Claire Martin

For bracing jazz and potable musical phrasing, run don’t walk to the Algonquin this week for a lesson in great singing from the British sensation Claire Martin. Her appearances in New York are rare. Don’t even think about missing this one. The focus is on the dapper, sophisticated songs of the late Cy Coleman and his astutely seasoned lady lyricists-Peggy Lee, Carolyn Lee and Dorothy Fields. A few guys made the grade, too. A highlight is “With Every Breath I Take,” with David Zippel’s haunting lyrics, from the Broadway score of City of Angels. And it doesn’t get any better than Cy’s collaboration with Joseph McCarthy (the songwriter, not the satanic senator) on “I’m Gonna Laugh You Right Out of My Life,” a song for all seasons and all people, regardless of age, who have a little life experience under their belts. Ms. Martin sings them all, both solo and with her veteran accompanist Richard Rodney Bennett, until you don’t think you ever want to hear them any other way.

Instead of projecting her throaty voice into the mike, this splendid and rarefied stylist seems to coax every breath from inside the mike into the amplified open air. Surprise is the key element in her singing, even on raucous hip-grinders like “Nobody Does It Like Me” from Seesaw. Composed and unruffled even by Mr. Bennett’s most challenging tempo changes, she’s a vision as well as a musical prodigy. A cross between Michelle Pfeiffer and Virginia Madsen, she’s so beautiful, focused and expressive that you can’t take your eyes off her, even when she’s not singing at all. She can cut words in half an octave apart, like Annie Ross, stretch vowels dreamily or turn plosives into three syllables depending on her mood. Nothing comes out exactly as expected, whether she’s milking the nasty nectar from “When in Rome” or breaking your heart on the falsely cynical “Would You Believe?” (Would you believe I don’t give a damn?/ Well, you’re as big a fool as I am”). In addition to sending chills down a listener’s spine as one of the most original and hypnotic singers I have come across in years, she is a tremendous actress. An ace composer of classical music, jazz tunes and Oscar-nominated movie scores, Mr. Bennett is an agile partner, crooning rustily as dry as a martini, playing nimble chords and savoring songs like best friends. Unfortunately, he sings some of them in a voice that is often barely audible, and something alarming is happening to his enunciation. Still, he’s a literate and supportive piano-bench diva who can always be counted on to unveil a few songs that are welcome strangers. Intimacy is his forte, best exemplified when the two artists stray from the Cy Coleman canon at the end to brilliantly conjure a witchcraft of their own on “The Very Thought of You” and “I Thought About You.” For cosmopolitan tastes, this wise and cultivated engagement is altogether satisfying, heavenly and fulfilling. After so many cabaret acts, I leave feeling cheated. But with Claire Martin and Richard Rodney Bennett, the rewards are bountiful.

Claire Martin is one of the best jazz interpreters around. She hails from foggy London town settling into The Oak Room to collaborate with (Sir) Richard Rodney Bennett, pianist extraordinaire. “Witchcraft” concentrates on Cy Coleman’s early pop songs in the first half of the show and Ms. Martin obliges that “The Best Is Yet To Come.” She sings organically, creating riffs, hills and valleys on the erudite Coleman melodies. She has that I’ve been around look, creating an impression of nonchalant wisdom. She doesn’t rely upon fancy dress and glitter because she only needs one thing: her smoky jazzy colorations.

Cy Coleman collaborated with a variety of lyricists but his liaison with Carolyn Leigh produced much of the intimate banter for which they are celebrated such as “Rules of the Road” that Ms. Martin sang, Blossom Dearie style, showing off a subtle, amusing personality. A Carmen MacRae fan, the sad “Would You Believe” (lyric:James Lipton) presented prowess as a storyteller as she wailed “you’re a big fool as I am.”. Martin’s exterior easy style gave way on ballad “I’m Gonna Laugh You Right Out of My Life” (lyrics: Joseph Allan McCarthy) with quivering phrasing emphasizing the impact of the lyric she loves so well.

