“Lullaby of Birdland”
Composed and arranged by George Shearing.
Recorded by the George Shearing Quintet for MGM on July 17, 1952 in New York.
George Shearing, piano, directing: Richard “Dick” Garcia, guitar; Joe Roland, vibraphone; Al McKibbon, bass; Marquis Foster, drums.
The story:
George Albert Shearing (August 13, 1919 – February 14, 2011) was born in Battersea, London, England. He was the youngest of nine children. He was born blind to working-class parents: his father delivered coal and his mother cleaned trains in the evening. He started to learn piano at the age of three and began formal training at the Linden Lodge School for the Blind, where he spent four years.
When he was in his early teens, Shearing was offered several scholarships, but opted to perform at a local pub, Mason’s Arms in Lambeth for “25 bob a week” playing piano and accordion. He joined an all-blind band, Claude Bampton’s Blind Orchestra during that time, and was influenced by the records of American jazz pianists Teddy Wilson and Fats Waller. Shearing made his first BBC radio broadcast during this time (mid 1930s), after being befriended by the English jazz critic and journalist Leonard Feather, with whom he started recording in 1937.
George Shearing in the late 1930s. He played the accordion early in his career, in addition to the piano.
In 1940, Shearing joined Harry Parry’s popular band. Around 1942 he was recruited by the great French jazz violinist Stephane Grappelli, who was domiciled in London during World War II, to join his band, which appeared at Hatchet’s Restaurant in Picadilly in the early years of the war, then toured as “the Grappelli Swingtette” from 1943 onward. Shearing won six consecutive Top Pianist awards in the Melody Maker polls during the mid-1940s. Around that time he was also a member of George Evans’s Saxes ‘n’ Sevens band.
Shearing immigrated to the United States in 1947, where his harmonically complex style mixing swing, bop and “classical” influences slowly gained popularity. One of his first gigs was at the Hickory House in Manhattan. He performed with bassist Oscar Pettiford’s Trio, and led a quartet with clarinetist Buddy DeFranco.
In early 1949, he formed the first George Shearing Quintet. The group included Marjorie Hyams on vibraphone, Chuck Wayne on guitar, John Levy on bass and Denzil Best on drums. This group recorded for Discovery, Savoy, and MGM, including the single “September in the Rain” (February 17, 1949 for MGM), which sold over 900,000 copies in the United States alone with global sales in excess of one million. Shearing later referred to that recording as “my other hit” to accompany “Lullaby of Birdland,” which was recorded in 1952 and became an even greater hit and a jazz standard. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, the Shearing Quintet played music that could accurately be described as swing to bop. At this time, the novelist Jack Kerouac heard Shearing play in Birdland in Manhattan, and later described the performance in his 1957 novel On the Road as “his great 1949 days before he became cool and commercial.”(1)
The George Shearing Quintet 1949: L-R: Shearing, John Levy, Margie Hyams, Chuck Wayne and Denzil Best.
The combination of instruments in the Shearing Quintet and how they were often deployed was decided upon quite deliberately by George Shearing. Here is how he later explained it: (The Shearing sound) “…came about by combining two distinct musical elements – the voicing of the Glenn Miller saxophone section, and the so-called ‘locked-hands’ piano style of Milt Buckner, whom I heard on my first visit to the United States in 1946, when he was playing with Lionel Hampton’s big band. …I combined this piano technique with Miller’s saxophone voicing, with the clarinet on top. I gave those top notes to the vibes, the bottom notes to the guitar, and I’d play the notes in-between, the ones distributed to the other saxophones, on the piano.”(2)
The music:
George Shearing composed “Lullaby of Birdland.” As is usually the case, there is a story behind that. The original Birdland jazz club was located at 1678 Broadway just north of 52nd Street. It opened in 1949. Sustaining remote radio broadcasts emanated from Birdland from the beginning, and they served to promote both the venue and the various bands that played there. In early 1952, Morris Levy, the man who owned and operated Birdland, entered into an agreement with New York radio station WJZ whereby Birdland would sponsor a disk-jockey program that aired several nights a week starting at 11 p.m., continuing for several hours. This show would be hosted by “Symphony Sid” Torin, and would also sometimes feature live remotes of the bands that were playing at Birdland.
Birdland in the 1950s.
