Shearing was born in the Battersea area of London, United Kingdom. Congenitally blind, he was the youngest of nine children. He started to learn piano at the age of three. After limited training and extensive listening to recorded jazz, he began playing at hotels, clubs and pubs in the London area, sometimes solo, occasionally with dance bands. In 1940, Shearing joined Harry Parry's popular band and became a star in Britain, performing for the BBC, playing with Stéphane Grappelli's London-based groups of the early 1940s, and winning seven consecutive Melody Maker polls.
In 1946, Shearing established himself in the United States. In 1955, he became a naturalized citizen of the United States. Leading a quintet (piano with guitar, bass, drums and vibraphone), which over the years included Cal Tjader, Margie Hyams, Denzil Best, Israel Crosby, Joe Pass and Gary Burton, Shearing had a succession of hugely popular records including September In The Rain and his own composition, Lullaby Of Birdland (1952). His style, including the joint playing of the melody by piano and vibraphone, was also widely copied, becoming part of the idiom of pop music, so that his records from that period now sound far less innovative than they did at the time. 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 Torff, Jim Hall, Hank Jones and Kenny Davern.
In the 1970s, Shearing's profile had been lowered considerably, but upon signing with Concord Records in 1979, Shearing found himself enjoying a renaissance.
Over the years, Shearing has also collaborated with singers including Nat King Cole, Peggy Lee, Ernestine Anderson, Carmen McRae, and most notably, Mel Tormé, 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 solo's 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.
Shearing wrote a number of jazz arrangements of hymn tunes for the organ in collaboration with organist Dale Wood, that have been published in sheet music form.
(2) For a long stretch of time in the 1950s and early '60s, George Shearing had one of the most popular jazz combos on the planet -- so much so that, in the usual jazz tradition of distrusting popular success, he tended to be underappreciated. Shearing's main claim to fame was the invention of a unique quintet sound, derived from a combination of piano, vibraphone, electric guitar, bass, and drums. Within this context, Shearing would play in a style he called "locked hands," which he picked up and refined from Milt Buckner's early-'40s work with the Lionel Hampton band, as well as Glenn Miller's sax section and the King Cole Trio. Stating the melody on the piano with closely knit, harmonized block chords, with the vibes and guitar tripling the melody in unison, Shearing sold tons of records for MGM and Capitol in his heyday.
The wild success of this urbane sound obscures Shearing's other great contribution during this time, for he was also a pioneer of exciting, small-combo Afro-Cuban jazz in the '50s. Indeed, Cal Tjader first caught the Latin jazz bug while playing with Shearing, and the English bandleader also employed such esteemed congueros as Mongo Santamaria, Willie Bobo, and Armando Peraza. As a composer, Shearing was best known for the imperishable, uniquely constructed bop standard "Lullaby of Birdland," as well as "Conception" and "Consternation." His solo style, though all his own, reflected the influences of the great boogie-woogie pianists and classical players, as well as those of Fats Waller, Earl Hines, Teddy Wilson, Erroll Garner, Art Tatum, and Bud Powell -- and fellow pianists long admired his light, refined touch. He was also known to play accordion and sing in a modest voice on occasion.
Shearing, who was born blind, began playing the piano at the age of three, receiving some music training at the Linden Lodge School for the Blind in London as a teenager but picking up the jazz influence from Teddy Wilson and Fats Waller 78s. In the late '30s, he started playing professionally with the Ambrose dance band and made his first recordings in 1937 under the aegis of fellow Brit Leonard Feather. He became a star in Britain, performing for the BBC, playing a key role in the self-exiled Stéphane Grappelli's London-based groups of the early '40s, and winning seven consecutive Melody Maker polls before emigrating in New York City in 1947 at the prompting of Feather. Once there, Shearing quickly absorbed bebop into his bloodstream, replacing Garner in the Oscar Pettiford Trio and leading a quartet in tandem with Buddy DeFranco. In 1949, he formed the first and most famous of his quintets, which included Marjorie Hyams on vibes (thus striking an important blow for emerging female jazz instrumentalists), Chuck Wayne on guitar, John Levy on bass, and Denzil Best on drums. Recording briefly first for Discovery, then Savoy, Shearing settled into lucrative associations with MGM (1950-1955) and Capitol (1955-1969), the latter for which he made albums with Nancy Wilson, Peggy Lee, and Nat King Cole. He also made a lone album for Jazzland with the Montgomery Brothers (including Wes Montgomery) in 1961, and began playing concert dates with symphony orchestras.
