Just put George Shearing and a piano together, and Bob's your uncle. Or, in this case, “Bop's Your Uncle”.
Bonus video! What the...George Shearing playing the accordion? Sure enough, and here he is with Leonard Feather on piano and Carlo Krahmer on drums. [Actually, a few minutes of research revealed that Shearing played the piano and the accordion from a young age, performing in a local pub in South London.]
Mostly know Feather from reading the liner notes he wrote to so many albums. Shearing playing accordion with him on piano is a surprise. That's a great bit of bop. I'm not so much a fan of the later 'Shearing sound' of block chords but few could match his skill and passion and it's a joy to hear.
ReplyDeleteIn one book, Kerouac raves about sitting near Shearing while he played in a San Francisco club in the 50s, back when the city was the coolest.
Might even have been at the Bop City jazz club.
ReplyDeleteA while back, I posted a music video (I think it was something with Dizzy Gillespie), and it featured photos from "Bop City". I assumed it was the famous Bop City club in San Francisco, but apparently those photos pertained to a Bop City club in NYC, about which I've been unable to learn practically anything, except that it was located in the Brill Building at the NW corner of Broadway and 49th St.