Earl Grant Lyrics

"What a shame," McPartland replies.

McPartland offers a tribute with an elegant solo version of "Rockin' Chair," the Hoagy Carmichael tune that was a hit for Eldridge with Gene Krupa's band. She accompanies Eldridge as he sings "I Want a Little Girl" in his colorful, inimitable style. McPartland also performs a gently swinging version of "Indian Summer," before they wrap up the session improvising on a fast boogie, "M & R Blues."

More About 'Little Jazz'

Trumpeter, composer and singer Roy "Little Jazz" Eldridge was born on Jan. 30, 1911, in Pittsburgh, Penn. He began playing drums at age 6, and by 16 he'd joined a touring carnival performing on drums, tuba and trumpet. Eldridge was enamored of saxophonists Benny Carter and Coleman Hawkins, and Louis Armstrong inspired him to begin developing his own virtuoso style on trumpet.

In 1930, Eldridge made his way to New York, where he joined Teddy Hill's band and later moved to first trumpet with the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra. By the mid-1930s, Eldridge was considered the heir to Armstrong's "hot" trumpet technique. He also had a major influence on Dizzy Gillespie and the birth of bebop.

Through the 1940s, Eldridge played with big bands led by Gene Krupa and Artie Shaw, and was a pivotal member of Norman Granz's Jazz at the Philharmonic group. In 1950, he moved to Paris — where he made some of his most successful recordings — but returned to New York a year later. There, he continued to pick up work in small bands with Coleman Hawkins, Benny Carter, Earl "Fatha" Hines, Ella Fitzgerald and Johnny Hodges. A stroke in 1980 ended Eldridge's trumpet playing, but he continued to perform as a singer and pianist until his death in 1989.