"This is a great reminder of or introduction to a night out with the great Claire Martin. This new live recording also shows a steady maturing of her emotional range." Daily Telegraph
Produced by Joel Siegel
Claire Martin – vocals
Clair Martin Trio
Gareth Williams – piano
Arnie Somogyi – bass
Clark Tracey – drums
with Special Guests
Martin Taylor – guitar (track 14 duet)
Anthony Kerr – vibes (tracks 5 & 8)
Mark Nightingale – trombone (tracks 4,9 and 12)
Arrangements by Gareth Williams and Claire Martin with thanks to Steve Melling for tracks 5 and 13.
Recorded at Ronnie Scott’s Club, London from 21st - 26th August 1995
Engineer – Chris Lewis
AKD 046 (Linn Records)
HDCD (High Definition Compatible Digital)
Now playing :
| Track | Time | Listen | Writer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01. Offbeat | 02:03 | Play | Gareth Williams, Claire Martin |
| 02. Buy And Sell | 06:00 | Play | Gareth Williams, Claire Martin |
| 03. Come Back To Me | 03:39 | Play | Gareth Williams, Claire Martin |
| 04. I'll Close My Eyes | 06:26 | Play | Gareth Williams, Claire Martin |
| 05. Monk's New Tune | 03:48 | Play | Gareth Williams, Claire Martin |
| 06. I Do It For Your Love | 05:23 | Play | Gareth Williams, Claire Martin |
| 07. Worth The Wait | 04:16 | Play | Gareth Williams, Claire Martin |
| 08. Wishful Thinking | 05:12 | Play | Gareth Williams, Claire Martin |
| 09. Comes Love | 03:55 | Play | Gareth Williams, Claire Martin |
| 10. Would You Believe? | 06:29 | Play | Gareth Williams, Claire Martin |
| 11. Lost In His Arms | 07:04 | Play | Gareth Williams, Claire Martin |
| 12. Something Real | 04:21 | Play | Gareth Williams, Claire Martin |
| 13. Make Sure You're Sure | 05:17 | Play | Gareth Williams, Claire Martin |
| 14. Some Other Time | 04:42 | Play | Gareth Williams, Claire Martin |
A live album direct from Ronnie Scott’s in London, it’s Martin’s only official live LP. Quite fearless in her choice of tracks, Martin wanders from Laura Nyro (Buy & Sell) to Paul Simon (I Do It For Your Love) and Irving Berlin (Lost In His Arms). Supremely confident in her voice and interpretive abilities, Martin tackles the jazz vocal idiom with aplomb.
Although she draws her repertoire from across the whole span of popular music Martin can’t help being a jazz singer. Not only that, she is an improvising artist of great imagination. Her timing is flawless and, as Dave Gelly remarked in reviewing her third album (this is her fourth), she has a soft, husky voice and good intonation and a superb band. It’s a different group in this live recording at Ronnie Scott’s but there’s no reason to change the adjective. Martin shows a great deal of originality. The instrumental qualities in her singing are not in any way mannered and she interprets lyrics with intelligence and feeling. She also allows plenty of room for her pianist Gareth Williams to solo. An old associate, trombonist Mark Nightingale, also solos and the final track Some Other Time has her accompanied by Martin Taylor’s guitar.
It would be interesting to know how, when the sound quality on all the albums I’ve heard on Ronnie Scott’s own label are awful, Linn are able to do so well in the same place.
Caught live at Ronnie Scott’s with her regular sparky trio, plus the odd guest, Claire Martin turns in her customary, absorbing performance, applying her beautifully controlled, pleasantly smoky voice with passion, wit and intelligence to a cleverly chosen batch of songs.
If you’ve already heard of Claire Martin you won’t need urging, but to the unconverted I can only say buy ‘Offbeat’. It’s a great album.
Saturday, 25th February, 2012
8:00pm
Buxton Opera House
Buxton Derbyshire SK17 6XN
Water Street
Four Four Time 2012 The long-running partnership of one of the foremost jazz singers of her generation and the legendary classical and screen composer has played to packed houses and rave reviews in New York, London and elsewhere since 2000. Claire and Richard both share a great love of the American composer and lyricist Irving Berlin, widely considered to be one of the greatest songwriters of all time. Berlin wrote hundreds of songs, many becoming major hits, which made him a legend before he turned thirty. This brand new show, with classy arrangements by Richard, will include such classics as Let’s Face The Music And Dance, How Deep Is The Ocean, What’ll I Do?, Cheek To Cheek and Let Yourself Go, all delivered with the style and panache that you would expect from these two great friends and world-class artists. ‘Style does not go out of style’……
Tuesday, 14th February, 2012 -
Wednesday, 15th February, 2012
8:45pm
The Pizza Express
London
Dean Street Soho
St.Valentine’s ‘love in’ with Claire Martin and her trio. 2 nights of love songs featuring pianist Gareth Williams, Laurence Cottle on bass and Matt Skelton on drums. Requests will be taken and dedications read out!!
Saturday, 11th February, 2012
7:45pm
The LIghts
Andover
West Street Andover Hampshire SP10 1AH
Claire Martin and Ian Shaw for one night only. Not to be missed!
Friday, 3rd February, 2012
8:00pm
Stoneybeck Inn
Penrith
Bowscar, Penrith CA11 8RP
Claire Martin with guitar legends Jim Mullen and Laurence Cottle for an intimate trio evening. This is the venue’s first jazz night, so come along and support it and shake off your Winter blues!
