Claire Martin & Richard Rodney Bennett – Witchcraft (2011)
PS3 Rip | SACD ISO | DST64 2.0 & 5.1 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 42:55 minutes | Front/Rear Covers | 2,41 GB
or DSD64 2.0 Stereo (from SACD-ISO to Tracks.dsf) > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | Front/Rear Covers | 1,69 GB
or FLAC Stereo (carefully converted & encoded to tracks) 24bit/96 kHz | Front/Rear Covers | 884 MB
Features Stereo and Multichannel Surround Sound | Linn Records # AKD 359
Since their first meeting in Glasgow in the early 1990s, singer Claire Martin and composer/pianist Richard Rodney Bennett have been what Martin calls ‘firm friends’, their relationship cemented by a common interest in the subtleties of songwriting and jazz singing. Witchcraft is the result of their dynamic collaboration. On this album, they perform as a (delightfully informal but consistently musicianly) duo, her intimate, deceptively unfussy vocal style perfectly complemented by his flawlessly eloquent piano. Their material is all mined from the Cy Coleman songbook.
Together, this collection weaves together the opposing talents of the sultry jazz sensation Claire Martin and the polished, savvy keyboard skills and compositional insight of Richard Rodney Bennett. Martin’s strength as one of the best interpreters of the Great American Songbook shines through in this recording. The smoky elegance of her vocal sculpts itself around the smooth flowing textures of the piano accompaniment and the occasional vocal repartee of Bennett. The result of this established partnership is mesmerising music that takes you back to a wonderful and simpler time of yesteryear.
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Claire Martin – Secret Love
Artist: Claire Martin | Album: Secret Love | Style: Jazz, Vocal | Year: 2004 | Quality: DVD-Audio (MLP 5.1 88.2kHz/24Bit, MLP 2.0 88.2kHz/24Bit) | Bitrate: lossless | Tracks: 12 | Size: ~3.88 Gb | Recovery: 5% | Covers: in archive | Release: rip of SACD by Linn Records (AKD 246), 2004 | Note: Not Watermarked
“Remarkably, given the immense musical riches that have poured forth from across the pond throughout the past century, there has never been a truly great British female jazz singer. Yes, Annie Ross was born in Surrey, but she was just three when she moved to the States and is definitely more a musical product of her California upbringing. Some would argue Cleo Laine fits the bill, but I’ve never found Laine’s highly stylized trilling particularly appealing, or, more to the point, jazz-centric. Lately, though, British jazz canaries have been busily making up for lost time. High atop the impressive heap is seasoned pro Claire Martin. Since Secret Love is intended as the album that will establish Martin stateside, I’m guessing that the title is intentionally tongue-in-cheek. For in her native land, love for Martin is no secret whatsoever. It is, in fact, her ninth hit album. The Sunday Times has dubbed Martin “the Madonna of British Jazz”, a statement that completely misdiagnoses the nature of Martin’s appeal. What makes her unique is that she’s not a great jazz singer, but rather the combination of two great jazz singers and one of the all-time great pop stylists, blending the jazz smarts of Anita O’Day, the warm-cool coziness of Chris Connor and the slow-meltingly, icy hauteur of Jo Stafford into one bracing cocktail. Listen to Martin dazzle her way through a dozen tracks, hurdling everything from the heart-crushing ache of Where Do You Start, the sophisticated ennui of Love Is a Bore and the raw, soul-stirring power of Burt Bacharach and Elvis Costello’s God Give Me Strength with elegant ease and you’ll instantly join the growing legion on this side of the Atlantic determined that she remain a secret no longer.” –Jazz Times (more…)
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