Claire Martin: offBEAT

'offBEAT' was recorded live over six days at London's famous Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in the year Claire Martin won the first of her seven British Jazz Awards for 'Best Jazz Singer'. Originally released in 1995 'offBEAT' has been re-issued as part of Linn's ECHO series which offers a second chance to enjoy the best of the label's award-winning catalogue. 'offBEAT' features Claire's regular trio of dynamic musicians (comprising pianist Gareth Williams, bassist Arnie Somogyi and drummer Clark Tracey) plus special guests guitarist Martin Taylor (Some Other Time), vibraphonist Anthony Kerr (Monk's New Tune and Wishful Thinking) and trombonist Mark Nightingale (I'll Close My Eyes, Comes Love and Something Real). Renowned throughout her career for unusual and adventurous repertoire choices, Claire turns her expressively cool-toned voice to Stevie Wonder's Make Sure You're Sure and Paul Simon's I Do It For Your Love plus Laura Nyro's Buy And Sell. Leonard Bernstein's Some Other Time and Lost In His Arms by Irving Berlin, widely considered one of the greatest song-writers of all time, represent Claire's love of the Great American Songbook. There are also a couple of original songs - Worth The Wait, courtesy of Gareth Williams and Wishful Thinking by producer Joel Siegel and pianist David Newton. Known as The First Lady of British Jazz, Claire Martin has previously won Best Vocalist at the British Jazz Awards on seven separate occasions, an award she was nominated for most recently in 2013. Claire Martin has been a driving force behind the UK jazz scene for over 25 years and in 2011 was appointed an OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List for her services to music. Claire's busy schedule not only includes recording and touring but broadcasting on the BBC Radio 3 programme, Jazz Line-Up, which she has co-presented since 2000. Claire has recently embarked on a new and unique musical adventure with The Montpellier Cello Quartet with whom she is releasing a new album, 'Time and Place', in autumn 2014.