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George Shearing, famed jazz pianist and composer has just died.
http://www.npr.org/2011/02/15/133755475/remembering-composer-of-lullaby-of-birdland
His best known composition was "Lullaby Of Birdland" a jazz staple for singers. It's one of my favorite tunes, and one I used to play at every wedding gig I did -- one of the few jazz tunes I can truly play well. Here's Sarah Vaughan's version, for those of you unfamiliar with it.
And here's Shearing's recollection of how he came to write this classic, an interesting take on the creative process:
http://www.jazzstandards.com/compositions-1/lullabyofbirdland.htm
http://www.npr.org/2011/02/15/133755475/remembering-composer-of-lullaby-of-birdland
His best known composition was "Lullaby Of Birdland" a jazz staple for singers. It's one of my favorite tunes, and one I used to play at every wedding gig I did -- one of the few jazz tunes I can truly play well. Here's Sarah Vaughan's version, for those of you unfamiliar with it.
And here's Shearing's recollection of how he came to write this classic, an interesting take on the creative process:
For weeks Shearing tried to come up with something but to no avail. Suddenly one night in the middle of dinner he jumped up, went to the piano and wrote the whole thing in about ten minutes. The pianist explains, “Actually quite a lot of my compositions have come this way--very slow going for a week or so, and the finished piece comes together very rapidly, but as I say to those who criticize this method of working, it’s not that I dash something off in ten minutes, it’s ten minutes plus umpteen years in the business.”
http://www.jazzstandards.com/compositions-1/lullabyofbirdland.htm