It was axiomatic in the days of radio popularity that all radio shows had to have their own theme song as a musical calling card. Morris Levy composed such a theme song to be used on the WJZ Birdland broadcasts, and asked George Shearing to record it. Shearing, who was doing fairly well as a bandleader by 1952, balked. He picks up the thread of narrative: “(The song) wasn’t much good so I called Morris and said, ‘Look, I can’t relate very well to the theme you’ve sent me. Why don’t I write one for you?’ He was immediately on the defensive. He said, ‘I’ll be you’d like to write one because you have your own music publishing company, don’t you?'” After some more verbal fencing, it was agreed the Morris Levy would own the publishing rights to any Birdland theme song Shearing would write, but Shearing would own the composer rights. After what turned out to be some time and several failed attempts, Shearing finally sat down at the piano in his home in Old Tappan, New Jersey and wrote out “Lullaby of Birdland” in ten minutes.(3)
The George Shearing Quintet recording of “Lullaby of Birdland” presented with this post is the song’s first. It is a rather straightforward swing-to-bop rendition that follows many swing era conventions. It begins with the Quintet playing the main melody for two eight-bar tracts (AA) in unison (and in 2/4 time) to acquaint the listener with that melody. The group then plays the eight bar bridge (B) in harmony and in 4/4 meter. They then finish the first chorus by playing an eight-bar repeat of the main melody as before.
The second chorus spots Dick Garcia on electric guitar playing some tasty jazz on the main theme for sixteen bars. He is followed by Joe Roland on vibraphone, who also improvises effectively first on the eight-bar bridge (B) and then on the main melody (A) for eight bars.
The third chorus belongs to pianist Shearing, who demonstrates that he had a way of improvising that seemed effortless, gliding along in swinging fashion, yet containing some stimulating jazz. His last eight bars are played in the “locked-hands” mode, and the descending sequence Shearing plays reminds me of Dave Brubeck, whose music was becoming well-known in the early 1950s, especially to other jazz musicians. This is not to suggest that Shearing’s playing was in any way derivative: The man simply had ears like a vacuum-cleaner, and quite often what he heard, be it the music of Dave Brubeck of Ludwig von Beethoven, came out in his playing.
The final chorus is a literal repeat of the first chorus.
“Lullaby of Birdland,” by the way is a jazz contrafact, based on the song “Love Me or Leave Me” by Walter Donaldson.
The George Shearing Quintet in 1952 – L-R: Al McKibbon, Shearing, Marquis Foster, Dick Garcia and Joe Roland.
I have always been struck by the rather brisk tempo that George Shearing set for this recording. We must remember that he was creating a theme song for Birdland that would be played at the beginning of radio broadcasts from the club. So the bright tempo fit that use of the music. However, it did not take long for Shearing to recognize that perhaps another, slower tempo might fit the music better. He began his reevaluation after hearing pianist Erroll Garner’s 1954 recording of “Lullaby of Birdland.” (A link to Garner’s recording can be accessed at endnote (4).
It should also be noted that when Artie Shaw formed a new Gramercy Five in 1953 to play at a Manhattan nightclub called The Embers, it was suggested by that club’s owner, Ralph Watkins, that Shaw model his new group on the George Shearing Quintet. That group had had a successful run at The Embers, and was enjoying considerable popularity generally. Shaw, who wasn’t thinking about keeping the group together after their run at the Embers ended, agreed to this. He even hired the vibraphonist Joe Roland and the drummer Denzil Best, both of whom had worked with the Shearing Quintet. Shaw’s run at The Embers was successful, so much so that he decided to take this version of the Gramercy Five on the road. Before he did that, he recorded the group, and we therefore have those recordings as evidence of how excellent it was.
P.S.
In December of 1983, my wife and I traveled to New York to attend the debut of Artie Shaw’s new band, led by clarinetist Dick Johnson at Glen Island Casino. In order to provide the band with a proper send-off, Maestro Shaw was on hand to front the ensemble. It was an exciting night, as the band was quite good. I was also excited, as this was my first time in the presence of Artie Shaw. Inasmuch as Glen Island Casino was a dancing venue, the music played that night was largely performed to entice dancers out onto the floor. My dancing skills are minimal, but I nevertheless did what I could on the dance floor, not too skillfully. At one point, I bumped rather forcefully into another couple, a gray-haired man wearing sun glasses, and his dancing partner. I turned to apologize and quickly recognized the man as George Shearing. I said: “Oh, Mr. Shearing, I’m so sorry.” After I apologized, Shearing said: “No need to apologize. I’m usually the one running into people on the dance floor.” followed by: “Isn’t this wonderful!” I replied that it was indeed wonderful, and my wife and I were then swallowed-up by the crowd of other dancers. (Above left: George Shearing in the 1980s: “Isn’t this wonderful!”)
