Harold Mabern (born March 20, 1936) is both one of New York's most requested pianists and a staple of Japan's jazz scene. A mainly self-taught musician, his style is influenced by Art Tatum, Chris Anderson, Billy Wallace and Bud Powell. In 2015, he released Afro Blue, an album that featured several guest vocalists, including Gregory Porter and Norah Jones.
Host Marian McPartland caught Mabern for this 1991 episode of Piano Jazz before he left for a late-spring tour of Japan. Mabern solos on "Milestones," then joins McPartland for Duke Ellington's "Just Squeeze Me."
Originally broadcast in the spring of 1991.
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