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Piano Jazz is a weekly one-hour radio show produced and distributed by National Public Radio (NPR). It began on June 4, 1978, and was hosted by jazz pianist Marian McPartland (1918–2013) until 2011. It is the longest-running cultural program on NPR. The show generally features a single guest (though small groups and duos are also featured at times), and usually consists of about an equal mixture of discussion and playing, often duets with McPartland. Initially the guests were limited to jazz pianists, but the format was later expanded to include performers on other instruments as well as other genres (though the performances remain focused on jazz tunes). The show provides an inside look at the relationships of jazz musicians, since McPartland often had long friendships with many of her guests. Piano Jazz won a Peabody Award in 1983. The show is an exclusive production of South Carolina public radio on WLTR and is offered nationally by NPR.
A number of shows have been released commercially on CD or LP, including shows with Dizzy Gillespie, Bill Evans, Bruce Hornsby, Mary Lou Williams, Shirley Horn, Steely Dan Allmusic Steely Dan, Milt Hinton, Allmusic Milt Hinton Kenny Burrell, Allmusic Kenny Burrell Lionel Hampton Allmusic Hampton and Les McCann. Allmusic Les McCann These were released on The Jazz Alliance, a subsidiary of Concord Records founded around 1990 for this purpose.
On November 10, 2011, NPR announced the retirement of Marian McPartland from the program. Jon Weber stepped into McPartland's shoes, recording 13 episodes for the renamed Piano Jazz Rising Stars, broadcast in early 2012 and 2013. It features mainly young musicians such as Whitney James, Jason Moran, Taylor Eigsti and Grace Kelly. McPartland's Piano Jazz continues as a series of rebroadcasts of old programs, with Piano Jazz Rising Stars becoming a separate program.
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