Marian McPartland

He was 64 years old.

His mass was attended by his lifelong jazz contemporaries, including Benny Goodman, Bud Freeman, and Marian McPartland.

Gene Krupa's innovations and lasting impact on percussion also gave him an awful lot of awards, both during his lifetime and posthumously.

For instance, he was named America's Outstanding Drummer by contemporary jazz polls throughout the big band era, and he also co-founded a legendary New York drum school alongside Cozy Cole back in 1954 to teach his signature rudiments.

Um, but it was cool.

I mean, I got to work for Performance Today and World of Opera and Marian McPartland's Jazz Ti- or, um, Piano Jazz.

Mm-hmm.

Um, it was, it was a very, very, very cool experience and definitely helped me decide that I wanted to be on the, the performing end.

Her influence extends beyond the notes.

She set a precedent for women to lead recording sessions, which paved the way for future female jazz pianists like Marian McPartland and Herbie Hancock's wife, who later became band leaders themselves.

So what does this tell us about jazz's evolution? It shows that the genre is less a monolithic art form and more a living conversation, where each participant, regardless of gender or race, contributes a new voice that reshapes the dialogue.

And that conversation continues today, as streaming algorithms surface obscure tracks that highlight women's contributions, and as festivals actively seek to balance lineups.