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For more than twenty years, legendary pianist Marian McPartland has welcomed a stellar line-up of jazz artists for conversation and improvisation on her Peabody Award-winning program. Piano Jazz fans say the show's intimate style is "like listening in on a conversation in someone's living room." And no one but McPartland, with her engaging personality and improvisational savvy, could host such a variety of performers in her radio "living room."

Piano Jazz is a forum for jazz legends and influential performers as well as up-and-coming talents. Oscar Peterson, Herbie Hancock, Dave Brubeck, Diana Krall, Max Roach, Cassandra Wilson and Tony Bennett are among the over 400 guests who have joined McPartland to create dynamic duets and discuss their lives and music.

Tune into this graceful series each week and enjoy what The Washington Post calls "an oasis of intelligence and grace and probably the best hour of jazz on the airwaves."

 

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January 26 - Michel Camilo

Dominican jazz sensation Michel Camilo is one of the most creative and technically gifted players on the scene today. Although equally skilled as a classical player, his true calling is jazz, with significant Latin influences. Camilo and McPartland get together for a stellar hour of classic jazz standards including "Willow Weep for Me and Chick Corea's "Windows.

February 2 - Clark Terry

Legendary trumpeter and educator Clark Terry got his jazz education playing with the Basie Band and Duke Ellington's orchestra. Commanding a wide range of styles and a dazzling technique, Terry went on to become one of the most influential jazz horn players of his generation. On this 1994 session, he joins Marian McPartland for Ellington's "Come Sunday and Terry's most famous tune, "Mumbles.

February 9 - Piano Jazz at Tanglewood

For the seventh annual Piano Jazz show at the Tanglewood Jazz Festival, McPartland hosts three amazing guests. Pianists Mulgrew Miller, singer Nnenna Freelon, and rising star, singer/pianist Spencer Day, each take their turn on stage with McPartland. The result is an eclectic and energetic hour of world class jazz.

February 16 - Ed Reed

Singer Ed Reed is relatively new to the national jazz scene, but he's been singing for more than 50 years. After a life of addiction and incarceration, Reed has emerged triumphant, ready for his moment in the spotlight. With his accompanist Gary Fisher, Reed performs "Sleeping Bee and "Ask Me Now before he and McPartland get together on Ellington's "All Too Soon.

February 23 - Bobby Broom

At age 16, guitarist Bobby Broom was recruited by Sonny Rollins, and he's been dazzling listeners and fellow musicians ever since with his well-honed technique and innovative style. His love of jazz flows through his fingers and resonates on his six strings, as he solos on his own tune, "Coming Home, before joining bassist Gary Mazzaroppi and McPartland for "Can't Buy Me Love and "Donna Lee.

March 1 - Larry Willis

Larry Willis is a swinging pianist, an artful composer and arranger, and the music director and producer for the boutique label Mapleshade Records. He's a master of a wide range of styles and has played or recorded with almost every great jazz musician of the modern era, including Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz, and Shirley Horn. No stranger to piano duets, Willis joins McPartland for "I Should Care and "Alone Together.

March 8 - Sherrie Maricle

Sherrie Maricle is a musician of many talents -- she's a drummer, an educator, a writer and a band leader. She's also the beating heart of the all-female big band the Diva Jazz Orchestra. Maricle brings along a few women from her group -- pianist Tomoko Ohno and bassist Noriko Ueda -- to perform "Groove Merchant and Ellington's "Squeeze Me.

March 15 - Jimmy McPartland

Jimmy McPartland was one of the great cornet players from the early Jazz Era and is the late husband of Marian McPartland. Piano Jazz celebrates the jazz legend's centennial with a special concert from the Danny Kaye Playhouse at the 2007 JVC Jazz Festival. Host McPartland gathered a group of Jimmy's former band mates for an hour of traditional jazz music.

March 22 - Robin Meloy Goldsby

Pianist Robin Meloy Goldsby has spent much of her musical life providing a pleasant soundtrack for hotel lobbies and cocktail bars. She's written a book about her experiences, Piano Girl, Lessons in Life, Music, and the Perfect Blue Hawaiian. Goldsby joins McPartland to talk about her piano bar memoir and performs some original tunes, as well as that cocktail-crowd pleaser, "Night and Day.

March 29 - Beegie Adair

Pianist Beegie Adair is known for an impeccable sense of swing and her smooth but intricate playing. The Nashville resident has been an in-demand pianist for the town's best country musicians, but her heart belongs to those classic tunes from the Great American Songbook. Adair performs a graceful version of "I Wished on the Moon" and teams up with McPartland for her signature closer, "We'll Be Together Again."