by Scott Yanow
After pianist George Shearing's longtime association with Capitol ended in 1969, he formed his own Sheba label and started to gradually de-emphasize his quintet. On the fifth of Sheba's seven LPs , the George Shearing Quintet (with the exception of a specially assembled group gathered for an MPS record in 1974) is heard on records for the final time. The music is typically easy listening with three- to five-minute versions of such songs as &I'll Never Smile Again,& &Over the Rainbow,& &Moonray& and current pop songs &Close to You& and &We've Only Just Begun& among others. With vibraphonist Charlie Shoemake and guitarist Ron Anthony in the group, the Quintet was not without interest, but it was clearly running out of gas.