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Claire Martin
Described by the New York Observer as "talented and hip beyond her years" and acclaimed as "the best ever British jazz singer" in a recent issue of America’s leading jazz publication Jazz Times, Claire Martin was born to sing.
Growing up in a house full of music in Wimbledon, South London, she’d learned all of Judy Garland’s songs by the time she was 12. But it was hearing Ella Fitzgerald’s legendary “Song Books” that changed her life inspiring her to go to Stage School and then to study singing in London and New York. A further seminal moment came at 18 when she saw the great improvising singer Betty Carter at Ronnie Scott’s jazz club. It confirmed what she already felt - she had to be a jazz singer. Like many singers Martin paid her dues and learnt her craft by embarking on the QE2, singing onboard in the Theatre Bar for two years.
Back on dry land and just 21, Martin formed her first quartet (featuring guitar-great Jim Mullen). Her break came when renowned Scottish jazz label Linn Records signed her in 1991, the start of a creative relationship that is still going strong today. Martin’s 1992 debut “The Waiting Game” (Linn AKD 018) scored rave reviews and was chosen as a Times Album of the Year. Martin achieved one of her ambitions later that year, opening for Tony Bennett at the Glasgow International Jazz Festival.
By the mid-nineties Martin had received the Rising Star and Best Vocalist awards at the British Jazz Awards while receiving rave reviews on her American debut with four sell-out shows in Washington DC. Another ambition was fulfilled with the recording of a live album at Ronnie Scott’s in 1995, an album that moved the New York Times to comment "In an era when young jazz singers tend to sound far too much like their idols, there is no mistaking the voice of Claire Martin who combines a cool, burnished tone with the ear of a born musician".
Increasingly popular across the pond, Martin recorded her fifth album "Make This City Ours" (Linn AKD 066) in New York reaching number 1 in the prestigious Gavin Charts and staying there for two weeks - the only European singer to achieve this. Future albums saw Martin collaborate with guitarist/producer Paul Stacey and she even had Noel Gallagher join her on a rendition of the Beatles classic "Help". Later that year she met Paul McCartney and delivered the re-working by hand. Her second album with Stacey featured a duet with cult singer/songwriter John Martyn, who has become a close friend.
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Sarah L King: Fire Horse
by Neil Duggan
Starting her musical path with coaching from Mike King, one of the UK's leading contemporary vocal coaches, Sarah L King (no relation), surfaced as a solo jazz vocalist, releasing an EP of standards and several singles. Her passage was helped by a family heritage consisting of an accomplished jazz trumpeter father and an orchestral conductor grandmother. An early career as a writer and director of short films provided the right impetus to be a compelling musical narrator. King's ...
read moreClaire Martin: Time And Place
by Dan Bilawsky
Few vocalists are as elegant and eloquent as Claire Martin. She's been dubbed “The First Lady of British Jazz," but she doesn't simply belong to her own people; she's one of the crown jewels of the jazz world, contributing classy and intelligent music via her steady flow of albums on the Linn imprint. In the past, Martin has tried plenty of different things. She collaborated with pianist-composer Richard Rodney Bennett, tipped her cap to Shirley Horn, visited ...
read moreClaire Martin: A Modern Art
by Bruce Lindsay
Is jazz still a modern art? It's a hundred years old, after all, and some performers and fans seem to ignore everything written after 1940. But as far as the work of Claire Martin is concerned the question has only one answer. Apart from being one of the finest singers on the current scene, Martin is constantly searching for new writers and new ways to interpret them, ensuring that her own approach to music stays resolutely in the present. A ...
read moreClaire Martin: Improvisation, Inspiration, Imagination
by Katrina-Kasey Wheeler
Since Claire Martin's debut, The Waiting Game (Linn Records, 1992), she has been an instant success. She is hailed by many as the best British singer of the decade, with numerous prestigious awards and over ten albums to her credit. Martin started singing as a teenager and found her calling as a jazz singer early on. Having been influenced by such artists as Shirley Horn, Sheila Jordan, Peggy Lee and Ella Fitzgerald, she has successfully created her own unique sound ...
