Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner George Shearing

This discussion reminded me that I used to have a book of Boogie Woogie, stride, etc. from the 1950s...Meade Lux Lewis, Pete Johnson, that whole crowd...and the printed music was HARD! Fast stride looks easy on the page, but it really isn't! I don't think they dumbed it down at all for the masses.

I think I loaned the book to someone and never saw it again...I have one photocopy of Cafe' Society Rag from that book, and used to play it in concert.

Nice Shearing arrangement, by the way. I always admired his tone. The epitomy of cool, as well!

Made a close analysis of page 1 of Over The Rainbow (Shearing interpretation) in an attempt to put a finger on the special quality inherent in the blind pianist’s style ... for what it’s worth ... he makes great use of lowering the leading note and 5th ... to effect the growly offbeat sound (some 45 such notes) ... and yet never changes the true Eb scale notes to articulate the top RH melody.

Just throwing in my twopence worth.

PS Grateful thanks c/bear for page 1

Very nice rendition Andy. I love that song anyway. Lips are zipped on the hammers and butt plates.... Mum's the word... fer now anyway.....

Thanks, Jer. I took the action out of the piano Tuesday night, so I can't play it anymore for now! Those wobbly hammers are soon to be a thing of the past!

btb: Since you are clever enough, could you please scan and post the score of the Arlen arrangement you referred to? Thanks!

At c/bear’s request ... page 1 of Over The Rainbow by Harold Arlen and EY Harburg ... P2 to follow later.

After doing "Over The Rainbow," I just had to play another Shearing arrangement! I give you:

I'm In The Mood For Love by McHugh and Fields, "George Shearing Interpretations for Piano," book No.1, [the red one, again...] (New York: Robbins Music Corp., 1954).

Since the Haddorff is in pieces on my livingroom floor for the wobbly hammer eradication project, I played this on The Mighty Lester, 36" spinet. It, too, is tuned to EBVT III, but was last touched for tuning in April.

I'd like to record this one again, when the Haddorff is ready, to see if I can get a little more sultry tone out of the bigger piano. Still, this was a fun arrangement to play. Hope you like it!

P.S. Crossposted in Member Recordings and "My Piano In EBVT III (Tuner/Tech Forum Thread)".

I played the Tatum(shortened/simplified) version of that at an assisted living facility. When I announced the piece some old guy in the back shouted "You bet we are!"

There’s nothing quite like the real McCoy ...
McShearing’s own composition "Lullaby of Birdland" ...
Here’s the first page

And the 2nd page

LOL! Aren't we all? That's hilarious, PL!

Loved it, Cinnamonbear! What a beautiful rendition! You play it beautifully!

I love these songs. Play more! Play more!

Kathy

Thanks, Kathy!

But where are all of the other e-cital participants?!

Where are all you guys with a digital recorder that have these songs in your back pocket, ready to pull out to play at a moment's notice?

Hmmmm???

Hey, btb:
Regarding "Lullaby of Birdland." That arrangement sure looks simple. But does it sound simple? (I bet not...)

Lullaby of Birdland makes interesting analysis ... as an original composition by George Shearing , the blind pianist was not bound (as with his interpretations) by the set tempo of other composers ... we notice a propensity to slide the last note over the bar line of certain measures to link with the 2nd note of the next measure ... this gives this work a unique lilt ... having just played the first 8 measures (Theme) some 20 times ... only but slowly is the Shearing rhythmic magic captured.

Quite right c/bear ... Lullaby of Birdland looks easy (easy enough to find the notes) ... but it’s another thing to get with the particular groove of the Shearing rhythm.

The key is G major ... but you would never guess so ... the keynote gets tucked away underpinning certain RH chords (eg m1 and m3) ... G comes to light as an offbeat LH chord at the end.

Why wouldn't it sound simple?(From my point of view too simple to be a great arrangement) Do you think Shearing performed pieces in arrangements(in terms of complexity or length) like these in concert?

Going back to my original post in this thread, I think the Shearing arrangement of "Over the Rainbow" really can't compare to the Jarrett arrangement I posted(which was transcribed from an actual Jarrett performance) in terms of beauty. Nor do I think it was meant to be comparable. Just like the two page Tatum version of "I'm in the Mood for Love" I played at the assisted living facility wouldn't compare to Tatum's actual performance of the piece.

I think I feel another song coming on...

Of course not. Same as what you said about your Tatum. Like my grandma said, the notes on the page are just to get you started.

My point is that these arrangements are accessible AND lovely. Just because they are simple does not make them worthless or marginal, and in my opinion they are immenently likeable and playable.

What I would like to know is: who writes these arrangements? I mean, who was the poor slob who sat down and put the pen to the paper and made it come out in a form that approximates, and is recognized as, Shearing? How was it done in the real world back then (1954)? Certainly, Shearing didn't work from charts. Did the other musicians who played with him? If so, who wrote the charts? And who edited them for publication?

Needed to be reminded of Art Tatum’s jazz style and came across this CD Jazz 4 ...
with Art playing St. Louis Blues ...
thought some of you chaps might like to be reminded of these jazz greats.

Jazz 4.

Frank Sinatra ... You Make Me feel So Young
Duke Ellington ... Honeysuckle Rose
Louis Armstrong ... Mack the Knife
Glenn Miller ... Chatanooga Choo Choo
Tommy Dorsey ... Opus One
Scott Joplin ... Maple Leaf Rag
Lena Horne ... I Can’t Give You Anything But Love
Dizzy Gillespie ... Blue ‘N’ Boogie
Jimmy Lunceford ... Shoemakers Holliday
Art Tatum ... St. Louis Blues
Django Reinhardt ... I Saw Stars
Svend Asmussen ... Satin Doll
Mills Brothers ... Music Maestro Please
Billie Holliday ... When Your Lover Has Gone
Cannon Ball ... No Greater Love
Miles Davis ... Night in Tunisia
Cab Calloway ... Jungle Swing
Carlie Parker ... Slow Boat To China
Ella Fitzgerald ... That Old Black Magic
Al Jolson ... I’m sitting On The Top Of The World
Benny Goodman ... Somebody Stole My Gal
Nat King Cole ... It’s Only A Paper Moon
Jimmy Dorsey ... Imagination
Woody Herman ... Blue Stations
Count Basie ... Jumpin’ At The Woodside

Since btb was so kind to post the score of "Lullaby of Birdland," and since I was stupid enough to say, "looks simple, but I bet it doesn't sound simple..."

...well, I tried it. It's still not "under my hands," as they say, but, here you are anyway:

Lullaby of Birdland

Here's what I did--First time through, I played it exactly as it's written on the page (as close as I could get it). At the repeat, I jazzed it up, the way it felt to me like it ought to be played. The only notes I changed were in the bass line. After the repeat, I played the B section again, but in a simple variation that seemed to fit the simplicity of the score, then finished with the second ending pretty much as written. All of this follows my grandma's principle, "The notes on the page are just to get you started!"

If you want, you can follow along with the score that btb posted, above. Sure, I missed a note here and there, but the question remains, "Does this sound as simple as it looks on the page?"

--Andy

Andy :

Although I've never particularly liked that tune, you did a great job of playing it. Thanks.

Regards,