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
Autumn Leaves
George Shearing Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The autumn leaves of red and gold
I see your lips, the summer kisses
The sun-burned hands I used to hold
Since you went away the days grow long
And soon I'll hear old winter's song
But I miss you most of all my darling
C'est une chanson, qui nous ressemble
Toi tu m'aimais et je t'aimais
Nous vivions tous deux ensemble
Toi qui m'aimais moi qui t'aimais
Mais la vie separe ceux qui s'aiment
Tout doucement sans faire de bruit
Et la mer efface sur le sable les pas des amants desunis
George Shearing's song "Autumn Leaves" uses the falling leaves of autumn as a metaphor for lost love. The first stanza talks about how the leaves are drifting by the window, with their beautiful colors of red and gold representing the memories of a summer romance. The singer sees the sun-burned hands of the former lover, and the taste of the summer kisses still lingers on their lips.
The second stanza brings a little more sadness into the picture, with the days growing longer and winter approaching. But the most significant pain of all comes in the final line: "But I miss you most of all my darling, when autumn leaves start to fall." Shearing's lyrics convey the sorrow of lost love, with the autumn leaves being a powerful symbol of the memories that can never be regained.
The last stanza, written in French, repeats the same theme of lost love after a beautiful romance. The singer and their lover lived together in harmony, but life eventually separates them without a sound. The tides of the ocean wash away any trace of their footsteps on the sand. The French lyrics complement the English ones, emphasizing the universality of heartbreak and the beautiful tragedy that autumn leaves can represent.
Line by Line Meaning
The falling leaves drift by the window
Autumn is here and the colorful leaves that were once on the trees have now fallen and are floating in the air outside my window.
The autumn leaves of red and gold
The leaves of autumn are not just brown; they are shades of red and gold as well, which adds to the beauty of the season.
I see your lips, the summer kisses
I remember your lips, the kisses we shared during the warm summer days when everything was perfect.
The sun-burned hands I used to hold
I miss holding your hands, which were warm and sun-kissed from spending time together outdoors.
Since you went away the days grow long
Ever since you left, the days have been dragging on and seem much longer than before, as if time has slowed down.
And soon I'll hear old winter's song
Winter is approaching, and with it comes a feeling of coldness and sadness that is further intensified by the absence of the one I love.
But I miss you most of all my darling
Out of all the things that make me feel lonely, nothing compares to the pain of missing you, my beloved.
When autumn leaves start to fall
As I watch the leaves slowly drift down to the ground, I am reminded of your departure and how much I long for your return.
C'est une chanson, qui nous ressemble
This song is about us and the love we shared, which I can relate to on a deep level.
Toi tu m'aimais et je t'aimais
You loved me, and I loved you; it was as simple and beautiful as that.
Nous vivions tous deux ensemble
We lived together, sharing our lives and building a future, bound by our love for each other.
Toi qui m'aimais moi qui t'aimais
You were the one who loved me, and I was the one who loved you; our love was mutual and pure.
Mais la vie separe ceux qui s'aiment
Life has a way of separating even those who love each other deeply, despite their shared affection.
Tout doucement sans faire de bruit
It happens slowly and without notice, almost silently, until one day there is an ache in the heart where love once flourished.
Et la mer efface sur le sable les pas des amants desunis
Like the waves of the sea that wash away the footprints of lovers who have parted, our love too seems to have vanished into the distance.
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: CLAUDIO MERLINI
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind