Jimmy McPartland
b. 15 March 1907, Chicago, Illinois, USA, d. 13 March 1991. McPartland began playing cornet while still at Austin High School in Chicago, and became a founding member of both the Austin High School Gang (not all of whom were pupils there) and the Blue Friars. At the age of 17, he replaced Bix Beiderbecke in the Wolverines, and two years later was with Art Kassell's Castles In The Air band. In 1927, he joined Ben Pollack for a two-year stint, then freelanced with numerous bands, small and large, playing on many record dates, until World War II. While still on active service, he married British pianist Marian Turner (see Marian McPartland). After the war he returned to playing in small Dixieland-orientated bands, toured many countries, and was still entertaining audiences in the mid-80s with appearances at prestigious events such as the Nice Jazz Festival. A fiery, exuberant player, McPartland was also capable of playing with a wistful elegance that recalled his earliest and greatest influence, Bix Beiderbecke.