George Shearing

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Sir George Shearing

Shearing in 1959
Background information
Born 13 August 1919
Battersea, London, England
Died 14 February 2011 (aged 91)
New York City, New York, United States
Genres Jazz
Bebop
Swing
Cool jazz
Occupations Musician
Instruments Piano
Years active 19472011
Labels MGM
Capitol
Concord
Savoy
Website www.georgeshearing.net/
Sir George Shearing, OBE (13 August 1919 14 February 2011) was a British jazz pianist who
for many years led a popular jazz group that recorded for Discovery Records, MGM
Records and Capitol Records. The composer of over 300 titles, including the jazz
standard "Lullaby of Birdland", he had multiple albums on the Billboard charts during the 1950s,
1960s, 1980s and 1990s.
[1]
He died of heart failure in New York City, at the age of 91.
Contents
[hide]
1 Early life
2 US Years
3 Later career
4 Personal life
5 Awards and honors
6 Discography
7 Filmography
8 References
9 External links
Early life[edit]
Born in Battersea, London, Shearing was the youngest of nine children. He was born blind
to working class parents: his father delivered coal and his mother cleaned trains in the evening.
He started to learn piano at the age of three and began formal training at Linden Lodge School
for the Blind, where he spent four years.
[2]

Though he was offered several scholarships, Shearing opted to perform at a local pub, the
Mason's Arms in Lambeth, for "25 bob a week"
[3]
playing piano and accordion. He even joined an
all-blind band during that time and was influenced by the records of Teddy Wilson and Fats
Waller.
[1]
Shearing made his first BBC radio broadcast during this time after befriending Leonard
Feather, with whom he started recording in 1937.
[2]
In 1940, Shearing joined Harry Parry's
popular band and contributed to the comeback of Stphane Grappelli. Shearing won seven
consecutive Melody Maker polls during this time. Around that time he was also a member
of George Evans's Saxes 'n' Sevens band.
US Years[edit]
In 1947, Shearing emigrated to the United States, where his harmonically complex style mixing
swing, bop and modern classical influences gained popularity. One of his first performances in
the US was at the Hickory House. He performed with the Oscar Pettiford Trio and led a jazz
quartet with Buddy DeFranco, which led to contractual problems, since Shearing was under
contract to MGM and DeFranco to Capitol Records. In 1949, he formed the first George Shearing
Quintet, a band with Margie Hyams (vibraphone), Chuck Wayne (guitar), later replaced by Toots
Thielemans (listed as John Tillman), John Levy (bass) and Denzil Best (drums) and recorded for
Discovery, Savoy and MGM, including the immensely popular single "September in the Rain"
(MGM), which sold over 900,000 copies; "my other hit" to accompany "Lullaby of Birdland".
Shearing said of this hit that it was "as accidental as it could be."
[3]
He credited the Glenn Miller
Orchestra's reed section of the late 1930s and early 1940s as an important influence.
Shearing's interest in classical music resulted in some performances with concert orchestras in
the 1950s and 1960s, and his solos frequently drew upon the music
of Satie, Delius andDebussy for inspiration. He became known for a piano technique known as
"Shearing's voicing", a type of double melody block chord, with an additional fifth part that
doubles the melody an octave lower. (This style is also known as "locked hands" and the jazz
organist Milt Buckner is generally credited with inventing it.) In 1956, Shearing became
a naturalized citizen of the United States.
[3]
He continued to play with his quintet, with augmented
players through the years, and recorded with Capitol until 1969. He created his own label,
Sheba, that lasted a few years. Along with dozens of musical stars of his day, Shearing appeared
on ABC's The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom. Earlier, he had appeared on the same
network's reality show, The Comeback Story, in which he discussed how to cope with blindness.
Later career[edit]
In 1970, he began to "phase out his by-now-predictable quintet"
[1]
and disbanded the group in
1978. One of his more notable albums during this period was The Reunion, with George
Shearing (Verve 1976), made in collaboration with bassist Andy Simpkins and drummer Rusty
Jones, and featuring Stphane Grappelli, the musician with whom he had debuted as a sideman
decades before. Later, Shearing played with a trio, as a soloist and increasingly in a duo. Among
his collaborations were sets with the Montgomery Brothers, Marian McPartland, Brian Q.
Torff, Jim Hall, Hank Jones and Kenny Davern. In 1979, Shearing signed with Concord Records,
and recorded for the label with Mel Torm. This collaboration garnered Shearing and Torm
two Grammys, one in 1983 and another in 1984. Shearing remained fit and active well into his
later years and continued to perform, even after being honoured with an Ivor Novello Lifetime
Achievement Award in 1993. He never forgot his native country and, in his last years, would split
his year between living in New York and Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire, UK, where he had
bought a house with his second wife, singer Ellie Geffert. This gave him the opportunity to tour
the UK, giving concerts, often with Torm, backed by the BBC Big Band. He was appointed OBE
in 1996. In 2007, he was knighted. "So", he noted later, "the poor, blind kid from Battersea
became Sir George Shearing. Now that's a fairy tale come true."
[citation needed]

