George Shearing, 91, the virtuosic jazz pianist who wrote the standard "Lullaby of Birdland," died of cardiac arrest today in New York.
Shearing, who was blind since birth, launched his career in his native England before moving to the U.S. after World War II and becoming one of the most successful and enduring jazz musicians of his generation.
On the Ivories, he was capable of many different styles, from dynamic bebop to a quiet but insistent swing. He played with larger groups but attracted his greatest attention for an excellent quintet he fronted for decades. The quintet had such hits as "September in the Rain" and "Lullaby of Birdland," the second of which he wrote in 1952 and named after the celebrated New York jazz club.
from WaPo - http://voices.washingtonpost.com/pos...-pianist-c.htm
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