Claire Martin

Among British jazz singers, Claire Martin has occupied a self-defined middle ground – without surrendering to traditional delivery of the Great American Songbook, but also without investigating the more idiomatically and technically unorthodox territories traversed by Norma Winstone. Martin is, however, a superbly-equipped orthodox jazz singer with a refreshing absence or mannerisms, a knack for sidestepping sentimentality and a jazz instrumentalist’s inventiveness and swing. This is her most ambitious disc, even though the Songbook style dominates it, the jazz arrangements really fizz. Pianist Gareth Williams delivers storming solos throughout, and though you may not care for Rodney Bennett’s diaphanously romantic strings on When I Fall In Love, Martin’s depp purr on it must be one of the song’s best-ever interpretations. Conventional material maybe, but skilfully and intelligently reworked.

To be original without sounding outlandish or just plain dotty is a difficult trick to bring off, especially for singers but Claire Martin has always managed it with grace and poise. Part of the secret lies in the trust she places in the musicians, and in the mutual inspiration that flows from it. Her occasional pas de deux with saxophonist Nigel Hitchcock provide some of the best moments here. The 13 songs range from Leonard Bernstein to Joni Mitchell and include a couple if specially written pieces by Joel Siegel and Geoff Keezer. Two songs have beautifully unsentimental string arrangements by Sir Richard Rodney Bennett.

Lounge Lizard Music. The images conjured by this CD are of smoky night-clubs with tireless the modern jazz combo struggling away in the corner to make itself heard above the hubbub of society dahlings with foot-long ivory cigarette holders and scarlet elbow-length satin gloves shrieking to each other from table to table…Suddenly – all is hushed as a blond bombshell in a slinky tight black off-the-shoulder number by Versace oozes onto the platform and starts to croon. The blond is Claire Martin – the crooning is silky smooth and superbly sexy. And before long the assembled rabble is enraptured by the quality of the band too.

This album consists of 13 standards of the modern jazz age and is kicked off with ‘Something’s Coming’ from West Side Story, a great choice for grabbing the attention. Other well-known favourites include ‘The Gentleman is a Dope,’ ‘When I Fall in Love,’ ‘These Foolish Things’ and the title track ‘Too Darn Hot.’ Claire is so well-regarded that she is able to call on really great instrumentalists of the ilk of Clark Tracey on drums, Gareth Williams, piano and the magnificent Nigel Hitchcock on saxaphones. There is welcome variation when she calls on The Tapestry String Quartet for further back-up. And to top all this she has the services of Richard Cottle and Richard Rodney Bennett among others in helping with the stunning arrangements.

Now, I’ll be straight with you. I can generally only take Jazz Singers in very small doses. Name certain well-known exponents of this ‘art’ and it’ ll have me reaching for a bucket straight away. So. It’s with a certain degree of surprise that I recommend this CD without hesitation – it’ll be just the ticket for that late night relaxation or background to a dinner party. Best of all, I’ll put it on my multi-disc changer and play on random so that, every now and then, up will pop that touch of class that is Claire Martin with one of her sleazy renditions and I’ll swoon! Real Cool, Man.

Claire Martin Live at The Old Market, Brighton UK 26 April 03
It’s no surprise The Old Market was sold out for this gig – Claire Martin is widely recognised as the best British jazz singer of her generation and she has five British Jazz Awards (including Best Jazz Singer and Best Vocalist) to back it up. She has established a substantial following over the past 15 or so years and counts such high-profile figures as Tony Bennett and the late Stephane Grappelli among her fans. Martin’s performance on Saturday night lived up to her formidable reputation – that wonderful smoky voice combined with the effortless stage presence that comes only from many years of experience (her professional singing career began at the age of 16 and she was 21 when she first performed at Ronnie Scott’s). The band (sax, piano, double bass, drums) were superb, with special mention going to long time Martin collaborator Gareth Williams, who proved himself not only a hugely talented pianist, but an excellent guitarist too.

As soon as I heard the saxophone burst that powers the opening of Something’s Coming (from West Side Story), I knew this disc was something very special, and not just another rehashing of tired old standards given quirky treatments by some new upstart trying to make a name for herself. The tune swings hard – during the instrumental break during the bridge, it’s almost impossible to resist the urge to get up and dance! The brashness, confidence and total control that Claire Martin exudes suits the song perfectly – it’s still faithful to the Bernstein/Sondheim tradition, but she sings it like she owns it!

