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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August 12 - Michael Kidd (The Musical Birthday Series, 3rd Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for August 12th are here: Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber (2019) and Joseph Barnby (2020)

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Michael Kidd (12 August 1915 – 23 December 2007) was an American film and stage choreographer, dancer, and actor. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step Right This Way

 

He initially turned down the assignment, recalling in 1997: "Here are these slobs living off in the woods. They have no schooling, they are uncouth, there's manure on the floor, the cows come in and out—and they're gonna get up and dance?" -- Wikipedia

 

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers is particularly known for Kidd's unusual 

choreography, which makes dance numbers out of such mundane frontier 

pursuits as chopping wood and raising a barn. -- adapted from  

Wikipedia, s.v. "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers"

 

 

If Michael Kidd had had his druthers

Those seven brides and seven brothers

    Wouldn't have been asked to dance,

Because, he said, no frontier dude

Would strike a graceful attitude

     In some balletic stance.

But watch the film and you will find

He had a total change of mind -

      (You’ll see it at a glance).

The dances he at last devised

Were Western actions stylized,

Balletic movement in disguise

As settlers become dancing guys,

    As if it were by chance.

 

 

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August 11 - Carrie Jacobs-Bond (The Musical Birthday Series, 3rd Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for August 11th are here: Carrie Jacobs-Bond (2019) and Raymond Leppard (2020)

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Carrie Jacobs-Bond (11 August 1862 – 28 December 1946) was an American singer, pianist, entrepreneur, and composer of once very popular parlor songs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beneath the Surface

 

Because Jacobs-Bond's attempts to have her music published were repeatedly turned down by the male-dominated music industry of the day, in 1896 she resorted to establishing her own sheet music publishing company. As a result, she owned every word and note of every song she wrote. -- adapted from Wikipedia

When Jacobs-Bonds was destitute,

She faced her troubles, resolute,

And wrote some songs she thought would suit

The tastes of singers of repute,

 

And then she thought it were astute

To publish them herself, to boot.

Her copyright was absolute,

Not subject to the least dispute.

(She grew, and then she sold, her fruit.)

Perhaps her songs are quaint and cute,

But they have toughness at their root.

 

 

 

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August 10 - Philipp Nicolai (The Musical Birthday Series, 3rd Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for August 10th are here: Marie-Claire Alain (2019) and 

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Philipp Nicolai (10 August 1556 – 26 October 1608) was a German Lutheran pastor, poet, and composer.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christmas in August

Perhaps you don’t remember why

You know of Philipp Nicolai,

But be the memory oh so dim

The chances are you’ve heard of him.

Refrain

If I would ask you in December,

Then, I'm sure, you would remember.

I’ll mention, for reminder's sake,

His stately hymn tune “Wake, awake.”

And also, sung both near and far,

“How brightly shines the morning star.”

Refrain

If I would ask you in December,

Then, I'm sure, you would remember.

We only sing chorales like these in

Advent and the Christmas season.

And then each year they’re set aside

Until another Adventtide.

Refrain

If I would ask you in December,

Then, I'm sure, you would remember.

 

 

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August 9 - Johann Michael Bach (The Musical Birthday Series, 3rd Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for August 9th are here: Reynaldo Hahn; Albert Ketélbey (2019) and Johann Michael Bach (2020)

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Johann Michael Bach (bapt.19 August [O.S. 9 August] 1648 – 27 May [O.S. 17 May] 1694) was a German composer and organist, and related to J. S. Bach as explained below. (Some standard sources are content to give his birth date as August 9th and be done with it, so that is what I've done here.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Family Matters 1: Keeping It in the Family

Bach is German for brook,creek, stream, rivulet;

He was first cousin, once removed and father-in-law of Johann Sebastian Bach (he was the father of J.S. Bach's first wife Maria Barbara Bach) -- adapted from Wikipedia

J.S. Bach’s cousin once removed

  Became his father-in-law,

(This sort of thing is still approved

  In rural Arkansas).

This mingling of the family blood,

  This blend they undertook,

Ensured the bloodline was a flood,

  Instead of just a Brook.

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Family Matters 2: Cautionary Note

Johann Michael is sometimes referred to as the "Gehrener Bach" to distinguish him from his great-nephew, also Johann Michael, the "Wuppertaler Bach" -- adapted from Wikipedia

The Gehrener Johann Michael Bach could be

   Conflated by some absentminded scholar

With someone further down the family tree,

  The Johann Michael Bach of Wuppertaler.

 

 

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