George Shearing

Подробности

George Shearing enjoys an international reputation as a pianist, arranger and composer.  Equally at home on the concert stage as in jazz clubs, Shearing is recognized for inventive, orchestrated jazz.  He has written over 300 compositions, including the classic “Lullaby Of Birdland,” which has become a jazz standard.

Shearing was born in 1919 in the Battersea area of London.  Congenitally blind, he was the youngest of nine children.  His father delivered coal and his mother cleaned trains at night after caring for the children during the day.  His only formal musical education consisted of four years of study at the Linden Lodge School for the Blind.  While his talent won him a number of university scholarships, he was forced to refuse them in favor of a more financially productive pursuit…playing piano in a neighborhood pub for the handsome salary of $5 a week!  Shearing joined an all-blind band in the 1930’s.  At that time he developed a friendship with the noted jazz critic and author, Leonard Feather.  Through this contact, he made his first appearance on BBC radio.

In 1947, Mr. Shearing moved to America, where he spent two years establishing his fame on this side of the Atlantic.  The Shearing Sound commanded national attention when, in 1949, he gathered a quintet to record “September in the Rain” for MGM.  The record was an overnight success and sold 900,000 copies.  His U.S. reputation was permanently established when he was booked into Birdland, the legendary jazz spot in New York.  Since then, he has become one of the country’s most popular performing and recording artist.  In 1982 and 1983 he won Grammy Awards with recordings he made with Mel Torme.  Mr. Shearing was the subject of an hour-long television documentary entitled “The Shearing Touch” presented on the Southbank Show with Melvyn Bragg on ITV in the UK.

Three presidents have invited Mr. Shearing to play at the White House.. Ford, Carter and Reagan.  He performed at the Royal Command Performance for Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip.  He is a member of the Friars Club and the Lotos Club in New York and the Bohemian Club in San Francisco.

His awards and honors are many.  In May 1975, he received an honorary degree of Doctor of Music from Westminster College in Salt Lake City.  In May of 1994, Hamilton College in upstate New York awarded him another honorary doctorate in music.  DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana presented him with an honorary doctorate of music on June 1, 2002.  He received the prestigious Horatio Alger Award for Distinguished Americans in 1978 and a community recreational facility in Battersea, south London, was named the George Shearing Centre in his honor.  In May of 1993, he was presented with the British equivalent of the Grammy…the Ivor Novello Award for Lifetime Achievement.  In June of 1996, Mr. Shearing was included in the Queen’s Birthday Honors List and on November 26, 1996 he was invested by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for his “service to music and Anglo-US relations.”  He was presented the first American Music Award by the National Arts Club, New York City, in March of 1998.

In 1999, his 80th birthday was celebrated in England where he played to a sold-out house at the Birmingham Symphony Hall.  Also appearing with him were the BBC Big Band, the strings of the London Symphony, Dame Cleo Laine and John Dankworth.  BBC Radio 2 presented a 2 1/2-hour “Salute to Shearing” in honor of his birthday.

The following year another sold-out house at Carnegie Hall was treated to his birthday celebration featuring the George Shearing Quintet with Nancy Wilson, Dave Brubeck, Dr. Billy Taylor, the John Pizzarelli Trio, Tito Puente and Peter Schickele who brought a special greeting from PDQ Bach!

Mr. Shearing’s biography, “Lullaby Of Birdland,” published by Continuum, was released February 2005.  In conjunction with the autobiography release Concord Records released a composite of Shearing recordings in a 2-CD set entitled “Lullabies of Birdland.: A Musical Autobiography”  which was immediately followed up with  “Hopeless Romantics” with Michael Feinstein. Concord then released the collectors set Mel Torme & George Shearing The Concord Years.  Mr. Shearing’s popularity continues to rise.

2006 closed out with an honour of Knighthood conferred upon him by Queen Elizabeth II. In regard to the honour Shearing says, "My mind keeps flashing on my beginnings as pianist playing in a pub for the equivalent of $5.00 a week.  What a journey it has been from that pub to Buckingham Palace. Receiving such an honour as a Knighthood might also show young people what can be achieved in life if one learns his craft and follows his dreams."