The tracks here are an eclectic mix, ranging from the familiar to the obscure, with well- and lesser-known songs from Broadway and Tin Pan Alley, along with jazz standards; even covers of tunes made popular by artists as diverse as Buddy Holly to Nat King Cole and Joni Mitchell, with a few originals thrown in for good measure. The clever arrangements the songs are given only serve to add to your enjoyment, and elevate them far beyond the usual fare. When this album swings, as is often the case, it swings hard – due in no small part to the snappy piano playing of Gareth Williams and the excellent rhythm section featuring bassist Geoff Gascoyne and drummer Clark Tracey, who anchor most of the tracks. And Claire Martin’s voice – oh, what a voice! From sweet, to sassy and sultry – when she tells you its too darn hot, you feel the temperature rise.

There are tender moments – who would have expected a cover of the old Buddy Holly tune It’s Raining In My Heart? Richard Rodney Bennett, whose jazz credentials make him the perfect arranger, gives it a string quartet treatment that’s sheer perfection. He offers a similarly sympathetic arrangement on the chestnut When I Fall In Love, that, along with Gareth Williams achingly beautiful piano solo and Claire Martin’s heartfelt vocal, lifts the song above the more maudlin treatment it’s often given. These Foolish Things, another song most often associated with Nat King Cole, is given a snappy – rather than the more commonly – sappy arrangement, and bassist Gascoyne and drummer Tracey each take several nice bars during the bridge.

The album’s centerpiece and blockbuster is the old standard Black Coffee, but Ms. Martin is not content to sit around and bemoan her sad predicament ala Peggy Lee or Ella Fitzgerald – she’s been done wrong by her man, and she lets you know it in no uncertain terms! Richard Cottle gets a nice turn on Hammond B-3, along with some excellent tenor sax work by Nigel Hitchcock. An absolute knockout, this tune alone is worth the price of admission of this superb disc.

Sonically, this disc is nothing short of stunning – the surround mix is just splendid, with all the instruments spread nicely in an arc across the soundstage from front to sides. The individual instruments have a very palpable realism, but the real star here is Claire Martin’s voice, which is mixed perfectly between front and center channels – the illusion is uncanny, and her voice just seems to float in space in front of you, such that you’d swear she was in the room with you – it’s the most realistic center channel presentation I’ve heard yet, and easily betters any of the hundreds of SACDs in my current collection. The album isn’t entirely acoustic, either – electric bass and piano (and the aforementioned Hammond B-3) are used on a few songs, and there’s obviously some judicious use of reverb (mostly noticeable on the opening track) – everything is tastefully incorporated into the final mix. There isn’t much in the way of source information for the tapes, but with a reference-quality disc such as this one, that doesn’t even need to be a consideration. Very, very highly recommended!

Claire Martin’s ninth album for Linn, and a revisit to the standards book in the company of a superb British band including saxophonist Nigel Hitchcock, pianist Gareth Williams, guitarist Phil Robeson and drummer Clark Tracey – with guest appearances from American pianist Geoff Keezer, and a string quartet on two tracks. Claire Martin has been a class act for years, and her wit, relaxation and inventive choices of materials are rivalled only by her musicality and instrumentalist’s jazz awareness. Cole Porter’s title track appears alongside West Side Story’s ‘Somethin’s Coming’, ‘When I Fall In Love’ gets a typically candid yet tender remake, and old sidekick Ian Shaw appears for a duet on the finale, Joni Mitchell’s Blue Motel Room

Martin’s ninth CD for Linn Records finds her successfully balancing a desire for accessibility with her more usual pursuits, looking for likely material in unlikely places. This time we don’t get Tom Waits or Stevie Wonder, but we do get a bright and soulful new treatment of an old Buddy Holly hit, ‘Raining In My Heart’ , a humorously teasing and intense complaint about the weather on ‘Too Darn Hot’ , a song rarely looked at by other singers since Ella’s version decades back, and a successful attempt to steal into Peggy Lee territory on her own terms with ‘Black Coffee’ . She has chosen her accompanying musicians carefully and well and manages to find worthwhile things for them to do, both in terms of arrangements and in moew improvised contexts. The focus is well and truly on the singer – thus making it radio friendly in a way many jazz singers’ records are not, where the piano solo, sax solo or bass solo unaccountably interrupts an otherwise flawless reworking of a well-loved standard – and Martin easily has the ability to thrive under such scrutiny. Her voice is darker and more persuasive than on previous records, which is a positive development. All in all, a welcome return by the singer after a lengthy break from the recording studio.