In 2004, he released his memoirs, Lullaby of Birdland, which was accompanied by a double-
album "musical autobiography", Lullabies of Birdland. Shortly afterwards, however, he suffered a
fall at his home and retired from regular performing. In 2012 Derek Paravicini and jazz
vocalist Frank Holder did a tribute concert to the recordings of Shearing. Ann Odell transcribed
the recordings and taught Paravicini the parts, as well as being the MD for the concerts. Lady
Shearing also endorsed the show, sending a letter to be read out before the Watermill Jazz Club
performance.
Personal life[edit]
Shearing was married twice, first to the former Trixie Bayes, to whom he was married from 1941
to 1973. Two years after his divorce he married his second wife, the singer Ellie Geffert. Geffert
survived him after he died on 14 February 2011.
[4]

Awards and honors[edit]
Performed for U.S. Presidents
Gerald Ford
Jimmy Carter
Ronald Reagan
Performed at Royal Command Performance for Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip.
1975, honorary degree of Doctor of Music from Westminster College, Salt Lake
City, Utah.
1978, Horatio Alger Award for Distinguished Americans.
Grammys:
1983 - An Evening with George Shearing & Mel Torm
1984 - Top Drawer
1993, Ivor Novello Award for Lifetime Achievement.
1994, honorary degree of Doctor of Music from Hamilton College in New York.
1996, included in the Queen's Birthday Honours List and invested by Queen
Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for
his "services to music and Anglo-US relations".
1998, the first American Music Award by the National Arts Club, New York City.
2002, honorary degree of Doctor of Music from DePauw University in Indiana.
2003, "Lifetime Achievement Award" from BBC Jazz Awards.
[5]

