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George Shearing

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 80^th 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 Tormé & George Shearing The Concord Years. Mr. Shearing’s popularity continues to rise.

In November 2006, a letter arrived from the Prime Minister's office in London reading, in part, "The Prime Minister has asked me to inform you, in strict confidence, that .......he has it in mind, on the occasion of the forthcoming list of New Year Honours, to submit your name to The Queen with a recommendation that Her Majesty may be graciously pleased to approve that the honour of Knighthood be conferred upon you." When the letter was read to him, George simply said, "I don't know why I'm getting this honor.....I've just been doing what I love to do." And, when asked by the press how he felt about receiving the highest honor the Queen can give, he replied, "My mind keeps flashing back 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 honor as a Knighthood might also show young people what can be achieved in life if one learns his craft and follows his dreams."

So, the poor, blind kid from Battersea named George Shearing, the youngest of nine, whose father once delivered coal to the Palace, with four years of formal musical training but with a tremendous will to make good, traveled with his wife, Ellie, to London to claim his honor. On June 13, 2007 George was presented to Queen Elizabeth II in the Ballroom of Buckingham Palace. The Queen first touched him on each shoulder with the sword her father had used, then stepped down off the dais to put the medal around his neck, adjusted it, shook hands with him and talked to him for several minutes. He became Sir George Shearing "for his contribution to music", as the Lord Chamberlain put it. Now, that's a fairy tale come true!

After the ceremony, Sir George and Lady Shearing hosted a luncheon for some of their closest friends including Dame Cleo Laine and Sir John Dankworth, the BBC personality and interviewer, Michael Parkinson (who championed George's receiving a Knighthood on his radio and television shows), and the actress Julia McKenzie.

The following week, Sir George's relatives came to lunch.....including his 97-year-old sister, Dolly. She was the life of the party....leading the Sing-Song between courses of the meal! And the celebratiions didn't stop there. The Shearings hosted a tea for the member of Parliament and former Home Secretary, David Blunkett, along with the Dean of Canterbury, The Very Reverend Robert Willis. Mr. Blunkett was also born blind and lived for ten years right next door to the Linden Lodge for the Blind.

And, the honors keep coming! Back in New York, on October 21, 2007, the Town Hall Foundation presented Sir George with its Annual Friend of the Arts Award "in recognition and appreciation of his babiding interest in the development, enrichment and support of the arts". With this award also came a medal placque, bearing Sir George's name, being placed on the back of one the seats in the legendary Town Hall.

But, come July 1 every year, one can find the Shearings traveling from their New York City apartment up to the beautiful Berkshires near Tanglewood where, for the entire summer, they will attend concerts by the Boston Symphony, entertain their many friends (both in and out of the music profession), and, yes, listen to the crickets while sipping a glass of wine while simply enjoying life together.
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A Slice of the Jazz Life, Part 1

by Monk Rowe
January 3, 2023

The life of a jazz musician is never boring. George Shearing, Marian McPartland, Terry Gibbs and Milt Hinton regale us with behind-the-scenes scenarios both poignant and absurd. ...

Radio & Podcasts

George Shearing Centennial, Woodstock turns 50 and the Charlie Parker Festival

by Mary Foster Conklin
September 19, 2019

The celebration of 1969 continued in this broadcast, which included new releases from vocalists Nicholas Bearde, The New York Voices and Quiana Lynell, pianist Alberto Pibiri & the Al Peppers, plus a special Woodstock tribute by Erik Applegate & Time Child, with birthday shout outs to Pat Metheny in the first hour, Mary Stallings (80!) and George Shearing in the third hour (100!), and Bill Evans in the final hour, among others. As always, a preview of who played in ...

Radio & Podcasts

August Birthdays, including the George Shearing Centennial

by Marc Cohn
September 6, 2019

August jazz birthdays this week on Gifts and Messages. We feature pianist George Shearing for his 100th birthday, along with Louis Armstrong, Charlie Parker (2020 is the Bird centennial. Are you ready?), Count Basie and Lester Young. Among the living we give thanks for Pat Metheny, Wayne Shorter, Cecile McLorin-Salvant and Branford Marsalis. And there are singers Eddie Jefferson and Jimmy Rushing, reedmen Rahsaan Roland Kirk and Benny Carter (at the Savoy Ballroom), pianist Oscar Peterson and trumpeter Bill Coleman. ...

Album Review

George Shearing: George Shearing at Home

Read "George Shearing at Home" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey

by C. Michael Bailey
May 11, 2013

Pianist Sir George Shearing (1919--2011) was himself an integral part of the be bop jazz movement in the late 1940s. His quintet that featured vibraphone and guitar with the standard piano trio was sonically ground breaking. His precise and measured piano style influenced a generation of pianists and several of his compositions ("Lullaby of Birdland" and “Conception") have become jazz standards. He was not flashy, but a solid, well-considered player whose playing could always be counted on to be elegant ...

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Mix Tape

George Shearing Quintet

by Douglas Payne
February 20, 2011

The great pianist George Shearing (1919-2011) helmed a classic jazz quintet from 1949 through 1978. The best of these recordings were made while Shearing was contracted with Capitol between 1955 and 1969. Here is a sample of the finest of the George Shearing Quintet's recordings. TrackNameTimeArtistAlbum1 Strange2:53George ShearingThe Shearing Spell-Velvet Carpet2 Yesterdays3:14George ShearingThe Shearing Spell-Velvet Carpet3 Out Of This World3:21George ShearingThe Shearing Spell-Velvet Carpet4 Cuban Fantasy2:28George ShearingThe Shearing Spell-Velvet Carpet5 'Round Midnight3:01George ShearingThe Shearing Spell-Velvet Carpet6 If ...