“Nobody Does It Like Me” (lyricist:Dorothy Fields), admittedly not in Martin’s jazz comfort zone, was given a humorous version, squeezing out each nuance of lyric and some new ones.

“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 Tuesday’s opening night performance of “Witchcraft,” her show with Richard Rodney Bennett at the Oak Room of the Algonquin Hotel, New York City.
“When in Rome” has lyrics by Carolyn Leigh, Coleman’s greatest collaborator and the only major American lyricist whose bon mots consistently match Cole Porter’s in capturing an attitude of jaded sophistication fraught with heartbreak. The more pain is exposed, the sharper the wit that covers it up.

Ms. Martin, who resembles a younger Jodie Foster, looks and sounds every bit the part of a well-traveled, emotionally vulnerable sybarite who might have spent a season accompanying the Rolling Stones on a world tour. “The Rules of the Road,” another jaundiced Coleman/Leigh evocation of the erotic life, mentions “tricks of the trade” and concludes: “So love is a hoax/A glittering stream/Of little white lies.” That realization, however, doesn’t diminish the temptation to keep on playing the game.

The show concentrates on Coleman’s early work, in which his elaborately syncopated melodies (“Witchcraft” and “The Best Is Yet to Come” are the most famous) and the sly, insinuating lyrics by Ms. Leigh and others constitute high-style songwriting repartee. And Ms. Martin’s subtle, beautifully acted interpretations give them their due.

Her blasé up-for-anything attitude began to melt with her rendition of “I’m Gonna Laugh You Right Out of My Life.” An early Coleman ballad with lyrics by Joseph Allan McCarthy, the song is associated with two of Ms. Martin’s greatest influences, Shirley Horn and Carmen McRae. When Ms. Martin’s shell cracked and raw emotion leaked out, she conveyed the downside of pleasure in shivering little phrases and a piercing emphasis on the words “beautiful joke.”

Mr. Bennett, a celebrated classical and film composer with a long history of accompanying pop and jazz singers, is a shadow vocal presence as well as the show’s pianist. A sensitive, truly intimate collaborator, he occasionally took the lead to sing in a slightly slurred husky murmur. The two voices melded in a final medley of non-Coleman standards, “The Very Thought of You” and “I Thought About You,” in which they answered one other in a reverberating train of reflection.

“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 Tuesday’s 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, Coleman’s greatest collaborator and the only major American lyricist whose bon mots consistently match Cole Porter’s in capturing an attitude of jaded sophistication fraught with heartbreak. The more pain is exposed, the sharper the wit that covers it up.

Ms. Martin, who resembles a younger Jodie Foster, looks and sounds every bit the part of a well-traveled, emotionally vulnerable sybarite who might have spent a season accompanying the Rolling Stones on a world tour. “The Rules of the Road,” another jaundiced Coleman/Leigh evocation of the erotic life, mentions “tricks of the trade” and concludes: “So love is a hoax/A glittering stream/Of little white lies.” That realization, however, doesn’t diminish the temptation to keep on playing the game.

The show concentrates on Coleman’s early work, in which his elaborately syncopated melodies (“Witchcraft” and “The Best Is Yet to Come” are the most famous) and the sly, insinuating lyrics by Ms. Leigh and others constitute high-style songwriting repartee. And Ms. Martin’s subtle, beautifully acted interpretations give them their due.

Her blasé up-for-anything attitude began to melt with her rendition of “I’m Gonna Laugh You Right Out of My Life.” An early Coleman ballad with lyrics by Joseph Allan McCarthy, the song is associated with two of Ms. Martin’s greatest influences, Shirley Horn and Carmen McRae. When Ms. Martin’s shell cracked and raw emotion leaked out, she conveyed the downside of pleasure in shivering little phrases and a piercing emphasis on the words “beautiful joke.”

Mr. Bennett, a celebrated classical and film composer with a long history of accompanying pop and jazz singers, is a shadow vocal presence as well as the show’s pianist. A sensitive, truly intimate collaborator, he occasionally took the lead to sing in a slightly slurred husky murmur. The two voices melded in a final medley of non-Coleman standards, “The Very Thought of You” and “I Thought About You,” in which they answered one other in a reverberating train of reflection.

There was more of a meeting of minds at Pizza on the Park in the residency of Claire Martin and Richard Rodney Bennett – another composer with a penchant for jazz and classy pop. Relaxed and intimate, this was much more like listening to two old friends reminiscing in song. In a freewheeling set devoted to the music of Cy Coleman, they ambled through some lesser-known material and found time to pay homage to the late Blossom Dearie, another of Manhattan’s musical landmarks.

Martin’s smoky voice has grown ever more assured over the years. Bennett, on the other hand, may not be a natural vocalist, but his semi-spoken delivery captures the streetwise charm of the lyrics, while his piano playing possesses a rich, bluesy flavour. He wears a dinner jacket, she wears jeans; together they make a stylish combination.

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 Vocalist honors in the British Jazz Awards several times.
Although Martin usually performs with a full group (including a rhythm section), this album is prepared for a cabaret-type performance, which indeed occurred in September, 2005 in Greenwich Village. In a rare New York appearance, the singer was accompanied by Bennett, who also provided all of the arrangements.
Claire Martin is clearly a musical offspring of the 1950s cool vocal style of jazz. Her recordings indicate less of an aggressive style and more the influence of my own two personal benchmarks of the era, Chris Connor and June Christy. The pieces selected for this album are indeed cabaret-oriented and consist of tunes that are not readily identifiable from previous recordings. Listeners who’ve got to know what they’re listening to may be disappointed, but not with the delivery and execution. Those folks would be best off with vocal duet numbers (eg. When Lights Are Low, The Very Thought Of You, We’ll Be Together Again) for more familiarity.
On his vocals, Richard Rodney Bennett visits the Nat King Cole Trio songbook (I Was A Little Lonely, I Keep Going Back to Joe’s) and others, while Martin is content to dazzle with songs like My Mood is You, What I Was Warned About, World Weary and a super version of Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home.
Welcome back!

A New Yorker by adoption, Richard Rodney Bennett used to come to town in the company of the sublime Mary Cleere Haran, one of the most immaculate cabaret singers Manhattan has seen in years. Although their partnership is no more, the good news is that Bennett has found a first-rate replacement in our own Claire Martin, a performer more rooted in jazz but blessed with an undeniable gift for unadorned storytelling.
Martin needs no introduction at this stage in her career. Over the past decade she has established herself as the most intelligent and assured singer in the country. All the same, the opportunity to hear her in this pared-down setting is not to be missed. If some of the arrangements on her last album, “Secret Love”, failed to do her justice, Bennett’s piano playing generates endless surprises. The result is an urbane but sprightly conversation between two artists at the top of their form.
Their new recording, “When Lights Are Low”, places the emphasis on standards, the jaunty My One and Only casting a nostalgic glance in the direction of Ella Fitzgerald’s classic Gershwin collaboration with the fastidious Ellis Larkins. Baby Plays Around, a rare excursion into modern pop, turns out to be perfectly suited to Bennett’s unassuming vocal style; the Elvis Costello-Cait O’Riordan ballad has just the right veneer of bruised romance.
The show’s repertoire roamed beyond the album’s playlist. It’s impossible to grow bored of hearing the languorous Martin prowl through the lyrics of Joni Mitchell’s Be Cool, while her admiration for the late June Christy yielded a haunting version of Something Cool.
This residency marks the reopening of Pizza on the Park’s Music Room after it was closed for refurbishments. (Long-time visitors may need a while to grow used to the new decor on the bandstand.) The high point of the programme came after Bennett had indulged himself on his favourite Noël Coward song, World Weary. As the tempo slowed, Martin gave us a shimmering reading of The Very Thought of You which gradually entwined itself around Bennett’s rendition of Johnny Mercer’s foot-loose lament, I Thought About You.
Martin’s warm, husky voice never strains for effect. She trusts the song to speak for her. * * * *

A perfectly mixed rusty nail requires three parts scotch to one part Drambuie. It’s a potent recipe that accurately describes the first full-length pairings of old pals Claire Martin and Sir Richard Rodney Bennett.
Drambuie is a honey-smooth concoction that masks a powerful kick, and that’s Martin. For my money she’s not only the finest female British jazz singer of her generation but possibly of all time. Martin handles vocal duty on six of the disc’s 16 tracks. The mellow, well-aged scotch is the multitalented Bennett. Though best known for his film-composition work, the dexterous 69-year-old is equally skilled as an arranger and pianist, as demonstrated throughout this masterful folio of familiar standards and lesser-known treasures. It is, though, Bennett the underappreciated singer who here impresses most.
Flying solo on seven tracks, Bennett lends his distinctively bipolar style (simultaneously suggesting the gut-bucket splendor of Dr. John and the black-tie elegance of Fred Astaire) to tunes that delightfully extend from Noel Coward’s soigne World Weary to Elvis Costello’s forlorn Baby Plays Around. The cherry in this heady cocktail is the trio of tracks on which Martin and Bennett join forces, particularly a sublime interweaving of The Very Thought of You and I Thought About You. Drink up.

With this collection of familiar and not so familiar songs from the pens of the great songwriters, vocalist Claire Martin and pianist/vocalist Sir Richard Rodney Bennett have taken us to a quieter and simpler moment in time. A delightful union of two of the UK’s most recognized talents, it’s refreshing to listen to great compositions flawlessly performed in such a pared down and immediate fashion. The efforts of Gershwin, Arlen, and Mercer, along with several other eloquent composers, have provided the spine for this duet recording. Bennett has further arranged them into splendid vehicles for conveying their unique singing styles, underscored by his first-rate piano playing. Each vocalist sings with great skill and delivers the message in an easy-going and relaxed manner. There’s a husky texture and rich timbre inherent in both of their voices, and there are several opportunities to hear them individually put their personal stamp on these gems. On three of the tracks we are treated with these qualities blending like an elegant cocktail in their medley, harmony, and call/answer. Bennett is a fine pianist who truly understands the role of an accompanist, supporting and lifting the vocals in a sensitive and empathetic manner. His arrangements often include the use of the verses to the songs, setting up the feel and the mood perfectly, and his solos are clean and simply stated, revealing the great talent behind them in their sparseness. Highly accessible and gently affirming, this recording will relax and sooth even the most frazzled of nerves. It’s like a loving conversation between good friends, with us being warmly welcomed to join in.

This Linn SACD was a revelation for me. I wouldn’t have believed the British could do vocals in a blues/jazz idiom as authentic as this. With their habitually quick, clipped speech patterns the Brits wouldn’t seem to be suited for this kind of intimate jazz, where you need to hold and caress the underlying moods in the songs, the sensual joy and pain that slowly percolate up through the melodies or flow as smooth as cream, even when the harmony drips with salt tears.But hearing is believing. When Lights are Low made a believer of me. Songstress Claire Martin is joined by pianist and fellow vocalist Richard Rodney Bennett. They make an unbeatable team in one of the year’s best jazz albums. Martin’s warm, sensuously beautiful voice, breathy and highly expressive in all the right places, finds the perfect complement in the lightness, perfect pitch and wonderful flexibility of her partner Bennett. (Who, by the way, is the same Richard Rodney Bennett well known to audiophiles for his film scores. As the present album reveals, he is at least as great a jazz artist as he is classical.) The program is wonderful. Every one of the 16 tracks deserves air time on the jazz FM stations. Not a dud in the lot. Most have the advantage of having not been done to death by other artists. Solid musicianship, an honest, intuitive approach to each song lyric, and the ability to swing characterize Martin’s vocal art in songs like My One and Only (George Gershwin) I’ve Got a Right to sing the Blues (Harold Arlen, Ted Koehler), and Baby, Don’t You Quit Now (Jimmy Rowles, Johnny Mercer). Her intelligent approach to The Very Thought of You (Ray Noble) brings a breath of fresh air to one of the few over-familiar items in the program, one that is usually over-sentimentalized. And she does a great resurrection job on Irving Berlin’s too seldom heard Fools Fall in Love. Bennett, his voice undiminished by the years, does a terrific job with the elegant lyrics of Noël Coward’s paean to the simple life, World Weary. Ditto his No Love, No Nothing (till my baby comes home), an old favorite from the WWII years. His own song, Not Exactly Paris, is another charmer: “It wasn’t exactly Paris, / It wasn’t exactly spring, / But there was Beaujolais and flowers / And the passion those kisses used to bring.” A unexpected discovery here is Bennett’s rendition of Baby Plays Around (Carl O’Riordan, Elvis Costello): “She walks the shiny streets / while I walk this worn-out floor, / She’s all I have that’s worth living for.” And the duets are something special! When Lights Are Low (Benny Carter, Spencer Williams), the title song, is wonderful (“Our lips meet, sweet and tender, / Heaven’s all aglow, / Why Shouldn’t we surrender / When lights are low?”) But their sensational take on the old Johnny Mercer-Harold Arlen standard Any Place I Hang My Hat is Home really blows the roof off as their voices segue perfectly. Don’t miss this one!

Claire Martin and Ian Shaw at The Purcell Room, London
This dynamic duo were in lively form last night, spicing their annual Christmas special with candid ad-libs (“I’m off to Australia tomorrow. Lovely, yes, but it’s 30 hours in a plane with a three-year old” from Claire). Shaw’s more subversive showbiz quips included one about Val Doonican, “a singer who, strangely enough, never wore monogrammed initials on his shirts or handkerchiefs”.
Good friends who guest on each others albums, these two cover everything from Broadway (Cheek to Cheek, Teach Me Tonight, When I Fall In Love) to Joni Mitchell (Both Sides Now, Big Yellow Taxi) and their chemistry is good.
In Stevie Wonder mode, Shaw’s vocal chords tended to leap alarmingly from Barry White baritone to Barry Gibb castrato, but the moments when he and Claire harmonised, as on the show-closer, Send Me Someone to Love, were brilliant. And as an accompanist, his deft piano work was all any singer could want.
Velveteen on the ballads and elegant in Vivienne Westwood black, Claire scatted boldly on the blues Centrepiece, swapping vocal walking-basslines with Shaw and generally anticipating his every move as performers can only do after gigging frequently “since 1936″ as Ian put it. Happy New Year to them both.

The composer, pianist and singer Richard Rodney Bennett (Sir Richard, if you please) has always been pretty fussy about the singers he chooses to perform with. They must have a great knowledge and love of the finest songs of the Great American Songbook, and be able to help him create a subtle and very special musical (and romantic) chemistry on stage.
So Claire Martin deserves to be feeling more than a little chuffed to be Sir Richard’s partner of choice for this album and loads of dates in clubs and on concert stages.
There is a lovely frisson contained in the digits on this disc. The young clear voice of Martin and the smoky, characterful tones of the man of advancing years (he’ll be 70 soon) create a charming, playful and sexy game of chase and follow. It’s all so sophisticated yet never slick. And Bennett’s piano settings and playing are just exquisite.
The songs range from Cole Porter to Elvis Costello; some sung by Martin, some by Bennett and some of the most blissful moments come when they sing together.

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Having proven herself one of the best jazz singers around when fronting a big band or jazz trio, Claire Martin has now tackled Everest — an intimate duo album with composer and pianist Richard Rodney Bennett. Though most Americans know Bennett as the writer of scores for films such as Murder on the Orient Express, and as a composer of concert music for orchestra, band, and just about every other conceivable combination of musicians, he is also a powerhouse jazz pianist, and sings as well. He and Martin share the vocal honors, doubling up for a few duets — such as their smoky, late-night version of When Lights Are Low. Martin gets things off to a grand start with a sultry version of My One and Only, and her version of Fools Fall in Love is entirely vulnerable. Bennett counters with a heartbreaking version of Baby Plays Around. Overall, this is wee-hours jazz full of closing-time laments, done to the max by two pros who sound as if they know every lyric inside out. The 4.0-channel sound is rich and full.

