Claire Martin

In an era when many jazz artists undertake formal study at music school before they clock any substantial mileage on the live scene Martin is a refreshing exception to the rule. In the early ‘80s when still a teenager she had a residency at the Savoy Hotel in Bournemouth and later in the decade she performed on transatlantic cruise liners.

After studying with Marilyn J. Johnson in New York in the early ‘90s Martin returned to Britain and formed her own band, playing high profile venues such as Ronnie Scott’s and also touring nationally. As she developed Martin worked with several renowned soloists, including Steve Arguelles, Iain Ballamy and Bobby Wellins, and also collaborated many times with the feel good jump blues revivalist Ray Gelato.

Inspired by the likes of Sarah Vaughan, Shirley Horn and Ella Fitzgerald, Martin has a rich, expressive tone, unforced sense of swing and punchy delivery that makes her well suited to post-bop and Broadway ballads, but as committed as she is to the Great American Songbook she has covered an impressively broad spectrum of material over the years, primarily because she has an ear for a good melody regardless of genre distinctions.

Enjoying a lengthy association with the Linn record label, who recorded her albums in high definition audio, Martin hit a creative peak on her 1999 set Take My Heart, where she blended accomplished originals with interpretations of modern pop and rock classics from Nick Drake and David Sylvian to Paul Simon and Elvis Costello. But perhaps her most adventurous choice was a cover of ‘I Scare Myself’, a song written by Dan Hicks in the ‘70s and given a new lease of life by pop maverick Thomas Dolby in the ‘80s. This gorgeous melody, afforded plenty of breathing space in a lithe Spanish-flavoured arrangement anchored on Paul Stacey’s crisp guitar and Luis Jardim’s resonant percussion, was enhanced by Martin’s astute, understated use of her middle register, and minimal harmonic embellishment. It was precisely the lack of flourish that effectively conjured up the sense of creeping anxiety of the lyric.

Martin’s post-millennium work has also been consistent and wide-ranging, and a collaboration with the late Richard Rodney Bennett again produced good results.

Apart from her singing career Martin has also proved herself to be an excellent broadcaster, presenting BBC Radio 3’s Jazz Line Up for many years, and she has also been increasingly proactive as a producer and curator. In 2014 she co-founded the South Coast Jazz Festival with saxophonist Julian Nicholas, programming concerts at the Ropetackle Arts Centre in Shoreham-by-sea. The event is fast establishing itself as an important fixture on the British cultural calendar with audiences responding well to the performances and educational activities.