Jazzman George Shearing Dies at 91…

George Shearing, the blind, British jazz composer and pianist, discoverer of Mel Torme and leader of backup quintet to Frank Sinatra, died today in Manhattan at age 91.

From the NY Times yesterday:

The cause was congestive heart failure, said his manager, Dale Sheets. Mr. Shearing had homes in Manhattan and Lee, Mass.

In 1949, just two years after Mr. Shearing immigrated to the United States, his recording of “September in the Rain” became an international hit. Its success established him as a hot property on the jazz nightclub and concert circuit. It established something else as well: the signature sound of the George Shearing Quintet, which was not quite like anything listeners had heard before — or have heard since.

His noted work, “Lullabye of Birdland” is a perennial standard.

Here’s the George Shearing Quintet playing his big hit:

So we’ve lost another musical great in 2011 and it’s just February.

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