Jazz Legend George Shearing Dies

I heard this on the radio this morning, and it shadowed the beginning of the day in sadness;

George Shearing dies aged 91

Announcing the death due to heart failure at Shearing's home in Manhattan, his agent, Dale Sheets, said: "He was a totally one of a kind performer. It was something wonderful to see, to watch him work."

I had the good fortune to catch Shearing a few times, both, in club, and festival, settings, and it was always a delicious treat, the crowd hushing to the point you could hear a pin drop, settling in for the unique Shearing sound.

Peter Keepnews explains;

The Shearing sound — which had the harmonic complexity of bebop but eschewed bebop’s ferocious energy — was built on the unusual instrumentation of vibraphone, guitar, piano, bass and drums. To get the “full block sound” he wanted, he had the vibraphone double what his right hand played and the guitar double the left. That sound came to represent the essence of sophisticated hip for countless listeners worldwide who preferred their jazz on the gentle side.

[snip]

By his own estimate Mr. Shearing wrote about 300 tunes, of which he liked to joke that roughly 295 were completely unknown.

He nevertheless contributed at least one bona fide standard to the jazz repertory: “Lullaby of Birdland,” written in 1952 and adopted as the theme song of the world-famous New York nightclub where he frequently performed. Both as an instrumental and with words by George David Weiss, it has been recorded by everyone from Ella Fitzgerald to Bill Haley and His Comets, who improbably cut a version called “Lullaby of Birdland Twist” in 1962

And who else remembers the television commercial, featuring Ray Charles (for a Pioneer LaserDisc), delivering the punchline "I liked it so much, I got one for my friend, George Shearing", the joke being Shearing is also blind.

RIP George Shearing, it was great having you around.


George Shearing - Lullaby of Birdland



And here's a personal favorite;

GEORGE SHEARING playing IT NEVER ENTERED MY MIND

It Never Entered My Mind

Lo Siento ...

Busy, full, bursting day on the homefront, leaving me completely drained ...

So, while we gather back our energy, check out a little George Shearing, with his monster rendition of a classic staple ...


George Shearing - It Never Entered My Mind

It Never Entered My Mind - George Shearing

New Garlic Song: Bush Could Write A Book

Tough sledding on the Legacy Front these days.

Was it put out there to pick up more donations for the Bush Library? You know, like a PBS kind of thing, where, if you pledge so much, you get this, bump up to the next level, get that ...

Can't imagine they're offering a tote bag - those must all be deployed in Iraq, to lug around the cash to pay for the "success" in Al Anbar.

No, none of that liberal stuff ... Gotta go with a book ... Yeah, a book ... That'll get it out there ... Show that I'm tough ... Show that I'm sensitive ... Determined ... Resolute ... Yeah, a book will do it ...

Trouble is, speaking on the Legacy Front, when you write that kind of book, with more that a year left in your administration, and you start spinning the history ... Well, you need to fire the guy that forgot to tell you that there's a whole boatload of people out there - former staffers, colleagues, et all - that can, pretty much, blow you out of the water.

Ahhh, but so it goes.

And, as we, so often, have offered song to accompany The Commander Guy, in his stumbles, today we provide the soundtrack that will surely be used in the video loop that will play on at the Bush Library ... Or maybe his Freedom Institute ...

It's a standard, so sing along, loud and strong ...

Bush Could Write A Book

A B C D E F G
He never learned to spell,
At least not well.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7
He never learned to count,
A great amount.

But his busy mind is burning to use what little learning it got,
He won't waste any time,
He'll lie while the iron is hot.

If they asked him, Bush could write a book
About the way they shock, and whisper, and mistook.
He could write a preface
On fabricating the threat
And the world will never forget.

And the simple neocon secret of his plot
Is just to tell them "you're with us, or not".
And the world discovers
As his book ends,
How to make two disasters
That he defends.

And the simple neocon secret of the plot
Is just to tell them "you're with us, or not".
And the world discovers
As his book ends,
How to make two disasters
That he defends.

Bonus Links

Listen To A Clip of George Shearing and Mel Torme on I Could Write A Book

Keith Olbermann: Pres. Bush's inconsistencies - A new biography about President Bush, “Dead Certain,” reveals many inconstancies in his public and private statements. Author Robert Draper discusses what to make of Bush.

Baker-Hamilton To Say “Start Over”; Reinstall Saddam And Retake Country, This Time With Plans; First Step Is To Reconstruct Baghdad To Pre-2003 Invasion Look; “Maintain a public front of “victory in Iraq”

Top Ten Cloves: Difficulties DC Comics' Batman May Have Fighting Osama bin Laden

Libby Trial Update - The Scooter and Cheney Show Theme Song