read moreClaire Martin & Richard Rodney Bennett: When Lights Are Low
by Michael P. Gladstone
I'm happy to report new activity from one of my favorite jazz vocalists, Claire Martin. Her new album is a duo recording with pianist (and vocalist) Richard Rodney Bennett. Despite the fact that Martin has released ten albums and a compilation since 1992, she still needs an introduction to even so-called jazz vocal enthusiasts. The British vocalist has recorded for Linn Records and has placed regularly on “best of" jazz surveys, sometimes within the top ten. She has won Best ...
read moreClaire Martin: Every Now and Then: The Very Best of Claire Martin
by Dave Nathan
Claire Martin has been one of the more outstanding new voices of the 1990's, not only in her native England, but in the US as well. For her eighth album for the British Linn label, Martin has decided to look back by compiling some selections from those previous releases and include some of the better offerings found on her Linn recording resume. It's interesting that while most of the musical agenda is made up of jazz tunes, most of them ...
read moreClaire Martin: Perfect Alibi
by Craig Jolley
One of the best of a strong crop of young British jazz singers, Claire Martin has been on the scene for over ten years. Actually it's not clear she is a jazz singer, but that's another discussion. One thing that makes sense is her repertoire. She used to sing show tunes from the '30s and '40s and probably still does occasionally, but lately she's been recording the better pop songs of the last forty years (the Beatles and after). She ...
read moreJazz FM Launches New Supper Club - The Bloomsbury Set
Source:
Michael Ricci
The Bloomsbury Set is a terrific initiative - bringing top class jazz artists exposure, outside traditional venues and re-inventing the tradition of wonderful entertainment in London's hotels Created by Jazz FM and Radisson Edwardian Hotels, The Bloomsbury Set is to be re-born as a series of intimate evenings of fine dining and world-class jazz in the glamorous surroundings of the exclusive Radisson Edwardian Bloomsbury Street Hotel. The inaugural Bloomsbury Set evening, will take place on March 27 and features one ...
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Claire Martin Styles Sly Cy Coleman Songs Blas to Brokenhearted
Source:
Michael Ricci
What goes on the road, stays on the road, is how the English jazz singer Claire Martin described When in Rome (I Do as the Romans Do), one of 15 songs with music by Cy Coleman at Tuesdays opening night performance of Witchcraft, her show with Richard Rodney Bennett at the Oak Room of the Algonquin Hotel. When in Rome has lyrics by Carolyn Leigh, Colemans greatest collaborator and the only major American lyricist whose bon mots consistently match Cole ...
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Music Hits Streets in Marsden Jazz Festival
Source:
All About Jazz
Marsden was in full swing at the weekend as it hosted its annual Jazz Festival. Thousands of music lovers descended on the village as many of its venues played host to some of the best jazz and blues artists in the business. Over 60 events, featuring both big names and up-and-coming artists, were staged over the weekend, most of which were free. The music extravaganza, now in its 17th year, kicked off in style on the Friday night with a ...
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Vocalist Claire Martin Interviewed at AAJ
Source:
All About Jazz
Since Claire Martin's debut, The Waiting Game (Linn Records, 1992), she has been an instant success. She is hailed by many as the best British singer of the decade, with numerous prestigious awards and over ten albums to her credit. Martin started singing as a teenager and found her calling as a jazz singer early on. Having been influenced by such artists as Shirley Horn, Sheila Jordan, Peggy Lee and Ella Fitzgerald, she has successfully created her own unique sound ...
read more
Linn Records Announce New Claire Martin and Richard Rodney Bennett Album
Source:
All About Jazz
Linn Records are delighted to announce the release of CLAIRE MARTIN and RICHARD RODNEY BENNETT When Lights Are Low Linn AKD 260: Hybrid Super Audio multichannel CD Produced by Richard Cottle Release date, Monday September 5th, 2005
Tracklisting: • My One And Only • I Was a Little Too Lonely • My Mood Is You • World Weary • When Lights Are Low • Fools Fall In Love ...
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Fleur Stevenson
vocalsPhotos
Music
Black Dog
From: Fire HorseBy Claire Martin
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Claire Martin
Instrument: Vocals
Born: September 6, 1967
