Marian McPartland has enjoyed a decades-long career as one of the top jazz pianists in the United States, and has become widely recognized as the host of NPR's Piano Jazz. In Shall We Play That One Together?, music journalist Paul de Barros chronicles McPartland's story, beginning with her childhood in England, her classical training at the Guildhall School and her move to London as a young woman. Enamored of jazz, Marian found herself playing with the USO during the Second World War, and met her husband, cornetist Jimmy McPartland, in France. Their lives and careers intertwined, though Jimmy's alcoholism and the differences in their work ethics led to trouble and later divorce.
As her fame grew, Marian's story became inextricably linked with that of U.S. jazz culture in the 20th century. Through Jimmy's connections and her own work, she played with dozens of the world's top jazz musicians at a range of clubs and festivals. The names and details of all these people, places and songs are sometimes dizzying, though De Barros provides sufficient context for readers who are not jazz aficionados.
Despite her famously strong personality, Marian loved collaborating with other musicians, learning from every concert, album and festival. Piano Jazz, a radio program built around Marian and a guest talking shop and playing together, grew out of that spirit of inventiveness and cooperation. Shall We Play That One Together? captures the joie de vivre of an age where jazz felt vital, along with the spirit of a woman willing to share the music she loved with anyone who would listen. --Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams