George Shearing – The Very Best Of

 

George Shearing was an Anglo-American blind jazz pianist and composer. (born: Aug. 13th, 1919 in Battersea, London, UK - died: Feb. 14th, 2011 in NYC, NY.)

He moved to the US in 1947, and was amongst the first post-war British jazz musicians to make a solid career there. He was appointed OBE in 2007, and then knighted in 2007, both by Queen Elizabeth II.

He became known for a piano technique known as "The Shearing Sound", a type of double melody block chord, with an additional fifth part that doubles the melody an octave lower. With the piano playing these five voices, Shearing would double the top voice with the vibraphone and the bottom voice with the guitar to create his signature sound.

1 Midnight In The Air 2:26

2 Have You Met Miss Jones 2:06

3 Cuban Love Song 2:44

4 The Folks Who Live On The Hill 4:30

5 Pawn Ticket 2:19

6 Cheek To Cheek 2:41

7 Kinda Cute 2:54

8 September In The Rain 3:14

9 Estampa Cubana 2:55

10 A Ship Without A Sail 2:47

11 Bernie's Tune 3:37

12 Laura 2:54

13 Lullaby Of Birdland 2:20

14 One Note Samba 2:43

15 Promises, Promises 2:36

George Shearing – The Very Best Of

George Shearing – Latin Lace / Latin Affair

 

Latin Lace

1 The Story Of Love (Historia De Un Amor) 2:29

2 Serenata 2:44

3 Tu Mi Delirio 2:04

4 Cali Mambo 2:49

5 Rondo 2:51

6 To The Ends Of The Earth 2:44

7 The Moon Was Yellow (And The Night Was Young) 2:40

8 Wonder Struck 2:32

9 Sand In My Shoes 2:07

10 Mambo Caribe 2:58

11 It's Not For Me To Say 1:49

12 Mambo No. 2 2:44

Latin Affair

13 All Or Nothing At All 2:53

14 Let's Call The Whole Thing Off 1:55

15 Afro No. IV 2:31

16 Magic 2:18

17 It's Easy To Remember 2:09

18 Estampa Cubana 2:56

19 You Stepped Out Of A Dream 2:10

20 Mambo Balahu 2:24

21 Dearly Beloved 2:14

22 Juana Pelangana 2:26

23 This Is Africa 2:59

24 Anywhere 2:42

Latin Lace / Latin Affair

The Best of George Shearing With Strings and Things

George Shearing

                                              

Peggy Lee and George Shearing...Beauty and the Beat!

Beauty and the Beat! is a mostly live (yes, mostly live) album by the great Peggy Lee with the equally talented George Shearing at the piano. It's interesting that they recorded introductions to these songs after the live concert was recorded. However, despite this unusual feature this disc is extremely pleasing to the ear. Peggy sounds just great here and George plays his piano wonderfully. We also get two bonus tracks that apparently were not on the record album release of this recording; Peggy and George perform "Nobody's Heart" and "Don't Ever Leave Me."

For decades we've been listening to the live-in-concert "Beauty and the Beat" and hearing a studio project with applause, announcements and low volume audience chatter dubbed in. Now all the distractions have been removed, along with the echoey sound necessary to make it all sound live, and what we have is a beautiful, detailed collection with great depth never before apparent. In the previous version Peggy sounded like she was socking it over to an enthusiastic audience; now, with the very same recordings, she sounds intimate and close. Shearing sounds the same--totally engaging and delightful.

Beauty and the Beat