After leaving Capitol, Shearing began to phase out his by-then-predictable quintet, finally breaking it up in 1978. He started his own label, Sheba, which lasted for a few years into the early '70s -- and made some trio recordings for MPS later in the decade. In the '70s, his profile had been lowered considerably, but upon signing with Concord in 1979, Shearing found himself enjoying a renaissance in all kinds of situations. He made a number of acclaimed albums with Mel Tormé, raising the singer's profile in the process, and recorded with the likes of Ernestine Anderson, Jim Hall, Marian McPartland, Hank Jones, and classical French horn player Barry Tuckwell. He also recorded a number of solo piano albums where his full palette of influences came into play. He signed with Telarc in 1992 and from that point through the early 2000s continued to perform and record, most often appearing in a duo or trio setting. Shearing, who had remained largely inactive since 2004 after a fall in his New York City apartment, died of congestive heart failure at New York's Lenox Hill Hospital on February 14, 2011. He was 91. ~ Richard S. Ginell, Rovi
A Ship Without A Sail
George Shearing Lyrics
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Or if it's dark out there;
Somehow that's just the way it is,
And I don't really care!
I go to this or that place,
I seem alive and well,
My head is just a hat place,
And I've a faded dream to sell.
All alone and all at sea,
Why does nobody care for me?
When there's no love to hold my love,
Why is my heart so frail,
Like a ship without a sail?
Out on the ocean,
Sailors can use a chart;
I'm on the ocean,
Guided by just a lonely heart!
Still alone, all at sea,
Still there's no-one to care for me.
When there's no hand to hold my hand,
Life is a loveless tale,
Like a ship without a sail.
Still alone, all at sea,
Still there's no-one to care for me.
When there's no hand to hold my hand,
Life is a loveless tale,
But a ship without a sail.
George Shearing's song A Ship Without A Sail is a melancholic lament about the feeling of loneliness and heartache when one lacks the support of a loving partner. The first verse sets the tone for the song with the singer stating he is unaware of the day or time, but this obliviousness is inconsequential because he does not care. He appears to be going through the motions of life, even though he feels empty and hollow inside. The singer describes his head as a hat place, meaning he has nothing in his mind or thoughts of any significance. His chest is described as an empty shell, which implies he is feeling numb, and there is no emotional depth or substance in his being. He reflects on a faded dream that he has to sell, further adding to the disillusionment and hopelessness he is experiencing.
The chorus talks about the pitiful state the singer finds himself in, he is like a ship without a sail. He is adrift in the vast sea of life, without any direction or guidance. The metaphor of the ship without a sail is a powerful one, as it paints a vivid picture of a vessel that is unable to make progress or reach its destination. The second verse of the song further explores the singer's feelings of isolation and desolation. He feels as though he is alone and forgotten, and there is no one to care for him. The use of 'no love to hold my love' is a poignant juxtaposition, highlighting the absence of love in his life.
Overall, the song is a bittersweet portrayal of the emptiness one can feel without love. The ship without a sail is an apt metaphor for love, which is the wind that sets our sails and carries us to our destination. However, without it, we are stranded and adrift, aimlessly floating in a sea of uncertainty.
Line by Line Meaning
I don't know what day it is,
I have lost track of time and have no idea what day it currently is.
Or if it's dark out there;
I am not even sure if it's night or day outside.
Somehow that's just the way it is,
I have accepted my current state of confusion and disorientation.
And I don't really care!
I have become indifferent to my surroundings and my well-being.
I go to this or that place,
I move aimlessly from one place to another.
I seem alive and well,
Even though I am lost, I still appear to be functioning normally.
My head is just a hat place,
My mind is muddled and chaotic, like a hat that has been tossed around.
My breast an empty shell,
I feel emotionally empty and devoid of any real feelings.
And I've a faded dream to sell.
I have a dream that is slowly slipping away, and I am trying to hold onto it.
All alone and all at sea,
I am completely alone and lost, like a ship in the middle of the ocean.
Why does nobody care for me?
I feel abandoned and unloved, and I am wondering why no one cares about me or my well-being.
When there's no love to hold my love,
Without anyone to love or be loved by, my heart feels empty and vulnerable.
Why is my heart so frail,
My heart is weak and vulnerable, and I feel like it could break easily.
Like a ship without a sail?
Just as a ship without a sail is lost and aimless, I feel directionless and unsure of where I am going.
Out on the ocean,
Being out in the ocean is a metaphor for feeling lost and alone.
Sailors can use a chart;
Sailors have a guide to help them navigate the ocean and reach their destination.
I'm on the ocean,
I feel lost and alone, with no guide or chart to help me find my way.
Guided by just a lonely heart!
The only thing that guides me is my own lonely heart, which is often not enough to give me direction or purpose.
Still there's no-one to care for me.
I am still alone and unloved, with no one to care for me or support me.
When there's no hand to hold my hand,
Without anyone to hold onto, I feel adrift and insecure.
Life is a loveless tale,
My life feels meaningless and empty without love and companionship.
But a ship without a sail.
Like a ship without a sail, my life feels aimless and without direction.
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC
Written by: LORENZ HART, RICHARD RODGERS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind