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
My One and Only Love
George Shearing Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Like an April breeze on the wings of spring,
And you appear in all your splendor,
My one and only love.
The shadows fall and spread their mystic charms
In the hush of night while you're in my arms.
I feel your lips, so warm and tender,
The touch of your hand is like heaven,
A heaven that I've never known.
The blush on your cheek whenever I speak
Tells me that you are my own.
You fill my eager heart with such desire.
Ev'ry kiss you give sets my soul on fire.
I give myself in sweet surrender,
My one and only love.
"My One and Only Love" is a beautiful and classic love song that has been interpreted by many artists and bands, including Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, and Ella Fitzgerald. The song was written in 1952 by the composer Guy Wood and lyrics writer Robert Mellin. When George Shearing recorded the song in 1957, it became a hit, and his interpretation remains one of the most popular and recognizable versions of the song.
The lyrics in "My One and Only Love" are quite simple yet elegant, conveying the deep and intense emotions of love that the singer feels for their significant other. The opening line sets the tone for the entire song, expressing how the very thought of the beloved person makes the singer's heart sing, similar to the feeling of a pleasant breeze in spring. The second verse is about the beauty and mystery of nighttime, with the lover finding comfort and solace in the arms of the singer. The third verse is about the blissful physical sensations of being with the lover, with the singer experiencing heaven and warmth with just a touch or a kiss. The final verse sums up the devotion and surrender the singer feels towards their one and only love, a powerful and all-encompassing feeling that many people can relate to.
Overall, "My One and Only Love" is a timeless song that captures the essence of romance and devotion, and George Shearing's interpretation adds an extra layer of musicality and emotion to this classic.
Line by Line Meaning
The very thought of you makes my heart sing
You are always on my mind and just thinking of you brings joy to my heart.
Like an April breeze on the wings of spring,
Your presence brings a refreshing, new feeling to my life, like the first warm winds of spring.
And you appear in all your splendor,
When I see you, my heart is filled with awe and admiration, marveling at your beauty.
My one and only love.
You are the only one for me, the love of my life.
The shadows fall and spread their mystic charms
As darkness approaches, it brings a mystical atmosphere around us, adding to the romance of the moment.
In the hush of night while you're in my arms.
When we are alone, lost in each other's embrace, silence envelops us in this beautiful, intimate moment.
I feel your lips, so warm and tender,
Your kisses are gentle and filled with love, making me feel cherished and cared for.
My one and only love.
You are the only one for me, the love of my life.
The touch of your hand is like heaven,
Just the brush of your fingers against mine awakens my soul and fills me with happiness.
A heaven that I've never known.
You have brought a new level of bliss into my life, one that I never knew existed before you.
The blush on your cheek whenever I speak
When I talk to you and express my love, it brings a slight flush to your cheeks, revealing the depth of your feelings towards me.
Tells me that you are my own.
Your response assures me that you love me as much as I love you, that we belong to each other.
You fill my eager heart with such desire.
You ignite a passion in me that cannot be contained, making me eager to be with you always.
Ev'ry kiss you give sets my soul on fire.
Each time our lips meet, I feel a burning, intense love within me that cannot be contained.
I give myself in sweet surrender,
Completely giving myself over to you, trusting you with my heart and soul.
My one and only love.
You are the only one for me, the love of my life.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Guy B. Wood, Robert Mellin
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
lastknowngood0
Thinking of my one and only true blue, or rather dark brown magic eyed Mama. <3 Have a pleasant evening ;-)
Antonio Betancourt
..asi lo pienso y asi lo hago sentir...
dapeck60
music written by Guy Wood and lyrics by Robert Mellin