Garioch Jazz Club
www.jazz-club.co.uk
Newsletter May 2017
Here we are at the last newsletter of the 2016 / 2017 session of your
Jazz Club and looking back we have had a fantastic selection of bands
throughout the year. September we had the inimitable Atholl Smith,
October was the unforgettable Rose Room, November was the turn of
Jazz Main, January was the turn of Euan Stevenson and Konrad
Wisniewski, February the twa Blonde Bombshells, Marisha Addison and
Morag McCall, March was John Burgess Big Five and in April we were
entertained by The Peter Fenton Experience. This was to my mind one
of the best sessions we have had at Garioch Jazz Club and I would like
to thank Elaine Crighton for all the work she does in finding and
encouraging these bands to come to Inverurie.
Musically it has been very successful but we still we struggle with the
number of people turning up. It is a long term worry because as they
say “if you don’t use it you will loose it.”
I have on the Garioch Jazz Club database over 400 names (not all
members admittedly) but people who have been to the events we have
put on and were happy to either have an email or posted copy of the
newsletter every month and yet only 40 people turned up to the April
concert.
The AGM is coming up on the 16th of May at 7.30 at the Hopeville Club and
it would be good to see as many of you coming along to support the work of
the Committee. There will be no coercing of anyone to take positions on the
committee so this a very informal event.
The fine days are here again and a chance to get into the garden
although my cucumbers and courgette plants were ravished by the
frosts we had in April the other stuff seems to have survived so far.
After 2 years of neglect my main vegetable garden has had the
scorched earth policy and I will now have to dig it all over and plant
something in it? Possibly grass but then again maybe something
more eatable. I will keep you posted.
Next Concert on 26th May 2017
Doors open at 7pm Music from 8pm till 10.30pm
Coco 'n' the Fellas are a London based
band who perform across the country and internationally.
Their music evokes both swing and contemporary jazz
simultaneously.
Breathtaking arrangements, varied repertoire and highly
regarded musicianship ensure that Coco will transport you to
a sonic landscape of gypsy jazz, bebop, fusion and more...
Ami OprenovaVocals
Daniele Cuiffreda Electric Guitar
Joe Perkins Acoustic Guitar
Havard Tanner Upright Bass
What’s On.
BBC Jazz Radio Programmes By Day and Time
Day
Time Station
Name
Monday
19:00 BBC 2
Paul Jones R&B
Monday
21:30 BBC 2
Big Band Special
Monday
23:00 BBC 3
Jazz on 3
Monday
23:00 BBC 2
Jules Holland
Tuesday
19:00 BBC 2
Jamie Cullum
Saturday
20:30 BBC 3
Jazz Record Requests
Saturday
00:00 BBC 3
Geoffrey Smiths Jazz
Sunday
19.00 Radio Scotland
Jazz Nights at the Quay
Sunday
22:00 BBC 2
Clare Teal
Sunday
23:10 BBC 3
Jazz Line Up
Jazz Available to Listen to on Internet
jazzradio.com
jazzfm.com
ukjazzradio.com
internet-radio.com
Accujazz.com
Presenter
Paul Jones
Clare Teal
Jez Nelson
Jules Holland
Jamie Cullum
Alyn Shipton
Geoffrey Smith
Seonaid Aitken
Clare Teal
Look out for Seonaid Aitkin’s (of Rose Room fame) new radio
programme on Sunday at 7pm Sundays first programme will have
a feature on Tommy Smith of SNJO fame
……………………………………………………………..
Garioch Jazz Club Concerts for 2016
26th May Coco `n` The Fellas
So Put These Dates in your Diaries and make sure you don’t
miss any of the concerts.
If you have any favourites you want to see appear at our 2017/ 2018 concerts please let
us know as soon as possible so that we can contact them.
Memberships: £20 for 12 month session starting in September first concert half
price and £1 off subsequent concerts)
Tickets: on the door at £15 (non-members), £12 (members and concessions),
£5(students and juniors).The aim of the Garioch Jazz Club Committee is to ensure
that you the Members and our Visitors enjoy the programmes every month and to
that end we would appreciate any feedback you may have. Please either speak to me
or any members of the committee at the events, or email me personally
[email protected] or drop me a line at Ian Crighton, Oatlands,
Leschangie, Kemnay, Inverurie AB51 5PP 01467642241
Jazz History
Sir George Shearing, OBE (13 August 1919 – 14 February 2011)
Sir George Shearing was a
British jazz pianist who for many
years led a popular jazz group that
recorded for Discovery
Records, MGM
Records and Capitol Records. The
composer of over 300 titles,
including the jazz standard "Lullaby
of Birdland", had multiple albums
on the Billboard charts during the
1950s, 1960s, 1980s and
1990s. He died of heart failure in
New York City, at the age of 91.
Early life
Born in Battersea, London, Shearing 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 Linden Lodge School for the Blind, where he spent four years.
Though he was offered several scholarships, Shearing opted to perform at a local pub, the Mason's Arms
in Lambeth, for "25 bob a week" playing piano and accordion. He joined an all-blind band during that time and
was influenced by the records of Teddy Wilson and Fats Waller. Shearing made his first BBC radio broadcast
during this time after befriending Leonard Feather, with whom he started recording in 1937.
In 1940, Shearing joined Harry Parry's popular band and contributed to the comeback of Stéphane Grappelli.
Shearing won seven consecutive Melody Maker polls during this time. Around that time he was also a member
of George Evans's Saxes 'n' Sevens band.
United States years
In 1947, Shearing emigrated to the United States, where his harmonically complex style mixing swing, bop and
modern classical influences gained popularity. One of his first performances was at the Hickory House. He
performed with the Oscar Pettiford Trio and led a jazz quartet with Buddy DeFranco, which led to contractual
problems, since Shearing was under contract to MGM and DeFranco to Capitol Records.
In 1949, he formed the first George Shearing Quintet, a band with Margie Hyams (vibraphone), Chuck
Wayne (guitar), later replaced by Toots Thielemans (listed as John Tillman), John Levy (bass) and Denzil
Best (drums) and recorded for Discovery, Savoy and MGM, including the immensely popular single
"September in the Rain" (MGM), which sold over 900,000 copies; "my other hit" to accompany "Lullaby of
Birdland". Shearing said of this hit that it was "as accidental as it could be."
Shearing's interest in classical music resulted in some performances with concert orchestras in the 1950s and
1960s, and his solos frequently drew upon the music of Satie, Delius and Debussy for inspiration. He became
known for a piano technique known as "Shearing's voicing", a type of double melody block chord, with an
additional fifth part that doubles the melody an octave lower. (This style is also known as "locked hands" and
the jazz organist Milt Buckner is generally credited with inventing it.
In 1956, Shearing became a naturalized citizen of the United States. He continued to play with his quintet, with
augmented players through the years, and recorded with Capitol until 1969. He created his own label, Sheba,
that lasted a few years. Along with dozens of musical stars of his day, Shearing appeared on ABC's The Pat
Boone Chevy Showroom. Earlier, he had appeared on the same network's reality show, The Comeback Story,
in which he discussed how to cope with blindness.
Later career
In 1970, he began to "phase out his by-now-predictable quintet"[1] and disbanded the group in 1978. One of his
more notable albums during this period was The Reunion, with George Shearing (Verve 1976), made in
collaboration with bassist Andy Simpkins and drummer Rusty Jones, and featuring Stéphane Grappelli, the
musician with whom he had debuted as a sideman decades before. Later, Shearing played with a trio, as a
soloist and increasingly in a duo. Among his collaborations were sets with the Montgomery Brothers, Marian
McPartland, Brian Q. Torff, Jim Hall, Hank Jones and Kenny Davern. In 1979, Shearing signed with Concord
Records, and recorded for the label with Mel Tormé. This collaboration garnered Shearing and Tormé
two Grammys, one in 1983 and another in 1984.
Shearing remained fit and active well into his later years and continued to perform, even after being honoured
with an Ivor Novello Lifetime Achievement Award in 1993. He never forgot his native country 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 Tormé, backed by the BBC Big Band. He was appointed OBE in 1996. 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."
He was the subject of This Is Your Life in 1992 when he was surprised by Michael Aspel.
In 2004, he released his memoirs, Lullaby of Birdland, which was accompanied by a double-album "musical
autobiography", Lullabies of Birdland. Shortly afterwards, however, he suffered a fall at his home and retired
from regular performing.
In 2012 Derek Paravicini and jazz vocalist Frank Holder did a tribute concert to the recordings of Shearing.
Ann Odell transcribed the recordings and taught Paravicini the parts, as well as being the MD for the concerts.
Lady Shearing also endorsed the show, sending a letter to be read out before the Watermill Jazz Club
performance.
Personal life
Shearing was married to Trixie Bayes from 1941 to 1973. Two years after his divorce he married his second
wife, the singer Ellie Geffert, who survived him.
Shearing was a member of the Bohemian Club and often performed at the annual Bohemian
Grove Encampments. He composed music for two of the Grove Plays.
Awards and honors

Performed for U.S. Presidents



Gerald Ford
Jimmy Carter
Ronald Reagan

Performed at Royal Command Performance for Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip.
1975, honorary degree of Doctor of Music from Westminster College, Salt Lake City, Utah.
 1978, Horatio Alger Award for Distinguished Americans.
 Grammys:
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





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1983 – An Evening with George Shearing & Mel Tormé
1984 – Top Drawer
1993, Ivor Novello Award for Lifetime Achievement.
1994, honorary degree of Doctor of Music from Hamilton College in New York.
1996, 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 his "services to
music and Anglo-US relations".
1998, the first American Music Award by the National Arts Club, New York City.
2002, honorary degree of Doctor of Music from DePauw University in Indiana.
2003, "Lifetime Achievement Award" from BBC Jazz Awards.[5]
2007, knighted for services to music.
59 Main Street Alford – CALL US FOR APPOINTMENTS ON 019755 64480