Hollywood Romance feat. Claire Martin

Published on Jul 26, 2015
Sound: Newbury Spring Festival - with special thanks to Mark Eynon

Hollywood Romance
featuring
Claire Martin
The Tippett Quartet
Hugh Webb - Harp
Jon Shenoy - Woodwinds & Saxophones
Callum Au - Trombone & Orchestration
James Pearson - Piano
Jeremy Brown - Double Bass
Matt Skelton - Drums & Project Producer

For more information, press tickets or any other queries, please contact Matt Skelton, Project Producer (mattskelton01@gmail.com) and Héloïse Werner, Media & Marketing Manager of the Tippett Quartet (heloise.tippettquartet@gmail.com).

In June 2014 at the Pizza Express Jazz Club, Dean Street, London, drummer and producer Matt Skelton launched “Close To You”, a reinvention in concert of one of the classic Sinatra Capital era albums. The project features an ensemble of handpicked musicians chosen for their sound and empathy for this extraordinary music - Matt Ford, regularly appearing with both the John Wilson Orchestra and the BBC Big Band and nominated for Best UK Male Vocalist at the inaugural Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Awards, the internationally acclaimed Tippett Quartet as well as hugely talented Callum Au, Ronnie Scott’s artistic director James Pearson and other Grammy-nominated jazz instrumentalists. 
2014/2015 saw the ensemble undertake their Cadogan Hall debut (London) as well as numerous performances at prestigious festivals throughout the UK - Henley Festival, Thaxted Festival, Cheltenham Festival, Petworth Festival, Newry Festival and Music @ Malling. On 24th August, they will be appearing at the Snape Proms in Aldeburgh.

“It’s musical gold” 
Stewart Collins, Henley Festival Director

“It's a very stylish, satisfying show, perfectly balancingartistic integrity with entertainment value”
Meurig Bowen, Cheltenham Festival Director

“I originally saw the Close to You Ensemble at a London jazz club and it was an easy decision to sign them for a concert at Cadogan Hall. Their creative talent, world-class musicianship and all-round commitment to the project is remarkable and it was a genuine pleasure to work alongside them. The concert was a great success and feedback from all sources has been glowing. ” 
Toby Cruse, Worldwide Live, Cadogan Hall Concert Promoter

Following the success of “Close To You”, Matt Skelton has devised an entirely original project bringing together the same ensemble in collaboration with multi award-winning, celebrated jazz singer and broadcaster Claire Martin OBE. Claire has been described by Jazz Times USA as “rank(ing) among the four or five finest female jazz vocalists on the planet”. 

“Hollywood Romance” celebrates the art and setting of popular song from the golden age of Hollywood. Expect to hear elegant, swinging settings of songs arranged by Callum Au and inspired by the legendary Songbook recordings of Ella Fitzgerald, Anita O'Day and Sarah Vaughan.
The programme’s highlight is a collection of songs from the Shirley Horn/Johnny Mandel Grammy award-winning masterpiece Here's To Life, which have been orchestrated especially by Tommy Laurence. 

“Hollywood Romance” was launched at the Newbury Festival earlier this year: 

“The show was vintage jazz at its luxurious best remindingone of the golden age of Hollywood and Nelson Riddle in a programme which was universally enjoyed by all who came. ”
Mark Eynon, Newbury Festival Director. 

Forthcoming concert dates include a performance at Music @ Malling on 26th September 2015 and two nights at Pizza Express Jazz Club (London) on 10th & 11th January 2016.

Claire Martin

Claire Martin - Love At Last - https://t.co/ifYRWWVj8I

— RadioSky-Music Jazz (@RadioskyMusic) June 29, 2016

Claire Martin and the Montpellier Cello Quartet, National Centre for Early Music

Photo: www.israbox.com
First published Tuesday 2 December 2014 in Music news and reviews
WHAT is it that the great jazz vocalists have in common? Think of Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald and Cassandra Wilson. The fact they all sound so incredibly unique makes them stand out above the rest.


There is a common style of jazz singing in Britain that takes more influence from musical theatre than from jazz.

