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
Dinah
George Shearing Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Gave me Dinah;
I'm the proudest one
Beneath the Dixie sun.
News is spreadin'
'Bout our weddin';
I hear church bells ringin',
Dinah,
Is there anyone finer
In the state of Carolina?
If there is and you know her,
Show her!
Dinah,
With her Dixie eyes blazin',
How I love to sit and gaze in
To the eyes of Dinah Lee!
Yet, every night,
My, how I shake with fright,
Because my Dinah might,
Change her mind about me!
But if Dinah,
Ever wandered to China,
I would hop an ocean liner,
Just to be with Dinah Lee!
Dinah,
Is there anyone finer
In the state of Carolina?
If there is and you know her,
Show her!
Dinah,
With her Dixie eyes blazin',
How I love to sit and gaze in
To the eyes of Dinah Lee!
Yet, every night,
My, how I shake with fright,
Because my Dinah might,
Change her mind about me!
But if Dinah,
Ever wandered to China,
I would hop an ocean!,
Just to be with Dinah Lee!
The song Dinah by George Shearing is a love song addressed to Dinah, the love interest of the singer. The lyrics describe how Carolina gave the singer Dinah, and how he is the proudest man beneath the Dixie sun. The song is full of imagery about their love, the news of their wedding, and the church bells ringing. The singer tells Dinah how she is the finest woman in the state of Carolina and how he loves to sit and gaze into her Dixie eyes. However, every night, the singer shakes with fright because he fears Dinah might change her mind about him. The song ends with the singer promising to follow Dinah wherever she goes, even if it means hopping on an ocean liner to China.
In this song, Dinah is portrayed as the love of the singer's life. He is so in love with her that he would follow her to the ends of the earth just to be with her. Despite his fear that Dinah might change her mind about him, the singer's love for her is constant and unwavering. The use of vivid imagery and references to Carolina and Dixie also highlights the regional pride and cultural significance of their love.
Line by Line Meaning
Carolina
The state of Carolina gave me Dinah, and it makes me the proudest person in the entire southern region.
Gave me Dinah;
I was bestowed with the priceless gem, Dinah, and it is a gift that I cherish every day.
I'm the proudest one
Having Dinah in my life makes me feel proud and accomplished.
Beneath the Dixie sun.
Living under the warm Dixie sun with Dinah by my side is a dream come true.
News is spreadin'
The news of our upcoming wedding is spreading in the town.
'Bout our weddin';
People are talking about the wedding that Dinah and I are going to have.
I hear church bells ringin',
Church bells are ringing, and it indicates that our wedding is going to happen soon.
Here's the song my heart keeps singin':
My heart is overjoyed, and this little song sings in my heart all the time.
Dinah,
Dinah, my darling, the light of my life.
Is there anyone finer
Is there anyone in the world who is more beautiful, kind, and loving than Dinah?
In the state of Carolina?
Dinah is the most beautiful person in the entire state of Carolina.
If there is and you know her,
If there is anybody who is better than Dinah, please show her to me.
Show her!
I want to meet the person who can outshine my Dinah.
With her Dixie eyes blazin',
Dinah has beautiful, sparkling eyes that mesmerize me every time I look at her.
How I love to sit and gaze in
I adore sitting with Dinah and gazing into her eyes; it's one of my favorite things to do.
To the eyes of Dinah Lee!
I could get lost in Dinah's eyes forever and never want to come back to reality.
Yet, every night,
Even though Dinah is the love of my life, I'm scared of losing her every night.
My, how I shake with fright,
I get scared and jittery when I think of the possibility of Dinah not loving me anymore.
Because my Dinah might,
I fear that Dinah might decide to leave me, and that thought scares me a lot.
Change her mind about me!
I worry that Dinah might change her mind about me and break my heart.
But if Dinah,
But even if Dinah decides to leave me, I'll always love her.
Ever wandered to China,
If Dinah ever travels to China or any other part of the world, I would travel any distance to be with her.
I would hop an ocean liner,
I'll do anything to be with Dinah, even if it means taking an ocean liner to reach her.
Just to be with Dinah Lee!
Being with Dinah Lee is all I want, and I'll go to any length to make that happen.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Harry Akst, Samuel M. Lewis, Joseph Young
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind