Lullaby of Birdland: The Autobiography of George Shearing [Paperback]

Pianist George Shearing is that rare thing, a European jazz musician who became a household name in the US, as a result of the Shearing sound -the recordings of his historic late 1940s quintet. Together with his unique locked hands approach to playing the piano, Shearing's quintet with guitar and vibraphone in close harmony to his own playing revolutionized small group jazz, and ensured that after seven years as Melody Maker's top British pianist, he achieved even greater success in America. His compositions have been recorded by everyone from Sarah Vaughan to Miles Davis, and his best known pieces include Lullaby of Birdland , She and Conception . His story is all the more remarkable because Shearing was born blind. His candid reminiscences include a behind the scenes experience of New York's 52nd Street in its heyday, as well as memories of a vast roll-call of professional colleagues that includes all the great names in jazz.

 Lullaby of Birdland, with all its pleasures, is to some extent the fruit of a collaboration between Shearing and the British jazz writer and broadcaster Alyn Shipton...Together they have produced a book which is well and tightly edited, which never bogs down in unnecessary detail or strays waywardly from the matters at hand, and in which Shearing consistently sounds like himself and not an edited version...The pages are suffused with warmth and good humor... -January magazine, 03/04 H.V. Cordry

 George Shearing, OBE, is such an institution that his 80th birthday was celebrated with a concert at Carnegie Hall. This year, perhaps preparing for his 85th birthday next month, he's glanced over his life in a book that's occasionally rueful but mostly high-spirited. - The National Post, 7/6/04 Robert Fulford

Together they [Shearing and Shipton] have produced a book that is tightly edited and true to the voice of its subject. Suffused with warmth and good humor...this is recommended for larger jazz collections. -Lib