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Album Review

George Shearing: Like Fine Wine

Read "Like Fine Wine" reviewed by Ken Hohman

by Ken Hohman
August 3, 2004

George Shearing has never been one to be accused of playing too loud. His urbane sound of piano, vibraphone and guitar playing in unison made his records some of the most popular jazz albums of the '50s and '60s. But for those who acquired a taste for his brand of jazz, there was much beauty to be discovered beneath the genteel swing of “The Shearing Spell." And that is much the case for Like Fine Wine.

Performed in a sympathetic ...

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Album Review

George Shearing: Like Fine Wine

Read "Like Fine Wine" reviewed by Franz A. Matzner

by Franz A. Matzner
July 10, 2004

George Shearing's latest release, Like Fine Wine, presents the renowned pianist/composer in a trio setting performing a series of-sadly-quite tired standards. Certainly, Shearing's abilities are in evidence, shinning through at odd moments throughout the course of the album, but the pieces are taken at such a meandering pace, and have been aged to such a mellow quality, that the resulting interpretations slip dangerously close to the smooth jazz versions, with the most egregious takes sounding almost like ...

Video / DVD

Perfection: George Shearing - I'll Be Around, 1951

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
September 27, 2024

As you can see, I'm still hooked on I'll Be Around, one of composer Alec Wilder's best songs. He reportedly wrote the music in 10 minutes while riding in a cab in Baltimore. But the words “took much longer," he said in an interview before his death in 1980. Recorded first by Cab Calloway, then by Eugenie Baird with Tony Pastor and after by the Mills Brothers, who made it a huge hit, I'll Be Around was a huge seller ...
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Recording

George Shearing: Late '60s

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
October 22, 2015

So much of George Shearing's extensive Capitol catalog is disappointing. I'm not complaining about Shearing's playing, which was mostly lively and thoughtful. Rather, it's the unevenness of his individual albums during this period and from one album to the next. It's almost as if the suits at Capitol had no clue what sounded good and what sounded lousy. For example, Burnished Brass in 1958 is good while Satin Brass, which came next in '59, is an auto accident of blaring ...
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Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: George Shearing

Source: Michael Ricci
August 13, 2012

All About Jazz is celebrating George Shearing's birthday today!

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... Read more.

Place ...
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Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: George Shearing

Source:
August 13, 2011

All About Jazz is celebrating George Shearing's birthday today!

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Recording

George Shearing "Bossa Nova"

Source: Sound Insights by Doug Payne
April 26, 2011

The Japanese branch of EMI Toshiba has just issued 50 budget-priced CDs as part of its “Jazz 999 Best & More" series, including the tremendous George Shearing Bossa Nova, the late pianist's lovely 1963 album, his first such experiment in the Brazilian fad that swept the Western world in the early half of the 1960s. Caught up in the Bossa Nova craze that swept through jazz and popular music in the early 1960s, pianist George Shearing makes—perhaps—the first of his ...
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Website

The George Shearing Quintet: All About Jazz Playlist

Source: Sound Insights by Doug Payne
March 1, 2011

All About Jazz's My iTunes Playlists are designed to help music lovers compile their own “best of" iPod playlists or CDR compilations. Here is the playlist I constructed to help introduce new listeners to what I consider to be the best of the classic George Shearing Quintet's best available recordings. The great pianist George Shearing (1919-2011) helmed a classic jazz quintet from 1949 through 1978. The best of these recordings were made while Shearing was contracted with Capitol between 1955 ...
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Interview

George Shearing: Both Good and Popular

Source: AAJ Staff
February 18, 2011

George Shearing, who died on Monday, was a great jazz pianist. For much of his long lifetime, he was also one of the 20th century's most successful entertainers, a purveyor of supersmooth easy-listening music that was distinguishable from Muzak only because he played it with perfect taste. That was part of what made him so admirable an artist: Even when he was making music for the masses, he did it without a hint of condescension. Mr. Shearing, who was born ...
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Interview

George Shearing and Latin Jazz: More Than a Footnote

Source: The Latin Jazz Corner by Chip Boaz
February 17, 2011

Pianist George Shearing died this past Monday February 14, 2011 due to heart failure, invoking an honest outpouring of love for his work and a resurgence of attention upon his impressive career. Shearing enjoyed immense popularity throughout his career, finding a balance between artistry and public appeal. His quintet that fueled his work throughout the fifties and sixties was a major attraction in the jazz world, taking his performances around the world. During the seventies, his collaborations with artists such ...
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Obituary

George Shearing - R.I.P.

Source: Sound Insights by Doug Payne
February 15, 2011

The great pianist George Shearing died earlier today in Manhattan of congestive heart failure. The British born pianist turned 91 on August 13 and had been retired from music for several years, his last album being the lovely trio outing Like Fine Wine (Mack Avenue, 2005). Shearing made his name with a quintet that became one of the most famed and popular sounds of 1950s jazz but also wrote hundreds of compositions of which, surprisingly, only “Lullaby of Birdland" endures ...
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Recording

George Shearing Quintet with Nancy Wilson - The Swingin's Mutual (1961)

Source: Something Else!
February 15, 2011

By Nick DeRiso One of the smartest things Nancy Wilson ever did was start singing at the Blue Morocco in New York City, just after she blew in from Columbus, Ohio. In was there, while Wilson still had her day job, that John Levy caught this smoking-hot 20-something's act. Levy, once a bassist with George Shearing, went on to manage his former boss, as well as Julian “Cannonball" Adderley and—after that night—Ms. Wilson. The Swingin's Mutual would become the first ...
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