2007, knighted for services to music.
Discography[edit]
1947: Piano Solo Savoy
1947: Great Britain's Marian McPartland & George Shearing Savoy Jazz
(Released 1994)
1949: Midnight on Cloud 69 Savoy
1949: George Shearing Quintet Discovery
1950: You're Hearing George Shearing and his Quintet MGM (E-3216)
1951: An Evening with the George Shearing Quintet
1951: Souvenirs London
1951: Touch of Genius MGM
1952: I Hear Music Metro
1955: Shearing Caravan MGM
1955: Shearing in Hi Fi MGM
1955: The Shearing Spell Capitol
1956: Latin Escapade Capitol
1956: Black Satin Capitol (T858)
1956: By Request London
1956: Velvet Carpet Capitol
1957: Shearing on Stage Capitol
1958: Blue Chiffon Capitol
1958: Burnished Brass Capitol
1958: Latin Lace Capitol
1958: George Shearing on Stage! Capitol
1958: Latin Affair Capitol
1958: In the Night with Dakota Staton Capitol
1959: Satin Brass Capitol
1959: Satin Latin MGM
1959: Beauty and the Beat! (with Peggy Lee) Capitol
1960: San Francisco Scene Capitol
1960: On the Sunny Side of the Strip GNP
1960: The Shearing Touch Capitol (T1472)
1960: White Satin Capitol
1961: George Shearing and the Montgomery Brothers Jazz
1961: Mood Latino Capitol
1961: Nat King Cole Sings/George Shearing Plays (with Nat King Cole) Capitol
1961: Satin Affair Capitol
1961: The Swingin's Mutual! (with Nancy Wilson) Capitol
1962: Concerto For My Love - ST-1755 Capitol
1962: Jazz Moments Blue Note
1962: Shearing Bossa Nova Capitol
1962: Soft and Silky MGM
1962: Smooth & Swinging MGM
1963: Touch Me Softly Capitol
1963: Jazz Concert Capitol
1963: Rare Form Capitol
1963: Old Gold and Ivory Capitol
1963: Latin Rendezvous Capitol
1964: Out of the Woods Capitol
1964: Deep Velvet Capitol
1966: That Fresh Feeling Capitol
1966: Live Jazz from Club 15 Request (Live, released 2006)
1968: Shearing Today Capitol
1969: In the Mind Capitol
1969: The Fool on the Hill Capitol
1970: Out of This World (Sheba Records)
1970: It's Real George (CRS 2023 Crown Records)
1971: The Heart and Soul of George Shearing and Joe Williams (Sheba)
1972: As Requested (Sheba)
1972: Music to Hear (Sheba)
1972: The George Shearing Quartet (Sheba)
1973: GAS (Sheba)
1973: The George Shearing Trio, Vol. 1
1974: Light Airy and Swinging MPS/BASF
1974: Swinging in a Latin Mood MPS/BASF
1974: My Ship MPS/BASF
1974: The Way We Are MPS/BASF
1975: The Best of George Shearing Capitol
1975: Continental Experience MPS/BASF
1976: The Many Facets of George Shearing - MPS/BASF
1976: The Reunion MPS/BASF (with Stephane Grappelli)
1977: Windows MPS/BASF
1977: 500 Miles High - MPS/BASF
1977: Feeling Happy - MPS/BASF
1979: Getting in the Swing of Things MPS/BASF
1979: Live Concord Jazz
1979: Blues Alley Jazz (Live) Concord Jazz
1979: Concerto for Classic Guitar and Jazz Piano Angel
1980: Two for the Road (with Carmen McRae) Concord
1980: In Concert at the Pavilion Concord Jazz
1980: On a Clear Day Concord Jazz
1981: Alone Together (with Marian McPartland) Concord Jazz
1981: First Edition Concord Jazz
1982: An Evening with George Shearing & Mel Torm (Live, with Mel Torm)
1983: Top Drawer Concord Jazz (Live, with Mel Torm)
1984: Live at the Cafe Carlyle Concord
1985: An Elegant Evening Concord Jazz (with Mel Torm)
1985: Grand Piano Concord Jazz
1986: Plays Music of Cole Porter Concord
1986: More Grand Piano Concord Jazz
1987: A Vintage Year Concord Jazz (Live, with Mel Torm)
1987: Breakin' Out Concord Jazz
1987: Dexterity Concord Jazz (Live, featuring Ernestine Anderson)
1988: The Spirit of 176 Concord Jazz (with Hank Jones)
1988: Perfect Match Concord Jazz (with Ernestine Anderson)
1989: George Shearing in Dixieland Concord
1989: Piano Concord Jazz
1990: Mel and George "Do" World War II Concord (Live, with Mel Torm)
1991: Get Happy! - EMI Classics
1992: I Hear a Rhapsody: Live at the Blue Note - Telarc (Live)
1992: Walkin': Live at the Blue Note Telarc (Live)
1992: How Beautiful Is Night Telarc
1994: That Shearing Sound Telarc
1994: Cocktail for Two Jazz World
1995: Paper Moon: Songs of Nat King Cole
1997: Favorite Things Telarc
1998: Christmas with The George Shearing Quintet Telarc
2000: Just for You: Live in the 1950s Jazz Band
2001: Live at the Forum, Bath 1992 BBC Legends (Live)
2001: Back to Birdland Telarc (Live)
2002: The Rare Delight of You (with John Pizzarelli) - Telarc
2002: Pick Yourself Up Past Perfect
2002: Here and Now. New Look - with G.S. Quintet and String Choir
2004: Like Fine Wine Mack Avenue
2005: Music to Hear Koch
2005: Hopeless Romantics (with Michael Feinstein) Concord
2012: George Shearing at home (with Don Thompson) Jazzknight Records 001,
New York
Filmography[edit]
2003: George Shearing - Jazz Legend
2004: George Shearing: Lullaby of Birdland
[6]

2004: Swing Era - George Shearing
2004: Joe Williams with George Shearing: A Song is Born
[7]

2005: Duo Featuring Neil Swainson
References[edit]
1. ^ Jump up to:
a

b

c
Richard S. Ginell. "George Shearing". Retrieved 2007-02-26.
2. ^ Jump up to:
a

b
"George Shearing Biography". Retrieved 2007-02-26.
3. ^ Jump up to:
a

b

c
George Shearing (interview with Les Tomkins): "How I Found the
Sound", Jazz Professional, 1966.
4. Jump up^ Jake Coyle, "Jazz Pianist George Shearing Dies at 91", Associated Press, 14
February 2011.
5. Jump up^ BBC Jazz Awards
6. Jump up^ "George Shearing: Lullaby of Birdland", View Video Listing.
7. Jump up^ "Joe Williams with George Shearing: A Song is Born", View Video Listing.