August 13 - George Shearing (The Musical Birthday Series, 3rd Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for August 13th are here: Kathleen Battle (2019) and Don Ho (2020)

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George Shearing (13 August 1919 – 14 February 2011) was a British jazz pianist.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two Variations on a Theme of George Shearing

"The distinctive sound of both the quintet and Mr. Shearing himself — he used a so-called locked-hands style in which his hands played melody and harmony in close quarters, with the melody line harmonized by the right hand and doubled by the left hand an octave below — caught listeners’ fancy, and stardom soon followed." -- Peter Keepnews, New York Times obituary, 14 Feb 2011

#1

George Shearing would never propound

To be deep, erudite, or profound;

And yet what you get

From the Shearing Quintet

Is the signature George Shearing sound.

#2

Whenever his group was appearing,

His fans could be sure they’d be hearing

An agreeable set

From his splendid quintet,

And the signature sound of George Shearing.

 

 

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