Claire Martin has definitely gotten a lot of well-deserved attention over the last couple of years; her 2004 release “Too Darn Hot” was an instant classic, and has yet to find its way out of my regular listening rotation. “Secret Love”, the much-anticipated follow up, struck me at the time as a bit uneven; repeated listens over the last year have changed my opinion significantly, and while it’s not quite on the same level artistically as “Too Darn Hot”, it’s nonetheless essential listening. Sir Richard Rodney Bennett made really superb cameo appearances on piano on each of those discs; on this excellent new duo album, Sir Richard not only deftly supplies his phenomenal pianisms, but shares the vocal spotlight as well. The results are simply stunning – this collection of showtunes, standards and songs (from sources as diverse as Elvis Costello) is definitely one of the year’s best.
The two take alternate singing turns between most of the tunes, and share vocals on three: When Lights Are Low, The Very Thought Of You, and Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home. In an album filled with highlights, those three tunes stand out, especially on The Very Thought Of You, which is actually a medley that also feature the well-traveled standard I Thought About You. Claire takes the lead for the first chorus; Sir Richard follows with I Thought About You in the second chorus, then the duo expertly weave both songs smashingly in the finale. Claire Martin’s robust alto is perfectly suited to the song selection here, and Sir Richard’s smoky-sweet delivery (with just a hint of a quaver) works sheer magic throughout.
Sound quality of this multichannel SACD disc is reference quality. Sir Richard’s piano has that “in-the-room” realism that really transports you from the listening room to the recording venue. [An] essential disc – very, very highly recommended! * * * * *

The singer Claire Martin has always had a habit of finding unusual contemporary material – she was covering Tom Waits long before it became standard practice – but in case anyone thought she had turned her back on the classic repertoire, this collection of after-hours performances with Richard Rodney Bennett proves that the past has lost none of its allure. Her version of The Very Thought of You is as polished as you could hope for. Bennett scores a success of his own on the pensive solo cover of the Elvis Costello-Cait O’Riordan ballad Baby Plays Around.

On paper, the pairing of the great and sassy singer Claire Martin with the classically-inclined composer and pianist Bennett sounds like an unlikely one, but it works a treat. This is where jazz meets sophisticated cabaret, with the two principals alternating vocals. Bennett is surprisingly good on wry tracks like World Weary, but Martin is simply sensational. There isn’t a better singer than her around, and her smoky, sensual delivery is sensational on My Mood is You, Fools Fall in Love and I Got a Right to Sing the Blues. It’s an hour of sheer class.

You could call Claire Martin and Sir Richard Rodney Bennett’s collaboration “When Lights Are Low” (Linn Records) a disc of high-brow music stars’ “jazz-aoke”. The classical and film score composer previously played piano on the jazz diva’s “Secret Love” album, but here he shares the singing duties with her on a range of classic melancholy tunes old and new. And to good effect. As always with Linn, the recording sounds fantastic.

The Edinburgh duo concert given by jazz singer Claire Martin and singer-pianist Sir Richard Rodney Bennett was a highlight of the Starbucks Edinburgh Jazz Festival this year. If you missed it, or if you didn’t and you want to relive it, order this CD pronto: it’s a gem.
On paper, Martin and Bennett may seem like an odd couple, but musically they are a perfect match, both when singing together (as on the gorgeous title track) and when Bennett is accompanying Martin. His versatile piano playing – whether on dreamy ballads or on rollicking, blues-infused numbers – brings class to the double act; her husky, sensuous vocals – notably on the poignant torch song My Mood Is You – give it sex appeal.
The choice of material is imaginative and, in the case of one of the stand-out tracks, often unexpected: Bennett steals the show with his exquisite, heart-on-his-sleeve interpretation of Elvis Costello’s Baby Plays Around, a pop ballad of quiet resignation which is emerging as a contemporary jazz standard.

