Claire Martin,

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(born 6 September 1967) is an English

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

singer.

Music career

Martin was born in Colliers Wood, London. She grew up in a house "full of music" thanks to jazz-loving parents. She cites

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April25, 1917June15, 1996) was an American singer, songwriter and composer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phra ...

's ''

Song Books A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a Song structure, structure, such as the common ABA form, ...

'' as the inspiration for her to study singing at the Doris Holford Stage School in New York and London. She was influenced to sing jazz when she saw

Betty Carter Betty Carter (born Lillie Mae Jones; May 16, 1929 – September 26, 1998) was an American jazz singer known for her improvisational technique, scatting and other complex musical abilities that demonstrated her vocal talent and imaginative inter ...

Ronnie Scott's Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club is a jazz club that has operated in Soho, London, since 1959. History The club opened on 30 October 1959 in a basement at 39 Gerrard Street in London's Soho district. It was set up and managed by musicians Ronnie Sco ...

club. Her professional career began at the age of 19 when she sang in a hotel band at the Savoy Hotel after auditioning to be a bluecoat

Bournemouth Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...

. For two years, she worked aboard the cruise ship ''

Queen Elizabeth Queen Elizabeth, Queen Elisabeth or Elizabeth the Queen may refer to: Queens regnant * Elizabeth I (1533–1603; ), Queen of England and Ireland * Elizabeth II (1926–2022; ), Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms * Queen B ...

'', where she sang in the piano bar. When she was 21, she formed her jazz quartet. In 1991, she was signed by the Scottish jazz label

Linn Records Linn Records is a Glasgow-based record label which specialises in classical music, jazz and Scottish music. It is part of Linn Products. History While Linn engineers were testing their flagship product, the Sondek LP12 turntable, they became fr ...

, and her debut album, ''The Waiting Game'', was released in 1992. Later that year, she performed as the opening act for

Tony Bennett Anthony Dominick Benedetto (August 3, 1926 – July 21, 2023), known professionally as Tony Bennett, was an American jazz and traditional pop singer. He received many accolades, including 20 Grammy Awards, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, ...

at the

Glasgow International Jazz Festival Glasgow International Jazz Festival is a jazz festival in Glasgow, Scotland. Main Festival The Glasgow International Jazz Festival is held annually in June in the Merchant City area of Glasgow. The main, open-air stage is situated in George S ...

. Martin has performed all over Europe and Asia with her trio until he died in 2012, with

Richard Rodney Bennett Sir Richard Rodney Bennett (29 March 193624 December 2012) was an English composer and pianist. He was noted for his musical versatility, drawing from such sources as jazz, romanticism, and avant-garde; and for his use of twelve-tone technique ...

in an intimate

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, casino, hotel, restaurant, or nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or drinking, ...

duo setting in England and America. They played to sell-out crowds at venues, including the

Algonquin Hotel The Algonquin Hotel (officially The Algonquin Hotel Times Square, Autograph Collection) is a hotel at 59 West 44th Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States. The 181-room hotel, opened in 1902, was designed by architect Goldwi ...

in New York City. She has been a featured soloist with the

Halle Orchestra Halle may refer to: Places Germany * Halle (Saale), or Halle an der Saale, Saxony-Anhalt ** Halle (electoral district) ** Halle (region), a governmental district 1952–2004 ** Bezirk Halle, a district 1952–1990 ** Halle-Neustadt, a former ci ...

, the

Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Royal Liverpool Philharmonic is a music organisation based in Liverpool, England, that manages a professional symphony orchestra, a concert venue, and extensive programmes of learning through music. Its orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmo ...

, the

RTÉ Concert Orchestra The RTÉ Concert Orchestra is a professional radio orchestra in Ireland and is part of RTÉ, the national broadcaster. Since its formation as the Radio Éireann Light Orchestra in 1948, the RTÉ Concert Orchestra has grown from a small studio-bas ...

