Lullaby of Birdland George Shearing / Arr. Bjorn Morten Kjaernes

Serie / Series: Flex 5 ShowBlow

George Shearing wrote "Lullaby of Birdland" in 1952 for Morris Levy, the owner of the New York jazz club Birdland. Levy had got in touch with Shearing and explained that he'd started a regular Birdland-sponsored disk jockey show, and he wanted Shearing to record a theme which were "to be played on the start of every new hour" Levy originally wanted his own music to be recorded, but Shearing insisted he couldn't relate very well with it and wanted to compose his own music. They compromised by distributing the rights of the song; the composer's rights went to Shearing, and the publishing rights went to Levy.

Shearing stated in his autobiography that he had composed "the whole thing within ten minutes." Jean Constantin composed the lyrics to a French version, "Lola ou La légende du pays aux oiseaux".

Musical characteristics
"Lullaby of Birdland" is in thirty-two bar form, and its original key was F minor (or A? major). This arrangement is lifted to G minor, for the chords not to become too dissonant in the deeper voices. The song spends an equal amount of time in both minor and major modes. It follows a I vi ii7 V7 harmonic progression, and it has a I viø7 iiø7 V7 minor variation.

[NO]George Shearing skrev "Lullaby of Birdland" i 1952 for Morris Levy, eieren av New York jazzklubben Birdland. Levy hadde kommet i kontakt med Shearing og forklarte at han hadde startet et Birdland-sponset diskjockey show, og han ønsket at Shearing skulle spille inn et tema som skulle "spilles ved hver ny time." Levy ønsket opprinnelig at hans egen musikk skulle bli spilt inn, men Shearing insisterte på at han ønsket å komponere sin egen musikk. De inngikk et kompromiss ved å fordele sangens rettigheter; Komponistens rettigheter gikk til Shearing, og forlagsrettene gikk til Levy.

Shearing uttalte i sin selvbiografi at han hadde skrevet "hele tingen i løpet av ti minutter." Jean Constantin komponerte teksten til en fransk versjon, "Lola ou La legende du pays aux oiseaux".

Musikalsk form
"Lullaby of Birdland" er i trettifire takts form, og den opprinnelige tonearten var F moll (eller A ? dur). Dette arret er løftet en tone (G moll) for at akkordene ikke skal bli for dissonante i de dypere stemmer. Melodien bruker like mye tid i både moll og dur. Den følger en harmonisk progresjon i - vi - ii7 - V7, og den har en i - viø7 - iiø7 - V7 variasjon i moll.

Aufnahme / Recording:Blue Sky Swing - Demo Tracks 2019-2020
Flex 5 ShowBlowGeorge Shearing wrote 'Lullaby of Birdland' in 1952 for Morris Levy, the owner of the New York jazz club Birdland. Levy had got in touch with Shearing and explained that he'd started a regular Birdland-sponsored disk jockey show, and he wanted Shearing to record a theme which were 'to be played on the start of every new hour' Levy originally wanted his own music to be recorded, but Shearing insisted he couldn't relate very well with it and wanted to compose his own music. They compromised by distributing the rights of the song; the composer's rights went to Shearing, and the publishing rights went to Levy.

Shearing stated in his autobiography that he had composed 'the whole thing within ten minutes.' Jean Constantin composed the lyrics to a French version, 'Lola ou La légende du pays aux oiseaux'.

Musical characteristics
'Lullaby of Birdland' is in thirty-two bar form, and its original key was F minor (or A? major). This arrangement is lifted to G minor, for the chords not to become too dissonant in the deeper voices. The song spends an equal amount of time in both minor and major modes. It follows a I vi ii7 V7 harmonic progression, and it has a I viø7 iiø7 V7 minor variation.

All available parts included in set