Shearing In Hi Fi

Drume Negrita

Shearing In Hi Fi
The George Shearing Quintet
MGM Records E3293
1955

George Shearing - Piano

Al McKibbon - Bass

Cal Tjader - Vibes

Jean Thielemans - Guitar

Bill Clark - Drums

From the back cover: The amazing progress of audio development both during World War II and the years since has thrown a sharp accent upon recording and reproducing equipment. In this day and age, it is not only possible to produce (and reproduce) a recording in such a way as to recreate with astonishing accuracy the actual sounds one hears from instruments and orchestras in real life, but also in a way to idealize that sound, to bring it into sharper focus, to adjust delicate balances in such a manner that all sections come through in a way never quite possible ideally within the "live" listening experience itself. The result is the whole new field (if "field" is in any way an apt term) of "Hi-Fi." An exciting field – and one which has captivated the imagination of America and Americans!

One of the most exciting areas of survey for newly-developed microphones and tape machines and the exquisitely-perfect reproducing equipment of today is white hot (or, if you prefer the modern terminology, white cool) jazz. The vital, exciting, improvisatory accents of modern jazz hold almost accidental horizons of new sounds. Jazzmasters today range all over the musical map. The most advanced harmonies and performing techniques are theirs, they experiment with the application of classical forms, they approach their scoring with ideas daring even to the most advanced of "serious" modern composers. Little new music today seems as exciting in impulse as modern jazz. What better area of music could be found for the application of "hi-fi" techniques than here?

One of the most thoughtful jazz-men of our day is the inimitable George Shearing. George's tastes are catholic to the extreme, ranging from Bachian forms to Schoenbergian chromaticism and harmony. The whole mainstream of western musical history (and some primitive cultures) has been absorbed into his style and technique. The chameleon Mr. Shearing applies stimulating musical – and sonic – ideas to each new composition which comes his way with the "busyness" of a cloud-filled sky meeting with lighting disturbance banks. And, the result generally is just as electrifying!

His teeming ideas flow with natural ease, are skittishly changeable, are myriad in novel devices. Over all is applied the smooth requirements of what has become known to the jazz fans of America and the world at large as "The Shearing Sound," a liquid, polished blending of instruments – normally piano, bass, vibes, guitar and drums – in a remarkable personalized, yet universally satisfying, manner. Shearing is the engineer's and the hi-fi fan's delight, for his is a mind and his a quintet which place an accent upon inventive sound. To be sure, there is a near-standard Shearing trade-mark in the whispering metal brushes on cymbals, the frequent unison voicing of the melodic instruments of the grouping, the close-knit rhythmic interplay. But, after that, anything is liable to happen – and does! The basic problems of capturing the essential Shearing sound in recording is difficult enough – but add the stroke-of-genius bits of improvisatory magic and you have problems of a much more demanding variety. We think all of the technical problems have been solved admirably in this collection of some of George's greatest recordings, waxings great on both a musical and an engineering level, waxings which truly represent "Shearing In Hi Fi!"

Stranger In Paradise

Love Is Just Around The Corner

Point And Counter Point

Spring Is Here

Hallelujah!

Ill Wind

A Sinner Kissed An Angel

Basso Profundo

Get Off My Bach

Body And Soul

Minor Trouble 

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