, the BBC Big Band, and the

BBC Concert Orchestra The BBC Concert Orchestra is a British concert orchestra based in London, one of the British Broadcasting Corporation's five radio orchestras. With around fifty players, it is the only one of the five BBC orchestras which is not a full-scale sym ...

. She has co-presented BBC Radio 3's ''Jazz Line Up'' since 2000 and has interviewed many of her musical heroes, such as

Pat Metheny Patrick Bruce Metheny ( ; born August 12, 1954) is an American jazz guitarist and composer. He was the leader of the Pat Metheny Group (1977–2010) and continues to work in various small-combo, duet, and solo settings, as well as other side pr ...

Michael Brecker Michael Leonard Brecker (March 29, 1949 – January 13, 2007) was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. He was awarded 15 Grammy Awards as a performer and composer, received an honorary doctorate from Berklee College of Music in ...

Brad Mehldau Bradford Alexander Mehldau (; born August 23, 1970) is an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger. Mehldau studied music at The New School, touring and recording while still a student. He was a member of saxophonist Joshua Redman's quar ...

, and

André Previn André George Previn (; born Andreas Ludwig Priwin; April 6, 1929 – February 28, 2019) was a German-American pianist, composer, and conductor. His career had three major genres: Hollywood films, jazz, and classical music. In each he achieved ...

. She has collaborated with Martin Taylor,

John Martyn Iain David McGeachy (11 September 1948 – 29 January 2009), known professionally as John Martyn, was a British singer-songwriter and guitarist. Over a 40-year career, he released 23 studio albums and received frequent critical acclaim. ...

Stéphane Grappelli Stéphane Grappelli (; 26 January 1908 – 1 December 1997) was a French jazz violinist. He is best known as a founder of the Quintette du Hot Club de France with guitarist Django Reinhardt in 1934. It was one of the first all-string jazz bands. ...

Kenny Barron Kenneth Barron (born June 9, 1943) is an American jazz pianist and composer who has appeared on hundreds of recordings as leader and sideman and is considered one of the most influential mainstream jazz pianists since the bebop era. Early life ...

Jim Mullen Jim Mullen (born 26 November 1945) is a Scottish, Glasgow-born jazz guitarist with a distinctive style, like Wes Montgomery before him, picking with the thumb rather than a plectrum. Biography Jim Mullen was guitarist with Pete Brown & Piblo ...

, and

Nigel Hitchcock Nigel Hitchcock (born 4 January 1971) is an English jazz saxophonist. Biography Hitchcock began to play alto sax at the age of eight. In 1982 he and his elder brother Clive joined the National Youth Jazz Orchestra. After one year Nigel took the ...

. Claire also regularly appears with multi-award-winning singer/pianist Ian Shaw, and they are currently collaborating on a new duo show for 2025. Claire has toured extensively throughout the UK, Scandinavia, Russia, and China, appearing with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and her trio. In 2011, she debuted with pianist

Bill Charlap William Morrison Charlap (born October 15, 1966, pronounced "Shar-Lap") is an American jazz pianist and educator. Early life and education Born in New York City, Bill Charlap is the son of American Broadway composer Moose Charlap and the singe ...

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 ...

in New York City and performed at the Algonquin Hotel for a three-week residency with Rodney Bennett. Martin recorded with jazz pianist Kenny Barron on ''Too Much in Love to Care'' (Linn, 2011). In 2013, she toured with her show, The Two of U, and worked with conductor John Wilson, Joe Stilgoe,

Mark McGann Mark Anthony McGann (born 12 July 1961) is an English actor. Early life He attended the De La Salle Academy, Liverpool, De La Salle Grammar School, Liverpool. Mark's father Joe was a Royal Naval Commandos, Royal Naval Commando, who landed on ...

, and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, celebrating the music of

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...

and

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...

. Martin collaborated with the Montpellier Cello Quartet, performing

arrangements In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing Composition (music), composition. Differences from the original composition may include Harmony (music), reharmonization, Musical phrasing, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or M ...

written for her by Rodney Bennett,

Mark Anthony Turnage Mark-Anthony Turnage (born 10 June 1960) is an English composer of contemporary classical music. Life and career Mark-Anthony Turnage was born in Corringham, Essex on 10 June 1960. Turnage was the eldest of three children. His parents were lov ...

