is turning 90 in august!!

so many great albums over the years! post your favorites here!

i am enjoying his album with dakota staton at the moment!

I like his Savoy and MGM stuff a lot!

And even though we all like to diss Mel Torme (I plead guilty!), I do like some of the things Shearing and Torme did together for Concord.

Greg Mo

In a Chinese Garden, written by guitarist Chuck Wayne, is GORGEOUS.

Astonishing !

potentially great pianist, brilliant harmonic sense; lacks taste -

I agree - to the point that at the time when reissues of his early to mid-50s MGM material proved largely elusive I even jumped at the occasion of buying several 78s of his MGM's while rummaging through the special offer bins at Mole Jazz.
Savoy (reissue label), incidentally, also means Discovery in this case.
And for what they are, his very early British recordings are enjoyable too.

I've heard a few bits among his Capitol etc. material that I like but most of that Capitol stuff is just too slick, glib shlock for my taste.

I agree that he put out LOTS and LOTS of schlock - particularly for Capitol in the late 50s and 60s.

However, I have 4 of his solo albums - 1 Capitol, 1 MPS, and 2 Concord, and they are all pretty amazing in the solo jazz piano genre.

The first Shearing vinyl I got was a used copy of The Shearing Piano (Capitol Jazz)


It made me realize the harmonic possibilities of the left hand with his unique arpeggios and of course his signature block chords.


Live at the Cafe Carlyle with Don Thompson (Concord)


An amazing duo recording. Don is a great Toronto performer on the bass, vibes and piano.

If I were Mosaic, I'd do his MGM sessions - they're better than one might think on first sight. I bought the two LPs that Cal Tjader plays on, and they are extremely versatile and musical.

as did i. those 2 doing '...berkeley square' is some of my most favorite music.

grand piano i enjoyed, and those sodes with robert farnon.

out of the woods (with gary burton).

i loved most of those capitol mood things, particularly blue chiffon and concerto for my love, and the great peggy lee, dakota staton, and nancy wilson sides.

I like what he does with the theme of Move here.

He may be 90, but not the oldest surviving member of the group: John Levy, on bass, is 96.

(Chuck Wayne on guitar, Don Elliott on vibes, Denzil Best on drums).

F

I didn't care much for Shearing for many years. Thought he was far too commercial for my taste. Over time I began to appreciate his playing quite a bit. His style of playing can't fairly be compared to the hard bop piano players such as Horace Silver, Cedar Walton, John Hicks, etc. It's apples and oranges.

Here are a few of the Shearing CDs I enjoy:

Breakin' Out - Concord Jazz
Like Fine Wine - Mack Avenue
The MPS Trio Sessions - MPS
I Hear A Rhapsody - Telarc

Is that why I don't like him?

At a record store on Boylston (sp?) St., in Boston, in the middle '70's - a guy says to me, "I'm sick of this crazy shit, I'm getting some George Shearing."

I rather like some of the Complete Capitol Live Recordings of George Shearing, MOSAIC, 1994, 7 LPs for me. It was also available as 4 CDs.