Martha D Lewis (aka Martha Lewis and Martha Demetri Lewis; born 1967 in London) is a British performing and recording artist regularly performing in the contemporary jazz and world music scene in the UK and

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. She is also a presenter, broadcaster, composer, multi-instrumentalist and educator. Lewis' work combines Mediterranean and other world musical influences with jazz and electronica. Lewis is Patron of the ''Leukaemia Cancer Society UK''. Lewis' musical work is included in the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...

. In 2018, Lewis gained a master's degree in songwriting. In 2022, Lewis moved away from her trademark Mediterranean world jazz genre and released her 6th album, ''All That You See,'' an album of songs recorded at

Peter Gabriel Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English singer, songwriter, musician, and human rights activist. He came to prominence as the original frontman of the rock band Genesis. He left the band in 1975 and launched a solo career wit ...

’s, 'Real World' Studio in UK. The album was produced by producer and bass player, Nick Cohen and mixed by producer and engineer, Stephen W Tayler. Also in 2022, Lewis established a new platform called
UK Jazz Plus
' created to promote and spotlight new storytelling in jazz.

Biography

Martha was born and raised in London to Greek Cypriot immigrant parents. At seven years old, she studied guitar and voice and formed a semi-pro covers band at the age of 14 years. She went on to study music at

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, where she also studied opera singing for three years. After graduating Martha's career was launched as part of a group representing Cyprus in the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

in Luxembourg. Martha's went on to form the award-winning music-comedy duo ''Donna & Kebab'' the early 1990s. This long term and ongoing creative partnership with singer musician actress, Eve Polycarpou rapidly accumulated TV, radio and theatre credits. The duo have toured throughout UK Europe and Middle East. In 1995, 'Donna & Kebab', renamed ''Martha and Eve,'' focused their attention on their prolific songwriting skills and have recorded three albums, a club single and a DVD of their show ''Live at the Hackney Empire''. Martha's solo project was launched in 1999 following a commission by The

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for a 30-minute musical work, this work was broadcast by BBC Radio 3. Martha has since received numerous commissions for music work including further works from the ''Arts Council'', ''PRS foundation'', ''London Arts Board'', music festivals, a short film ''Silences''; theatre plays ''Mrs Ruskin'', ''Lucrezia''; title and incidental music for Channel 4 documentaries ''Midlife'', ''Mind''. Martha has released two CD's as a solo artist. ''Martha D Lewis-Cafe Aman-Double Life'' released in 2007. Lewis's most recent large scale project was as a singer and presenter in the film documentary ''My Sweet Canary'' about the life and music of Roza Eskenazy. Following Lewis’ participation in the film, she released her second solo CD in 2015 ''Homage To Roza'' an album of contemporary interpretations and arrangements of classic Greek Blues, specifically Eskenazy repertoire, from 1920s to the 1950s. This album featured drummer

Jack De Johnette Jack DeJohnette (born August 9, 1942) is an American jazz drummer, pianist, and composer. Known for his extensive work as leader and sideman for musicians including Charles Lloyd (jazz musician), Charles Lloyd, Freddie Hubbard, Keith Jarrett, B ...

. Martha's previous 2010 release of ‘Misirlou’ was featured on the ‘Best of European Jazz 2010’ compilation for The EFG London Jazz Festival. Martha presented a documentary on 'BBC Radio 3' entitled
''A Journey Into Rembetika-Music of the Outsiders''

Discography

Martha & Eve

*''Donna & Kbb are Martha and Eve'' (1996) *''Je t’aime / Don’t talk'' (1999) Club 12" Single *''Stay'' (2000) *''Absolutely Live'' (2006)

Solo

*''Café Aman - Double Life '' (2007) *''Homage To Roza '' (2015) *''All That You See'' (2022)

On Film

*''Martha and Eve - Live show at the Hackney Empire '' DVD filmed by TVS. (1993) *''My Sweet Canary'' (2011) Feature film documentary.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Martha 1967 births Living people British people of Cypriot descent British jazz musicians British women jazz musicians British music educators British women music educators British jazz composers British women jazz composers British jazz guitarists Women jazz guitarists British radio presenters British women radio presenters