Post #368991 by tiki mick on Mon, Mar 24, 2008 4:08 PM

On 2008-03-23 18:40, DJ Terence Gunn wrote:
Along with Cal Tjader, George Shearing is inarguably THE pioneer of the 'cocktail jazz/cool jazz' sound -- a sound and genre that has always been much maligned in the jazz (snob) community. (I don't even think George would like his music referred to as 'cocktail music'.) And Mr. Shearing was British and blind. How's that for interesting? The Exotica genre borrows/owes more to George Shearing (and Cal Tjader) than to Ravel and Les Baxter. In fact, when Martin Denny started out playing clubs in Hawaii he did George Shearing covers -- or, at least, played songs in a George Shearing style. Strip away the bird calls in Denny's version of 'Quiet Village' and what do you have? George Shearing.

You know, that is so true. I was listening to my album and thinking to myself the same thing. It has that Martin Denny sound, in the debussy/ravel style type chords, the "cocktail" factor and mainly the instrumentation. The vibes have a big part of it, but the overall understated moodiness of the chords, and tonal swanky "effect" it employs also remind me of some of the darker stuff Martin Denny did. I also enjoy the typical "cocktail" effect of the piano, in the use of widely spaced octave chords. I utilize that particular tonal device in a lot of my own recordings. I feel it really stereotypes the "Lounge Piano" sound, and I love it!

Then, anything with Billy May is going to be well done. In most respects, I favor all the recordings made during the 50's and 60's that featured lush string sections and creative arrangements capable of getting that "sugary" and "sweet" sound.

Now, what is the earliest time he started crafting this sound? Was it about the same time as Denny?