Shearing remained fit and active well into his later years and continued to perform into his eighties. He retained a fondness for England and, in his last years, would split his year between living in New York and Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire, where he bought a house with his second wife, singer Ellie Geffert. This gave him the opportunity to tour the UK, giving concerts, often with singer Mel Tormé, backed by the BBC Big Band. In 1996 he was Included in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List, and invested by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for “services to music and Anglo-US relations.” In 2007, he was knighted. “So”, he noted later, “the poor, blind kid from Battersea became Sir George Shearing. Now that’s a fairy tale come true.” (4A)
“Lullaby of Birdland”
Composed by George Shearing; arranged by Lew Quadling.
Recorded by Frankie Carle for Dot Records in 1968 in Hollywood.
Lew Quadling, directing: Frankie Carle, piano; Larry Bunker, vibraphone; Tommy Tedesco, electric guitar; Ray Brown, bass; Alvin Stoller, drums.
The story and the music:
The story of how the two LP recording project that used the music of the great swing bands of the 1940s and 1950s as a point of departure was conceived and executed in 1968 by Dot Records producer Tommy Mack is told at the post here at swingandbeyond.com on “The Commando’s Serenade.” (That recording and story can be accessed at the link at endnote (5). In addition to reimagining some great big band performances from those years, a few small band performances were also included. This is one of them.
Arranger Lew Quadling utilized the famous “Shearing Quintet Sound,” the memorable melody of “Lullaby of Birdland,” and the talents of the musicians who were selected to make this recording as the elements for a very musical reinvention of the classic Shearing recording from 1952. This performance also benefits from a slower tempo and a less stylized approach by those involved. It also has a four-bar introduction unlike the original, played by pianist Carle. Also, where the original included space for jazz solos for piano, guitar and vibes, this one is a beautifully arranged showcase for the ensemble, with several brief peeks through the ensemble sound by pianist Carle, and a tasty solo by bassist Ray Brown. (Above right: Frankie Carle in 1968.)
This recording also benefits from a great job done by the recording technicians (engineer Thorne Nogar.): Every nuance of every instrument is clearly discernable and in perfect balance.
The first chorus has the musicians playing the main melody exposition much in the manner of the the original recording. The second chorus begins with the secondary bridge melody, which is played twice. Then Ray Brown plays eight bars of jazz, before the ensemble returns with yet another pass at the secondary melody. (At left: bass virtuoso Ray Brown.)
The final half-chorus consists of riffs framing concise, brief fills from the bass and piano.
The recordings presented with this post were digitally remastered by Mike Zirpolo.
Notes and links:
(1) The basic outlines of George Shearing’s early career were extracted from the Wikipedia post on him.
(2) Lullaby of Birdland …The Autobiography of George Shearing, with Alyn Shipton (2004), 114-115. Hereafter Shearing.
(3) Shearing, 137-138.
(4) Here is a link to Erroll Garner’s 1954 recording of “Lullaby of Birdland”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUmEkL3WHqY
(4A) Wikipedia post on George Shearing.
(5) Here is a link to Frankie Carle’s 1968 recording of “The Commando’s Serenade,” along with the 1942 original by Hal McIntyre. https://swingandbeyond.com/2020/11/21/the-commandos-serenade-1942-hal-mcintrye-dave-matthews-1968-frankie-carle-georgie-auld/
(6) Here is a link to another fine recording by Frankie Carle, this time of Alec Wilder’s beautiful melody “It’s So Peaceful in the Country,” along with an earlier recording of that tune by Charlie Spivak: https://swingandbeyond.com/2025/07/25/its-so-peaceful-in-the-country-1941-charlie-spivak-with-garry-stevens-1968-frankie-carle-with-graham-young-dick-nash-and-georgie-auld/
(7) Here is a link to a fine solo piano recording by George Shearing of a great Rodgers and Hart song, with a musical surprise folded in: https://swingandbeyond.com/2017/09/23/the-smell-of-money-george-shearing-and-nat-king-cole/
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