Music Monday: April 4, 2022

I first heard George Shearing’s name when my jazz teacher in college suggested a bunch of jazz pianists for me to listen to. My teacher was actually a woodwind specialist and wanted me to hear some “real” pianists playing, since I was completely clueless about the genre at the time. He suggested Shearing because of his tendency to improvise using both hands (rather than just right) and to incorporate chordal blocks when playing melodies.

I never really carved out time to listen to any of the jazz pianists my teacher suggested when I was in college–too busy being a perpetually anxious Western classical pianist (but that’s a story for another post). Over the last few years I’ve made a conscious effort to listen to more jazz, especially as I’ve tried to work on my piano improvisation skills.

I was recently listening to George Shearing on shuffle and was startled to suddenly hear a piece by Poulenc. I actually thought Spotify had randomly switched to classical music until the Poulenc reference turned into “On the Street Where You Live”! (And I felt like a total nerd recognizing Poulenc when half-listening, just having it on in the background while working.)

So of course I got curious about Shearing, since I knew nothing about him except my dim memory from college jazz lessons. Born in London, Shearing was not only a pianist but also a composer of many jazz standards, including “Lullaby of Birdland” (!!!) and “Conception.” Blind from birth, by all accounts he had a wicked sense of humor, as exemplified by this story about his guide dog.

Having listened to more of his recordings, I must agree with the article that Shearing was an extraordinarily elegant jazz pianist. His ability to seamlessly incorporate references from all over European piano literature into improvisation is astounding, and even (especially!) on tracks without those references, his playing is as complex and graceful as can be.

Enjoy some Poulenc-inflected jazz this Music Monday!