Margaret Marian McPartland OBE (née Turner;[1] 20 March 1918 – 20 August 2013), was an English and American jazz pianist, composer, and writer.

Although known mostly for jazz, she composed other types of music as well, performing her own symphonic work A Portrait of Rachel Carson with the University of South Carolina Symphony Orchestra in 2007.

Janet refused to find her daughter a piano teacher until the age of 16, by which time Margaret was already adept at learning songs by ear.

[5] This lack of early education meant that Margaret was never a strong reader of notated music, and would always prefer to learn through listening.

Turner studied at Miss Hammond's School for Young Children from 1924 to 1927, Avonclyffe from 1927 to 1929, Holy Trinity Convent from 1929 to 1933, and finally Stratford House for Girls from 1933 to 1935.

She was accepted in the spring of 1935 on the merit of her "rampant enthusiasm, God-given faculty, and a dangerous surplus of imagination" and in spite of the fact that she was "sadly lacking in technique.

[8] Much to her family's dismay, she developed a love for American jazz and musicians such as Duke Ellington, Fats Waller, Teddy Wilson, and Mary Lou Williams, among others.

In 1938, Turner sought out Billy Mayerl at his School of Modern Syncopation to seek lessons, and was convinced to audition for his piano quartet.

Despite her family's efforts to keep her at Guildhall, Turner left to join Billy Mayerl's Claviers, a four-piano vaudeville act.

To avoid conscription during World War II, she volunteered for the Entertainment National Service Association (ENSA), a group that was playing for Allied troops, in fall 1940.

In 1944, her friend Zonie Dale recommended that Marian join the United Service Organizations (USO) because they paid more and played with American men.

[10] With the USO, Marian went through basic training and was issued a set of combat gear – GI boots, helmet, and uniform.

In St Vith, Belgium, on 14 October 1944, Marian met a Chicago cornetist named Jimmy McPartland at a jam session.

This gig led to a laudatory DownBeat profile by Leonard Feather, an advocate for women in jazz, who wrote that French fans would be unlikely to accept her because "She is English, white and a girl--three hopeless strikes against her from the Gallic angle.

Yet, if you ask Coleman Hawkins...or any of the other cats...you'll know from their enthusiasm that ...She's a fine, swinging pianist..."[15] (McPartland sometimes loosely paraphrased Feather as saying "Oh, she'll never make it: she's English, white and a woman.")

It has been argued that McPartland never received the acclaim she deserved because she never stayed with any sidemen long enough to develop a unique sound, her 1953-1956 group being the exception to this rule.

[23] In 1958 a black and white group portrait of 57 notable jazz musicians, including McPartland, was photographed in front of a brownstone in Harlem, New York City.

Art Kane, a freelance photographer working for Esquire magazine, took the photo, which was called, "A Great Day in Harlem", and it became a well-known image of New York's jazz musicians of the time.

[24] McPartland's counselling with Benjamin eventually led her to a number of important choices, the first being the decision to end her affair with Morello in the spring of 1964.

In 1966, DeRosa received a grant that allowed him to further develop his method, and he moved to the Cold Spring Harbor High School.

During an engagement at the Apartment, a New York club, in February 1967 she met Alec Wilder, a man with whom she would develop a great friendship and who would encourage her to write and compose.

[37] In the late '70s, Marian performed internationally, including appearances in Asia, Europe, South America, and across the United States.

[38] McPartland appears in the 5 December 1977 issue of The New Yorker – Goings on About Town, "presides over the keyboard in the Bemelmans Bar (at the Carlyle Hotel) Mondays through Saturdays from nine-thirty to one (a.m.)."

[39] In 1964, Marian McPartland launched a new venture on WBAI-FM (New York City), conducting a weekly radio program that featured recordings and interviews with guests.

McPartland was offered the opportunity primarily on the recommendation of her friend Alec Wilder, who hosted American Popular Song until his health prevented him from continuing the program.

As a result, Piano Jazz: Rising Stars, an NPR series hosted by Weber, began broadcast on 3 January 2012.

[45] In 1979, McPartland received an NEH grant to write a book about women in jazz, focusing specifically on The International Sweethearts of Rhythm.

Although a master at adapting to her guest's musical styles and having a well-known affinity for beautiful and harmonically rich ballads, she also recorded many tunes of her own.

Just before her 90th birthday, McPartland composed and performed a symphonic piece, A Portrait of Rachel Carson, to mark the centennial of the environmental pioneer.

[48] McPartland was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2010 New Year Honours, "For services to jazz and to aspiring young musicians in the USA".