, and

Django Bates Django Bates (born Leon Bates, 2 October 1960) is a British jazz musician, composer, multi-instrumentalist, band leader and educator. He plays the piano, keyboards and the tenor horn. Bates has been described as "one of the most talented musici ...

. This

chamber jazz Chamber jazz is a genre of jazz involving small, acoustic-based ensembles where group interplay is important. It is influenced aesthetically by the small ensembles of chamber music in musical neoclassicism and is often influenced by classical fo ...

ensemble toured throughout 2014 to promote the album ''Time and Place'', which featured singer and pianist Joe Stilgoe, who became Martin's cabaret partner. In August 2020, Martin also sang several songs in the BBC Radio 2 show Sunday Night is Music Night (Sinatraland), which was dedicated to Frank Sinatra's music.

Awards and honours

* Best Vocalist, British Jazz Awards, 2009, 2010 * Best New Recording, ''Too Much in Love to Care'', British Jazz Awards, 2012 *

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE), 2011

Discography

* ''The Waiting Game'' (Linn, 1992) * ''Devil May Care'' (Linn, 1993) * ''Old Boyfriends'' (Linn, 1994) * ''Off Beat'' (Linn, 1995) * ''Make This City Ours'' (Linn, 1997) * ''Take My Heart'' (Linn, 1999) * ''Perfect Alibi'' (Linn, 2000) * ''Too Darn Hot!'' (Linn, 2002) * ''Secret Love'' (Linn, 2004) * ''Girl Talk'' with

Mari Wilson Mari Macmillan Ramsay Wilson (born 29 September 1954, Neasden, London) is a British pop and jazz singer. She is best known for her 1982 UK top-10 hit single " Just What I Always Wanted". She had a further UK top-40 hit in 1983 with a cover of ...

, Barb Jungr (Linn, 2005) * '' When Lights Are Low'' with

(Linn, 2005) * '' He Never Mentioned Love (Remembering

Shirley Horn Shirley Valerie Horn (May 1, 1934 – October 20, 2005) was an American jazz singer and pianist. She collaborated with many jazz musicians including Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Toots Thielemans, Ron Carter, Carmen McRae, Wynton Marsalis and oth ...

)'' (Linn, 2007) * ''A Modern Art'' (Linn, 2009) * ''

Witchcraft Witchcraft is the use of Magic (supernatural), magic by a person called a witch. Traditionally, "witchcraft" means the use of magic to inflict supernatural harm or misfortune on others, and this remains the most common and widespread meanin ...

'' with Richard Rodney Bennett (Linn, 2011) * ''Too Much in Love to Care'' with

(Linn, 2012) * ''Say It Isn't So'' with Richard Rodney Bennett (Linn, 2013) * ''Time & Place'' (Linn, 2014) * ''We've Got a World That Swings'' with Ray Gelato (Linn, 2016) * ''Bumpin' (Celebrating

Wes Montgomery John Leslie "Wes" Montgomery (March 6, 1923 – June 15, 1968) was an American jazz guitarist. Montgomery was known for his unusual technique of plucking the strings with the side of his thumb and for his extensive use of octaves, which gave him a ...

)'' with

(Stunt, 2018) * ''Believin' It'' (Linn, 2019) * ''Songs and Stories'' with Callum Au (Stunt, 2020) * ''I Watch You Sleep'' (Stunt, 2023) * ''Almost in Your Arms'' (Stunt, 2024)

References

External links

Linn Records

Conversation between Richard Rodney Bennett and Claire Martin
– British Library sound recording {{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Claire 1967 births BBC Radio 3 presenters English women singers English jazz singers Living people Musicians from Wimbledon, London British women jazz singers Officers of the Order of the British Empire English women radio presenters Singers from the London Borough of Merton