Home > George Shearing

Shearing was born blind and started to learn piano at the age of three. After limited training and extensive listening to recorded jazz, he began playing at hotels, clubs and pubs in the London area, sometimes solo, occasionally with dance bands.

In 1940. Shearing joined Harry Parry's popular band and became a star in Britain, performing for the BBC, playing with Stephane Grappelli's London-based groups of the early 1940s, and winning seven consecutive Melody Maker polls.

In 1946, Shearing established himself in United States.

Performing as a quintet (piano with guitar, bass, drums and vibraphone), which over the years included Cal Tjader, Margie Hyams , Denzil Best , Israel Crosby , Joe Pass and Gary Burton, Shearing had a succession of hugely popular records including "September In The Rain" and his own composition, "Lullaby Of Birdland" (1952). His style, including the joint playing of the melody by piano and vibraphone, was also widely copied, becoming part of the idiom of pop music, so that his records from that period now sound far less innovative than they did at the time.

Later, Shearing played with a trio, as a solo and increasingly in duo. Among his collaborations have been sets with the Montgomery Brothers , Marian McPartland, Brian Torff , Jim Hall, Hank Jones and Kenny Davern .

In the 1970s, Shearing's profile had been lowered considerably, but upon signing with Concord RecordsConcord Records is well known jazz record label established in 1969 (?) in Concord, California by Carl Jefferson, who also started the Concord Jazz Festival. The label issues a large number of live recordings from festivals and other venues, including a s in 1979, Shearing found himself enjoying a renaissance.

Over the years, Shearing has has also collaborated with singers including Peggy LeePeggy Lee ( May 26, 1920 January 21, 2002) was an American popular music singer, perenially introduced as "Miss Peggy Lee. Lee was famous for her "soft and cool" singing style, which some say she developed in response to noisy nightclub audiences. Lee was, Ernestine Anderson , Carmen McRae , and, most notably, Mel TorméMel Torm ( September 13, 1925 June 5, 1999) was a jazz singer with a light, velvety, high-tenor voice. He is considered by many to be one of the greatest male singers in the history of jazz. Torme also wrote a number of classic jazz songs and wrote almost, with whom he performed frequently in the late 80s and early 90s at festivals, on radio and for recordings.

Shearing's interest in classical music resulted in some performances with concert orchestras in the 1950s and 1960s, and his solos frequently draw upon the music of DebussyClaude Achille Debussy ( August 22, 1862 March 25, 1918), composer of impressionistic classical music. Born in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Yvelines, France, Claude Debussy studied with Guiraud and others at the Paris Conservatoire ( 1872- 84) and as an 1884 Pr and, particularly, Erik SatieEric Alfred Leslie Satie (born Honfleur, 17 May 1866 died Paris, 1 July 1925) was a French composer, performing pianist and publicist. He also described himself as a "gymnopedist" (in 1887, shortly before writing his most famous compositions, the Gymnoped for inspiration. Shearing also made a recording with the classical French horn player Barry Tuckwell.

Shearing also composed a number of jazz arrangements of hymn tunes for the organCasavant pipe organ at Notre-Dame de Montreal Basilica, Montreal. Most of the pipes are behind shutters hidden by the visible pipes. These shutters regulate the volume. Many such large installations will have a secondary set of pipes in the choir loft, at in collaboration with organist Dale WoodDale Wood (February 13, 1934 April 13, 2003) was a musician and composer best known for his church music compositions. External link http://www. welchorganist. com/pages/wood. html Biography by James Welch Wood, Dale Wood, Dale., which have been published in sheet music form.