Claire Martin has been one of my favourite musicians for a long time.Though she is respected as one of the world’s finest jazz singers, she is not limited by or to the genre.The well she dips into is a deep one and songs from all styles of music live there, waiting to be pulled up into the daylight.When the person lowering the bucket is Claire Martin, something special can be expected to emerge.That is to say, she has a gift for selecting material which is not only perfect for her soulful and expressive voice, but which also resonates powerfully on an emotional level. This album is a perfect case in point.The repertoire here includes music from composers as diverse as David Bowie,Thelonius Monk, Sir Richard Rodney Bennett, Joni Mitchell, George Gershwin, John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Claire unites all of these songs with the power of her artistry, from the lush and sophisticated reimagining of Joni Mitchell’s ‘Two Grey Rooms’ (courtesy of an arrangement by the brilliant Mark-Anthony Turnage), to her stark and moving version of The Beatles’ ‘She’s Leaving Home’.Whether a piece has the grand design of the former, or the naked simplicity of the latter, it is the depth and richness of Claire’s instrument, her impeccable taste and her profound ability as a storyteller which pulls me in and keeps me there.
pull it off, the wonderful Montpellier Cello Quartet and the gifted arrangers represented.Add to that the artful contributions of Joe Stilgoe, Laurence Cottle, Gareth Williams, Jeremy Brown and Ben Reynolds and it becomes evident that this recording is bursting at the seams with talent and creativity. In the period before this project was conceived, Claire lost a friend, colleague, teacher and confidant in the form of the great Sir Richard Rodney Bennett.As she so honestly expressed, ‘Richard’s death blew a hole right through me’. Indeed, that sense of loss is a recurring theme here.‘Featherfall’, ‘She’s Leaving Home’,‘Lost For Words’,‘My Man’s Gone Now’ and ‘Two Grey Rooms’ all deal with this painful and universal subject. By wrestling with her own difficult feelings, Claire holds up a mirror for the rest of us in the form of these compositions and with it the potential for transformation and catharsis. In his poem, Separation,W.S. Merwyn wrote:‘Your absence has gone through me like thread through a needle. Everything I do is stitched with its color.’ Claire, in trying to reconcile the loss of her dear friend, also celebrates the beauty he left behind with two examples of his excellence on this sublime offering. Claire Martin is an important artist who continues to get better and go deeper with each new release.
She is also a risk taker. For a jazz vocalist to attempt a major recording project largely featuring a cello quartet as the main or even sole underpinning takes courage. I think the fact that the collaboration is so successful here can be attributed to three factors: Claire’s vision and will to
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The Montpellier Cello Quartet: Siriol Hugh-Jones, Sarah Davison, Dan James & Joe Giddey Joe Stilgoe piano & vocals (tracks 1, 3, 8 & 9) Gareth Williams piano Jeremy Brown bass Laurence Cottle electric bass Ben Reynolds drums
Recorded at British Grove Studios, London, UK 6-7 December 2013 & 20 January 2014 Produced by Philip Hobbs & Calum Malcolm Engineered & mixed by Calum Malcolm Post-production by Cameron Malcolm Claire Martin is endorsed by DPA microphones. 7
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Photography by Kenny McCracken Styling by Tony Lee & Katy McPhee Hair & makeup by Xoe Kingsley Design by www.rjcreative.org 10
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AKD 423
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Claire Martin
When Lights Are Low