There is a twilight area – perhaps more accurately a late night zone – where jazz blends into cabaret. And that’s where this mellow album belongs.
The performers are just two: a singer and a singer/pianist, which is unusual for jazz but not unknown. One of the most sublime recordings Ella Fitzgerald ever made was her duet with the pianist Ellis Larkin, an accompanist light as thistle-down.
Claire Martin and Sir Richard Rodney Bennett fit into that tradition – a few sophisticated songs and some equally stylish singing (even though it is an American line, and both them sound unashamedly English). Sometimes she sings, sometimes he does. The results are extremely pleasant, particularly on the title track, Benny Carter’s lilting When Lights are Low. That was first recorded by the composer with Elizabeth Welch around 70 years ago, but good songs age well: style does not go out of style.
Despite the difference in their ages – he is nearly twice as old as she – Claire Martin and Sir Richard seem an extremely compatible couple, musically speaking. The final track, We’ll Be Together Again, sounds like a safe prediction.

We’ll leave the jazz police to snarl and bicker over the “is it jazz, is it cabaret?” issue, while the rest of us just revel in a highly enjoyable, richly performed release which confirms (like it ever needed confirming?) Martin’s all round talents while also bringing Bennett’s lesser known skills to the fore.
The wonder is that it’s taken so long to record such an album – they’ve performed live together for a number of years and Bennett has been a patron of Martin’s since he wrote sleeve notes for her first album. But where you might expect Bennett to have written Martin lush string accompaniments, this is the pair of them alone with a piano and sharing the vocals between them.
The choice of material is a mix of standards (but freshly re-arranged) and lesser known but highly appropriate songs. The standouts include Carl Sigman’s My Mood Is You, with Martin’s voice closely miked and relishing a come hithery quality that it’s rarely exhibited before. Generally, Martin has a Stafford-esque, glacial cool about her; indeed she’s been criticised for being over-controlling. But this is a more mature, more vulnerable Martin, brave enough to bare witness to raw emotions. Not that she’s ever the victim – Martin turns I Gotta Right To Sing The Blues into a joyful manifesto by changing the lyric to “I’ve got a woman’s right to sing the blues”. But it’s Bennett who (almost) steals the show vocally. Martin has covered Baby Plays Around before, but here it goes to Bennett and the dry catch in his voice gives it a heart-tugging twist. He’s also touching but not sentimental on old compadre Joel Siegal’s Going Back To Joe’s. A joy from start to finish, with the schmaltz factor set to zero, both these artists let the songs do the work: they make something very hard seem effortless indeed. * * * *

Having performed live together for a number of years, Claire Martin and Richard Rodney Bennett have finally laid down some recorded material. With just piano and both Martin and Bennett sharing vocals, the space gives them, and in particular Martin, the opportunity to really stretch and stamp a new imprint on these standards. ‘When Lights Are Low’ is just over an hour of pure class as we have come to expect from this accomplished jazz duo.

When jazz duos work, they can really work a treat and Monday night’s concert featuring the relatively new double-act of Sir Richard Rodney Bennett and Claire Martin was a treat of the most sophisticated kind. The super-versatile Bennett is probably the world’s leading cabaret singer-pianist – Britain’s answer to the late Bobby Short – and his fondness for witty lyrics, plus his classy, swinging piano style, brought a touch of the Algonquin to The Hub.
In Claire Martin, Bennett has found a worthy successor to such previous jazz singing partners as Annie Ross and Marion Montgomery. There’s a strong rapport between the pair, as their vocal duets on the knock-out opening number Any Place I Hang My Hat and the gently swinging When Lights Are Low proved. An inspired fusion of two old standards, The Very Thought of You (sung by Martin) and I Thought About You (sung by Bennett), underlined the ease with which these two stars work together – not that it looks like anything other than great fun.
For most of the concert, however, the two voices were separate. What they have in common is a gift for being able to tell a story, paint a picture, set a scene. Martin did it best on the languid Something Cool (written, as Bennett subsequently revealed, about the literary character Blanche Dubois), while Bennett brought Elvis Costello’s Baby Plays Around vividly – and very poignantly – to life. Other gems included a couple of lesser-known Gershwin songs: The You-Don’t-Know-the-Half-of-It Dearie Blues, sung by Bennett, and Martin’s take on the old Lee Wiley favourite My One and Only.”