A poor, blind kid from Battersea named George Shearing, the youngest of nine, with four years of formal musical training but with tremendous will to make good is to become sir George Shearing...... now that's a fairy tale come true. George and his wife Ellie will be traveling to London in June 2007 to receive his Knighthood from Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace.  After the ceremony, he and Lady Shearing will host a luncheon for some of their closest friends including Dame Cleo Laine and Sir John Dankworth, the BBC personality and interviewer Michael Parkinson and actress Julia McKenzie.  He is also looking forward to seeing some of his immediate family and other relatives.

 Shearing and his wife, Ellie, divide their time between their apartment in New York and a house in the Berkshires near Tanglewood.  Their favorite kind of evening?  A quite dinner at home with friends followed by a serious game of bridge!

Sir George Shearing OBE (b. August 13, 1919) is a British jazz pianist who, during the 1950s, "had one of the most popular jazz combos on the planet" who sold "tons of records for MGM and Capitol in his heyday." He has written over 300 compositions and has had multiple albums on the Billboard magazine charts throughout the '50s, '60s, '80s and '90s.

History

Shearing was born on August 13, 1919 in Battersea, South London, England and 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. Though offered several scholarships, Shearing opted to perform at local pub, the Mason's Arms in Lambeth, for "25 bob a week"  playing piano and accordion. He even joined an all-blind band during that time and was influenced by the albums of Teddy Wilson and Fats Waller. He made his first BBC radio appearance during this time after befriending Leonard Feather, whom he started recording with in 1937. In 1940 , Shearing joined Harry Parry's popular band and contributed to the comeback of Stephane Grappelli. Shearing also won seven consecutive Melody Maker polls during this time.

In 1947 , Shearing moved to the United States, where he began to play in the genre of hard bop. One of his first gigs in the States was at the Hickory House. He performed with the Oscar Pettiford Trio and lead a quartet with Buddy DeFranco, which led to recording problems since Shearing was with MGM and DeFranco was with Capitol Records. In 1949, he formed the first "George Shearing Quintet", a band with Marjorie Hyams (vibraphone), Chuck Wayne (guitar), John Levy (bass) and Denzil Best (drums) and recorded several albums for Discovery, Savoy and MGM, including the immensly popular September in the Rain (MGM), which sold over 900,000 copies. Shearing himself would write of the album, in 1966, that it was "as accidental as it could be."

In 1956, he became a naturalized citizen of the United States. 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. Starting in 1970, Shearing began to "phase out his by-now-predictable quintet" and disbanded the group finally in 1978. 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 Q. Torff, Jim Hall, Hank Jones and Kenny Davern. In 1979, Shearing signed with Concord Records, in particular working with Mel Torme. This collaboration garnered Shearing and Torme two Grammys, one in 1982 and then another in the following year.

Over the years, Shearing has also collaborated with singers including Nat King Cole, Peggy Lee, Ernestine Anderson, Dakota Staton, Carmen McRae, Nancy Wilson and, most notably, Mel Torme, with whom he performed frequently in the late 80s and early 90s at festivals, on radio and for recordings.

Recently, Shearing collaborated with the John Pizzarelli Trio to create the album The Rare Delight of You, which garnered extremely good reviews. The album cover, featuring Pizzarelli and Shearing posing in front of a solid blue background, was designed to resemble the cover of Nat King Cole Sings, George Shearing Plays, a legendary jazz recording with which it shares some similarities in style.

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 Debussy and, particularly, Erik Satie for inspiration. Shearing also made a recording with the classical French horn player Barry Tuckwell.

He became known for a piano technique known as Shearing voicing, a type of double melody block chord, with an additional fifth part that doubles the melody an octave lower.

Recognition

* Performed for US Presidents

* Gerald Ford
* Jimmy Carter
* Ronald Reagan

* Performed at Royal Command Performance for Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip.
* Mentioned in Jack Kerouac's 1957 novel On the Road
* In 1975, received honorary degree of Doctor of Music from Westminster College in Salt Lake City, Utah.
* In 1978, received the Horatio Alger Award for Distinguished Americans.
* Grammys:

* 1982 - An Evening With George Shearing And Mel Torme
* 1983

* In 1993, received the Ivor Novello Award for Lifetime Achievement.
* In 1994, received honorary degree of Doctor of Music from Hamilton College in New York State.
* In 1996, was included in the Queens Birthday Honors List and was invested by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for his “service to music and Anglo-US relations."
* In 1998, received the first American Music Award by the National Arts Club, New York, New York.
* In 2003, received the "Lifetime Achievement Award" from BBC Jazz Awards

* In 2007, was knighted for services to Music.

