A Modern Art [Super Audio CD - DSD]

Claire Martin (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 17, 2009)
• Please Note: Requires SACD-compatible hardware
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Super Audio CD - DSD
• Label: Linn Records
• ASIN: B002JAPEZK
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #288,868 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Is jazz still a modern art? It's a hundred years old, after all, and some performers and fans seem to ignore everything written after 1940. But as far as the work of Claire Martin is concerned the question has only one answer. Apart from being one of the finest singers on the current scene, Martin is constantly searching for new writers and new ways to interpret them, ensuring that her own approach to music stays resolutely in the present. A Modern Art, her thirteenth album, is an eclectic recording that showcases her talents and those of a superb collection of backing musicians-it's possibly the best album of her career to date, which is saying something.

The musicians are some of the best around and all play with skill and empathy. Mark Nightingale's trombone adds a funky edge to the album, guitarist Phil Robson once again displays his ability as an accompanist-his duet with Martin on David Cantor's 'Nirvana' is exquisite-and long-term collaborator, arranger and producer Laurence Cottle, who also plays bass, is recognizably crucial to the overall feel of these songs.

Martin's singing is exceptional-distinctive, expressive and stylish. She can be smoky and sensual-on Michael Franks' 'Sunday Morning Here With You', for example-or playful and funny. On 'Edge Ways,' written by Martin and Cottle, the singer is sensual and playful-satirizing an egotistical and overly-talkative old friend or rival over a suitably upbeat and cheery backing. Donald Fagen and Walter Becker's 'Things I Miss the Most' is given a Latin groove which, added to Martin's light-hearted vocal, gives the song a warmer, more positive feel than the original. Martin is not averse to making a small lyrical adjustment here-she goes to bed with a copy of a celebrity gossip magazine, rather than the more dubious literature favored by the protagonist in the Steely Dan version.

The album highlight is undoubtedly 'Love is Real'. This is a gorgeous ballad, co-written by pianist Esbjörn Svensson, bassist Dan Berglund and drummer Magnus Öström (collectively known as e.s.t.), with lyrics by bassist Charlie Haden's son, Josh. Svensson died in a diving accident in 2008 and Martin sings this as a tribute to the pianist. Her vocal performance is heartbreaking, adding even more emotional intensity to an already powerful song. This is a song that stays in the memory. Given the quality of the album as a whole this is high praise indeed-A Modern Art is a gem.

16 November 2009
Bruce Lindsay --allaboutjazz.com

For her new record, A Modern Art, Claire Martin decided that she wanted to explore more modern contemporary songs that generally fall outside the confines of the Great American Songbook. She chose songs that define her as a modern jazz singer, from the likes of Michael Franks and Donald Fagen, as well as from relative newcomers Pat Coleman and Colin Lazzerini, Mark Winkler and New York Voices vocalist Lauren Kinhan, with a couple of originals thrown in for good measure. While probably mostly unfamiliar to jazz audiences, many of these songs are filled with snappy and clever lyrics and melodies that, given the right treatment, deserve to be heard alongside the classics, proving that jazz is indeed a modern art form. As usual, her smoky-sweet alto voice is the perfect vehicle for delivery of this bag of chestnuts and quirky goodies, and many of the songs are filled with a capricious mix of off-the-wall humor and occasional melancholy. The end result is a remarkably enjoyable new album, easily confirming Claire Martin's place as First Lady of British Jazz.

Her cohorts on this album include many of the usual suspects, including the incomparable Gareth Williams, who graces virtually every song with his extraordinary pianisms. Producer and bassist Laurence Cottle provides an exceptional foundation to all the proceedings with his superb playing and he co-wrote the two Claire Martin originals here, 'A Modern Art' and 'Edge Ways'. The album kicks off with an updated, totally swinging take on the Rodgers and Hart classic 'Everything I've Got Belongs To You' one of only two standards that appear on the disc. Listen here for some burning hot alto sax work by Nigel Hitchcock - Claire Martin definitely surrounds herself with some amazingly talented musicians! Next up is one of two clever and humorous songs by Pat Coleman and Colin Lazzerini, 'So Twentieth Century' which Claire Martin has an amazing way of swingingly delivering to cunning effect. The other, 'Totally' is a hilarious and skillful take on the lexicography of modern music with a sophisticated kind of 'valley girl' twist. 'Lowercase' is a clever survey of life in typographical terms, and includes another really sweet sax fill in the middle. Another hilarious cover is the Cy Coleman standard 'Everybody Today Is Turning On' which rings so true, it could have been taken from today's headlines, instead of from the Broadway musical of thirty years ago!

The SACD sound quality, as usual from Linn, is superb. The disc offers a kind of modified stage perspective; Claire Martin's voice is firmly anchored front and center (as it should be), but there's enough going on in the surrounds to easily make one feel immersed in the proceedings. Hats off to Linn Records for continuing to support the SACD format; they're one of the handful of 'specialty' labels, along with Mobile Fidelity, Chesky and Analogue Productions that are releasing music on SACD in genres other than classical. Don't get me wrong - I love classical music, it's just that there's a heck of a lot of other styles of music out there that deserve to be heard in high resolution too! This clever and entertaining disc gets four stars - very highly recommended!

Tom Gibbs
03 November 2009 --Audiophile Audition

An outstanding jazz singer, no matter how exacting the standards used to define the term might be, Claire Martin has never made an album that was less than excellent and with each one that has appeared she somehow manages to improve upon the extraordinary qualities of the last. Her repertoire here is intriguing, witty and exploratory, and she offers a couple of original songs that make the listener think without ever affecting the visceral enjoyments to be found in her work. To consider a specific example, on A Modern Art, by Martin and Cottle, she takes a wry look at the matter in which so much of what we are presented with today in music has been moulded for the least imaginative among us. Jazz singing is one such product that has been diminished in this way, but Martin achieves that most difficult task of appealing to mind and heart with losing either. I expect that the implied irony in this is deliberate. Some of the songs express Martin's deeply personal thoughts, such as Love Is Real, a composition by and tribute to the late Esbjörn Svensson. Elsewhere, as on Cy Coleman's Everybody Today Is Turning On, David Cantor's Nirvana, Colin Lazzerini's Totally and Christina Bjordal's Promises, she swings with gracious ease, whatever the tempo.

To steal a lyric phrase from another place, Martin simply oozes with class and throughout there are too many magical moments to enumerate. It really is a genuine delight to be able to spend a little time in her company. The arrangers are not named but I would guess that Martin and Cottle, and they are perfectly suited to the moment. Martin's accompanists are all in fine form and, invidious or not, Williams and Cottle are especially worthy of your attention. Altogether, a wholly admirable set and one that lovers of superior jazz singing should acquire without delay.

Bruce Crowther
07 October 2009 --Jazz Journal

Product Description

Import Hybrid-SACD pressing.