Jazz piano legend George Shearing, who was born blind in inner-city London and had only four years of formal musical training, sold hundreds of thousands of records in the 1950s and has garnered multiple Grammy Awards. The jazz standard “Lullaby of Birdland” is just one of over 300 compositions written by Shearing, all of which are easily recognized by trained ears for their signature “impressionistic, elegant, innovative” sound. Above, classic footage of the George Shearing Quintet playing “Swedish Pastry.”

This summer, pianist Fred Hersch and vocalist Freddy Cole will join artistic director Bill Charlap and many others for a Jazz in July tribute to George Shearing. Subscriptions are now on sale and single tickets go on sale this Thursday along with the rest of our summer season.