Selected Discography

* 1947 Piano Solo — Savoy
* 1949 Midnight on Cloud 69 — Savoy
* 1949 George Shearing Quintet — Discovery
* 1950 You're Hearing the George Shearing Quartet — MGM
* 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
* 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 — Capitol
* 1959 Satin Brass — Capitol
* 1959 Satin Latin — MGM
* 1960 San Francisco Scene — Capitol
* 1960 On the Sunny Side of the Strip — GNP
* 1960 The Shearing Touch — Pausa
* 1960 White Satin — Capitol
* 1961 George Shearing and the Montgomery Brothers — Jazz
* 1961 Mood Latino — Capitol
* 1961 Nat King Cole Sings/George Shearing Plays — Capitol
* 1961 Satin Affair — Capitol
* 1961 The Swingin's Mutual! — Blue Note
* 1962 Jazz Moments — Blue Note
* 1962 Shearing Bossa Nova — Capitol
* 1962 Soft and Silky — 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
* 1969 In the Mind — Capitol
* 1970 Out of This World — Sheba
* 1971 Music Is to Hear: Joe Williams — Sheba
* 1972 As Requested —Sheba
* 1972 The George Shearing Quartet — Sheba
* 1973 Gas — Sheba
* 1973 The George Shearing Trio, Vol. 1
* 1974 My Ship —Polydor
* 1974 Light Airy and Swinging — MPS
* 1974 The Way We Are — BASF
* 1975 Continental Experience — BASF
* 1976 The Reunion — Pausa
* 1977 500 Miles High
* 1979 Getting in the Swing of Things — Pausa
* 1979 Live — Concord Jazz
* 1979 Blues Alley Jazz — Concord Jazz
* 1979 Concerto for Classic Guitar and Jazz Piano — Angel
* 1980 Two for the Road — Concord
* 1980 In Concert at the Pavilion — Concord Jazz
* 1980 On a Clear Day — Concord Jazz
* 1980 Windows — Pausa
* 1981 Alone Together — Concord Jazz
* 1981 First Edition — Concord Jazz
* 1982 An Evening with George Shearing & Mel Torme
* 1983 Top Drawer — Concord Jazz
* 1984 Live at the Cafe Carlyle — Concord
* 1985 An Elegant Evening — Concord Jazz
* 1985 Grand Piano — Concord Jazz
* 1986 Plays Music of Cole Porter — Concord
* 1986 More Grand Piano — Concord Jazz
* 1987 Breakin' Out — Concord Jazz
* 1987 Dexterity — Concord Jazz
* 1988 The Spirit of 176 — Concord Jazz
* 1988 Perfect Match — Concord Jazz
* 1989 George Shearing in Dixieland — Concord
* 1989 Piano — Concord Jazz
* 1991 Get Happy! - EMI Classics
* 1992 I Hear a Rhapsody: Live at the Blue Note
* 1992 Walkin': Live at the Blue Note — Telarc
* 1992 How Beautiful Is Night — Telarc
* 1994 That Shearing Sound — Telarc
* 1994 Great Britain's Marian McPartland & George Shearing — Savoy Jazz
* 1994 Cocktail for Two — Jazz World
* 1995 Paper Moon: Songs of Nat King Cole
* 1997 Favorite Things — Telarc
* 1998 Christmas with George Shearing Quintet
* 2000 Just for You: Live in the 1950s — Jazz Band
* 2001 Live at the Forum, Bath 1992 — BBC Legends
* 2001 Back to Birdland — Telarc
* 2002 Pick Yourself Up — Past Perfect
* 2005 Music to Hear — Koch
* 2006 Live Jazz from Club 15 — Request
* 2006 Swinging in a Latin Mood — Universal