| Biography | Claire Martin (born 1967, Wimbledon, London, England) is an English Jazz singer.
Martin grew up in a house "full of music", and claims to have learned all of Judy Garland´s songs by the time she was 12. She cites Ella Fitzgerald´s Song Books as being the life changing influence which inspired her to attend stage school and later to study singing in both New York and London. Her professional career started with her first engagement, aboard the QE2, where she sang in the Theater Bar for two years.
At the age of 21, Martin formed her own jazz quartet. In 1991, she was signed by the Scottish jazz label Linn Records, and her debut album, The Waiting Game, was released in 1992. The album was well reviewed and was selected by The Times as one of their "Albums of the Year". Later that year, she opened for Tony Bennett at the Glasgow International Jazz Festival.
Martin continued performing and recording, garnering numerous awards and rave reviews throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, including wins at the BBC Jazz Awards for Best Vocalist, and six wins at the British Jazz Awards. She has released a total of thirteen albums, all on the Linn label, and has collaborated with various prominent musicians including Martin Taylor, John Martyn, Stephane Grappelli, Mark Nightingale, Sir Richard Rodney Bennett, Jim Mullen and Nigel Hitchcock. In addition to her singing career, she is also a co-presenter for Jazz Line Up on BBC Radio 3.
In June 2011, Martin was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2011 Birthday Honours for services to music. |