George Shearing answers the question of whether he was difficult to please musically as a young

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George Shearing discusses his quintet sound

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George Shearing discusses the influence of classical music on his work

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Q: “Were you as a young man very hard to please musically?”

A: “No, I didn't think so. When I was sixteen, I'd play any of the pop tunes of the day and then I went through my bebop period and I went through many periods of imitation. You know, Fats Waller, Art Tatum, that stuff. I found that, although I have met many American musicians during the war and they all said, as if in unison, "Man, you should go to the States. You'd kill them." You know, well, I expected to lay everybody out. I came down here and while people were pleased with what I was playing, one agent said, "What else can he do?" Another one said, "Yeah, I wish I could play like that. Why don't you go back and build yourself into a $10,000-a-week act and come over here and we'll handle you." Well, you know, you never realize it until later on until you do make a mark what the situation was. In this situation, it was very simple, why should they settle for carbon copies over here when they have the original? And what is going to be your means of identity for the rest of your life? So you know, that's what happened, you see, until the quintet.”