Willie Pickens On Piano Jazz

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Willie Pickens performs with Marian McPartland during his 1997 episode of Piano Jazz. Manchester Craftsmen's Guild hide caption

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Manchester Craftsmen's Guild

Willie Pickens performs with Marian McPartland during his 1997 episode of Piano Jazz.

Manchester Craftsmen's Guild

Piano Jazz remembers Willie Pickens (April 18, 1931 – Dec. 12, 2017), who passed away at the age of 86. A master of digital speed and harmonic sophistication, the Chicago pianist was McPartland's guest for this 1997 program.

Recorded live at the Manchester Craftsmen's Guild in Pittsburgh, the set kicks off with an improvised boogie-woogie that shows why Pickens' contemporaries revered him as "one of the foremost piano players in jazz."

Pickens and McPartland bring down the house with a joint performance of "Just One of Those Things."

Originally broadcast in the spring of 1997.

SET LIST

• "Boogie Woogie" (Pickens)
• "Lush Life" (Strayhorn)
• "Ain't Misbehavin'" (Waller, Razaf, Brooks)
• "What Is This Thing Called Love" (Porter)
• "Un Poco Loco" (Powell)
• "Blue Monk" (Monk)
• "Rodgers, Hart" (Rodgers, Hart)
• "Just One of Those Things" (Porter)