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.[3]
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"[4] playing piano and accordion. He joined an all-blind band, Claude Bampton's Blind Orchestra, during that time, and was influenced by the records of Teddy Wilson and Fats Waller.[2] Shearing made his first BBC radio broadcast during this time, after being befriended by Leonard Feather, with whom he started recording in 1937.[3]
In 1940, Shearing joined Harry Parry's popular band. Around 1942 he was recruited by Stéphane Grappelli (domiciled in London during World War II) to join his band, which appeared at Hatchets Restaurant in Piccadilly in the early years of the war, and subsequently toured as "the Grappelly Swingtette" from 1943 onward.[5] Shearing won six consecutive Top Pianist Melody Maker polls from this time onward.[6] Around that time he was also a member of George Evans's Saxes 'n' Sevens band.[citation needed]
United States years
Shearing immigrated to the United States, where his harmonically complex style mixing swing, bop and modern classical influences gained popularity. One of his first performances 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.[citation needed]
Shearing (centre) performing with the Quintet in Holland, 1962
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).[7] This line-up recorded for Discovery, Savoy, and MGM, including the popular single "September in the Rain" (MGM), which sold over 900,000 copies in the United States alone with global sales in excess of one million;[7] "my other hit" to accompany "Lullaby of Birdland". Shearing said of this hit that it was "as accidental as it could be."[4] At this time, the novelist Jack Kerouac heard him play in Birdland, and later described the performance in his 1957 novel On the Road as "his great 1949 days before he became cool and commercial."[8][9]
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, and Debussy for inspiration. He became known for a piano technique known as "The Shearing Sound", or "Shearing voicing", a type of double melody block chord, with an additional fifth part that doubles the melody an octave lower. With the piano playing these five voices, Shearing would double the top voice with the vibraphone and the bottom voice with the guitar to create his signature sound. This piano technique is also known as "locked hands" and the jazz organist Milt Buckner is generally credited with inventing it.[10] In Shearing's later career he played with a more conventional piano technique while maintaining his recognisable improvisational style.
In 1956, Shearing became a naturalised citizen of the United States.[4] 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 in 1959.[11][12] In 1953, he had appeared on the same network's reality show, The Comeback Story, in which he discussed how to cope with blindness.[13]
Later career
In 1970, he began to "phase out his by-now-predictable quintet"[2] and disbanded the group in 1978. One of his more notable albums during this period was The Reunion (1976), made in collaboration with bassist Andy Simpkins and drummer Rusty Jones, and featuring Stéphane Grappelli, the violinist with whom he had debuted as a sideman decades before.
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, where he bought a house with his second wife, singer Ellie Geffert. This gave him the opportunity to tour the UK, giving concerts, often with Tormé, 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."[14]
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 had a fall at his home and retired from regular performing.[16]
On 14 February 2011, Shearing died from heart failure at 91.[16]
In October 2011, Derek Paravicini and jazz vocalist Frank Holder performed 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.[17]
Personal life
Shearing was married to Trixie Bayes, with whom he had his only child Wendy, from 1941 to 1973. Two years after his divorce he married his second wife, the singer Ellie Geffert.[18] He was a member of the Bohemian Club and often performed at the annual Bohemian Grove Encampments. He composed music for two of the Grove Plays.[19]
Awards and honours
Shearing performing for Gerald Ford and Urho Kekkonen, the president of Finland, on 3 August 1976
1994 Honorary degree of Doctor of Music from Hamilton College in New York
1996 Included in Queen's Birthday Honours List, invested by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for "services to music and Anglo-US relations"
2004: Joe Williams with George Shearing: A Song is Born[24]
2005: Duo Featuring Neil Swainson
Related Research Articles
Stéphane Grappelli was a French jazz violinist. He is best known as a founder of the Quintette du Hot Club de France with guitarist Django Reinhardt in 1934. It was one of the first all-string jazz bands. He has been called "the grandfather of jazz violinists" and continued playing concerts around the world well into his eighties.
Melvin Howard Tormé, nicknamed "the Velvet Fog", was an American musician, singer, composer, arranger, drummer, actor, and author. He composed the music for "The Christmas Song" and co-wrote the lyrics with Bob Wells. Tormé won two Grammy Awards and was nominated a total of 14 times.
Frank Rosolino was an American jazz trombonist.
"Lullaby of Birdland" is a jazz standard and popular song composed by George Shearing with lyrics by George David Weiss.
John Paul Pizzarelli Jr. is an American jazz guitarist and vocalist. He has recorded over twenty solo albums and has appeared on more than forty albums by other recording artists, including Paul McCartney, James Taylor, Rosemary Clooney; his father, jazz guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli; and his wife, singer Jessica Molaskey.
Donald Winston Thompson, OC is a Canadian jazz musician who plays double bass, piano, and vibes. Thompson's career as a performer, recording artist, producer, session musician, and music educator has lasted for more than 50 years.
Armando Peraza was a Cuban Latin jazz percussionist and a member of the rock band Santana. Peraza played congas, bongos, and timbales.
Claus Ogerman was a German arranger, conductor, and composer best known for his work with Billie Holiday, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Frank Sinatra, Bill Evans, Michael Brecker, and Diana Krall.
John Kelly Colianni was an American jazz pianist.
An Evening with George Shearing & Mel Tormé is a live album by Mel Tormé, accompanied by George Shearing.
Brian Q. Torff is an American jazz double-bassist, songwriter and composer.
Andrew Simpkins was an American jazz bassist.
Dick Garcia is an American jazz guitarist.
The Swingin's Mutual! is an album by the George Shearing quintet, accompanied on the original 1961 release on six songs by the vocalist Nancy Wilson.
Blues Alley Jazz is a 1980 live album by the pianist George Shearing, accompanied by the double bassist Brian Torff.
On a Clear Day is a 1980 studio album by the pianist George Shearing, accompanied by the double bassist Brian Torff.
Dennis Mackrel is an American jazz drummer, composer, and arranger who was a member of the Count Basie Orchestra and the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra.
Neil James Sinclair Swainson is a Canadian jazz bassist. Swainson started his career in Victoria, British Columbia, when he supported visiting American musicians such as Herb Ellis, Barney Kessell, and Sonny Stitt. In 1976 he moved to Vancouver after playing with the Paul Horn Quintet and leading a band for two years. He moved to Toronto in 1977.
"The Christmas Waltz" is a Christmas song written by Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne for Frank Sinatra, who recorded it in 1954 as the B-side of a new recording of "White Christmas", in 1957 for his album A Jolly Christmas from Frank Sinatra, and in 1968 for The Sinatra Family Wish You a Merry Christmas.
Jim Hall was an American jazz guitarist, composer, and arranger. His discography consists of 39 studio albums, 10 live albums, 1 EP, 1 single, 10 videos, and 22 compilations, all released between 1957 and 2016. In addition, he was a sideman on numerous albums by other artists.
References
↑ Randel, Don Michael (1996). The Harvard Biographical Dictionary of Music. Belknap Press.
↑ Magee, David; music by George Shearing (1970). The bonny cravat: a Grove play with book & lyrics. San Francisco: Bohemian Club.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
