award, Epic, Mercury, RCA, Jazzology

James Dugald "Jimmy" McPartland[1] (March 15, 1907 – March 13, 1991)[2] was an American cornetist. He worked with Eddie Condon, Art Hodes, Gene Krupa, Benny Goodman, Jack Teagarden, and Tommy Dorsey, often leading his own bands. He was married to pianist Marian McPartland.

Music career

Austin High School Gang

McPartland was born in Chicago, Illinois.[3] His father was a music teacher and baseball player. He and his siblings for some time lived 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 five, and took up the cornet at age 15.[3]

McPartland was a member of the

King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band
.

New York City bands

After playing through high school, their first musical job was under the name the Blue Friars.[3] In 1924, at age 17, McPartland went to New York City to take Bix Beiderbecke's place in the Wolverines band.[4] Beiderbecke sat at the back of the club during the audition. They became friends and roomed together. At that time, Beiderbecke picked out the cornet for McPartland that he played throughout his career.

From 1926-27, he 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,[3] and was one of the main soloists (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, and master-of-ceremonies at the Three Deuces nightclub. He 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.

Meeting Marian

During 1936–1941, McPartland led his own bands and joined Teagarden's Big Band until he was drafted into the army during

Grammy Award
for the soundtrack to the 1954 film, After Hours.

McPartland encouraged Marian 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. In 1948, he and Marian performed at the Brass Rail in Chicago. The stage was so small it barely held the trio, but they grew a large following.

TV work and late career

McPartland's outgoing personality and stage presence led him to try acting, resulting in a featured role in

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. They continued to work together, remained friends, and remarried a few weeks before Jimmy's death.[1]

He died of lung cancer in Port Washington, New York, in 1991, two days before his 84th birthday.[2]

Honors

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

Discography

As leader

  • After Hours (Grand Award, 1956)
  • Dixieland Now and Then (Jazztone, 1956)
  • The Middle Road (Jazztone, 1956)
  • The Music Man Goes Dixieland (Epic, 1958)
  • Play TV Themes with Marian McPartland (Design, 1960)
  • That Happy Dixieland Jazz (RCA, 1960)
  • Meet Me in Chicago with Art Hodes (Mercury, 1960)
  • Dixieland! (Harmony, 1968)
  • The McPartlands Live at the Monticello with Marian McPartland (Halcyon, 1972)
  • Swingin (Halcyon, 1973)
  • Wanted! (Improv, 1977)
  • Tony Bennett/The McPartlands and Friends Make Magnificent Music (Improv, 1977)
  • One Night Stand (Jazzology, 1986)
  • On Stage (Jazzology, 2001)
  • Jazzmeeting in Holland with Bud Freeman, Ted Easton (Circle, 2003)
  • Chicagoans Live in Concert (Jazzology, 2006)

As sideman

References

  1. ^ a b "Jimmy McPartland | Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  2. ^ a b Reich, Howard (14 March 1991). "CHICAGO JAZZ PIONEER JIMMY MCPARTLAND". Chicagotribune.com. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  3. ^
    ISBN 0-85112-580-8
    .
  4. ISBN 978-0-7201-1708-0
    .

External links
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