New chick singers are everywhere at the moment. Curiously bland warblers, most can’t hold a melody without professional assistance, but all still seem to rate themselves in the same class as Billie, Ella, Peggy and sliced bread.

Claire Martin has nothing to fear from these fantasists. Constantly honing her tone and phrasing, she’s always had talent, personality and a refreshingly slick approach. Slickness may be a despised quality in certain jazz circles, where rough edges are regarded as a sure sign of talent, but in the business world, where time is money, and sales spell success, it’s very desirable.

This mixture of ballads, blues and swingers is Claire’s most professional effort yet. Tricky numbers like Noir, the title track and The Gentleman is a Dope are sung with pizzazz, enhanced by a classy supporting cast that deatures appropriatley dazzling soloists like saxophonist Nigel Hitchcock and pianist Gareth Williams, plus guest vocalist Ian Shaw and an occasional string section. The bonus track, a playful ‘Take Six’ pastiche with Shaw, doesn’t quite come off, but this is a well-crafted and glossy production.

This new Hybrid Super Audio CD release will play in your current CD player with an added bonus of HDCD encoding on the CD layer of the disc. The sound quality on both the Super Audio CD layer and the HDCD layer is absolutely superb.

Those killer looks of this incredible jazz artist Claire Martin are bound to attract some attention – but her voice! In the ranks of current female jazz artists she certainly rates as one of the very best. Her delightful tuneful and easy flowing vocals seem to enrich every note.

The popular track Raining In My Heart is a stunning example of Claire’s jazz vocal styles, and the track Black Coffee is another jaw dropper that is bound to stir your emotions. It has exceptionally deep and well extended bass while Claire’s superb vocals want for nothing. This album is one classy jazz vocal release that will be hard to beat.

This came out two years ago but now makes its debut as a SACD multichannel release. the additional clarity gained by the extra separation is admirable and the mix is also aimed at separation between instruments. This being a Linn release, with their emphasis on aural quality, you would expect such things. The careful attention to a wide and detailed span of sound throughout all the surround speakers means that you do really feel that you’re sitting either in the middle of the group or next to the band in a night club. From that point of view this an ideal release – it’s difficult to conceive of a more advantageous setting for the music Martin and her cohorts deliver. There are one or two rough edges exposed by this heightened clarity, though – a sudden pull-back on the faders when the piano finishes its solo and has to sit back in the group, and things like that – which would never happen live with acoustic music such as this (it happens all the time with amplified bands, of course, where the guy at the sound desk is king for a night). So if you’re a Claire Martin fan and have the gear, this is the ultimate listening experience for “Too Darn Hot”

As good as modern and timeless jazz classics from Bernstein to Cole Porter can still sound today. As far as her voice is concerned, Claire Martin tends in the direction of Ella, squeaky clean and hitting every note, and on Something’s Coming her voice projects a dazzling freshness and youthfulness, which beguiles. When Miss Martin gets going with The Gentleman Is a Dope, there is no need for any other drugs! Her strikingly good lineup is ever present: be it the trio or the quartet lineup or even the string quartet, especially the background musicians are fantastic technically and are allowed to demonstrate that in incisive solos. With an extra helping of charm and charisma, It’s Raining in My Heart presents itself unusually seductive over a soft string backing. Suddenly a dark timbre note insinuates itself into her voice, which streams from the speakers in a silky, not to say erotic, manner. The singer demonstrates the adaptability of a chameleon from one number to the next, which you would not expect from listening to the first piece. My highlight: the title song Too Darn Hot. A genius bass pizzicato, a lascivious Claire Martin, then the hammond organ kicking in — fantastic! A few singers would do well to take a leaf out of her book — the necessary maturity is indispensible for such a number. The cooperation between Linn and Martin has been lasting for 15 years now. And the success of this is evident not only from her numerous awards for best singer at the British Jazz Awards but also from a total of eleven records. Once again, Linn sets the bar with this release: background noise and cracks were yesterday, today is all about a distraction-free listening experience. Claire Martin: sweet temptation or just simply hot?
Too Darn Hot — devilishly hot!