Rather than being a jazz singer, Claire Martin falls into the category of a strong vocalist who performs songs from the jazz repertoire.

In fact, to see this as a jazz performance at all, there was one vital ingredient missing: improvisation.

Stop expecting to hear jazz in this concert, and it could be enjoyed and appreciated more from a different perspective.

Four cellos may not have the textural range of a traditional string quartet but the Montpellier Quartet still produced a rich sound, enhanced by some excellent arrangements.


read more: http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/leisure/music/11638930.Review__Claire_Martin_and_the_Montpellier_Cello_Quartet__National_Centre_for_Early_Music__York/?ref=rss

Claire Martin and the Montpellier Cello Quartet

First published Thursday 27 November 2014 in Music news and reviews 
Last updated 12:11 Thursday 27 November 2014
by Charles Hutchinson
THE roots of Claire Martin's chamber-jazz adventure – "chazz" for short – can be traced to her daughter, Amelia.

"She was having cello lessons," recalls the York-bound jazz singer. " I say 'was' because she's given it up to be an international basketball player, and she's now playing for Sussex county basketball team.


"But at the time, she was showing real promise, so she had to choose. Sport? Money, honey! Music? Anguish! Anyway, everybody loves cello and so I went to see the Montpellier Cello Quartet in a local church and I was mesmerised. Four cellos! It was like four pints of Guinness in a line – and I thought to myself, 'my voice would go well with them'."

Amelia's cello teacher, Joe Giddey, happened to be one of the members of the Brighton quartet, so Claire struck while the iron was steaming. "I said, 'I'd love to sing with your four cellos' and Joe said 'yes. as we both thought it would be unusual to have a jazz singer performing with chamber musicians. 'Chazz', as I call it."


Set in motion in 2012, the project combines Claire's love of the Great American Songbook and popular classics with new arrangements especially commissioned from such composers as Mark Anthony Turnage, Geoffrey Keezer and the late Sir Richard Rodney Bennett, who arranged Kurt Weill's My Ship.

read more: http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/leisure/music/11630849.Claire_Martin_and_the_Montpellier_Cello_Quartet__National_Centre_for_Early_Music__York___November_30/?ref=rss

Claire Martin - The Things I Miss The Most

Claire Martin follows on from her Shirley Horn-inspired album from two years ago with A Modern Art featuring songs by Rodgers and Hart, and Cy Coleman which sees her build ever more strongly on her reputation as a classic jazz singer steeped in the traditions of Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan and Carmen McRae. Yet Martin also includes recent songs by Donald Fagen, Michael Franks and the late Esbjörn Svensson. She speaks with candour and looks back with a measured eye as she talks to Stuart Nicholson about her career so far and pulls no punches

“It’s a bloody hard way to make a living, but I love it,” says vocalist Claire Martin. With jazz an endangered species on television, radio and in the mainstream media, few would disagree with her. “There’s this whole thing about celebrity culture, sad reality shows like the X-Factor and dumbing down,” she says in an exasperated tone you don’t want to argue with. “I had all this going on in my head and all those people that seemed to be at every gig except jazz gigs, and I was just thinking, well I’m sorry. I’ve just got to stand up and be counted.”

The result was her very own protest song ‘A Modern Art’ aimed fairly and squarely at celebrity culture and the dumbing down of standards in popular music. It’s also the title track of her latest album, which she firmly believes is her best yet. “As the lyrics say ‘we’re trying to get the music heard’ and yes, we are trying, we just need a few more doors to open and people will go ‘jazz is great, it’s terrific’,” she says. There are few more passionate advocates for jazz than this fortysomething from east London. Since The Waiting Game from 1992, her critically acclaimed debut album, her star has been in steady ascendance, and on her new album Claire Martin does more than stand up and be counted, she emerges as a world class artist.

This is an extract from Jazzwise Issue #134 – to read the full article click here to subscribe and receive a FREE Blue Note CD
http://www.jazzwisemagazine.com/feature-table-mainmenu-134/10936-claire-martin-the-things-i-miss-the-most

Claire Martin - Gettin' High (1998)

Great track from Jazz 606. Brilliant guitar work too from Jim Mullen.