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| The sound of Shearing... created through the artist's home Bösendorfer piano! Photo ©Jeremy Clowe. All rights reserved. |
During my big video production weekend (see last post), I trekked out to New York City to film an interview with Ellie Shearing, the widow of famed jazz pianist, Sir George Shearing. Conducted near New York's Museum Mile, the gig came about through a good friend/mentor from Massachusetts, who is helping out with the upcoming Berkshire Gateway Jazz Weekend. This year the festival will be highlighting "The Sounds of Shearing," and they thought that a videotaped interview would make for a nice compliment to live performances from original members of George Shearing's classic quintet.
I must confess that I was not familiar with George Shearing before being approached to help out with the project. When my friend mentioned his jazz standard, "Lullaby of Birdland," that old number from 42 Street is all that came to mind ("broadway" not birdland). As I discovered, Shearing was, in the words of The New York Times, "a British piano virtuoso who overcame blindness to become a worldwide jazz star."
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| Tea and talk- post-interview. Photo ©Jeremy Clowe. All rights reserved. |
As I have done with all of my music interviews over the years, I spent a couple weeks of heavy research, learning all I could about the pianist. His autobiography (released several years before his death in 2011) was helpful, as were the various radio tributes and YouTube clips I was able to put my hands on. It turns out that he composed over 300 titles, and recorded multiple best-selling albums from the 1950s to 2000s; he was also knighted for his services to music in 2007.
I don't pretend to be an expert on jazz, so it was fortunate that we had a jazz aficionado along during the interview. A musician in her own right, Ms. Shearing recalled several interesting stories, including tales of such jazz greats as Benny Goodman stopping through their beautiful Manhattan apartment. Also interesting and relevant, George and Ellie had a second home for many years in Lee, Massachusetts (maybe that's why she looked so familiar). I thought the interview went well, and it was a treat to get a little "behind the scenes" in the life of such an important jazz musician-- I couldn't help wondering if my father, an accomplished pianist himself, knew of Shearing's unique style of playing?
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| Hamish's Celtic art on display- at the merch table, Albany, NY. Photo ©Jeremy Clowe. |
The Egg is a beautiful venue—inside and out; it certainly is striking while driving past the Capital City skyline. I have seen a couple great shows there, including Ray Davies of the Kinks, and They Might Be Giants (who debuted a rather memorable song about the venue that evening!). The Rovers' jokes were cornier than Irish beef cabbage, but Sarah and I had a fun time... the band's festive Irish folk song style was a nice way to wind down the evening. I even knew a couple of their old standards: "The Unicorn" and "Drunken Sailor"- I seem to recall singing those ditties back in elementary school (if you can believe it).
Apparently this concert was part of the Irish Rovers' farewell world tour, and they seemed in fine form (including excellent accordion, pipes, and banjo). Burgess, who has been designing their recent album covers and tour merchandise, remarked that they were having some great, sold-out gigs, and I asked whether they might be having second thoughts about their decision to wind down... I've seen it happen with musicians! It must, however, be a challenge to be out on the road so much—the group has actually been around for over 50 years, with a couple original members still part of the band.. that's a lot of roving.
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| Band logo by Hamish Douglas Burgess. All rights reserved. |
March 2014 was a cold month indeed, but thankfully, music kept me circulating...
Related Links:
www.georgeshearing.net
http://irishroversmusic.com
www.mauiceltic.com
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