Fresh Air Remembers 'Piano Jazz' Host Marian McPartland

Published August 23, 2013 at 11:31 AM CDT

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<em>Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz</em> featured performances and conversation with a variety of pianists, including Ray Charles and Dave Brubeck. — *Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz* featured performances and conversation with a variety of pianists, including Ray Charles and Dave Brubeck.

For more than 30 years, jazz pianist Marian McPartland hosted one of public radio's most beloved shows, Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz. As NPR's Felix Contreras writes, she "gave the world an intimate, insider's perspective on one of the most elusive topics in music — jazz improvisation." McPartland died of natural causes on Tuesday at the age of 95. She spoke with Fresh Air's Terry Gross in 1987.