The award-winning, OBE-decorated British jazz singer CLAIRE MARTIN follows up 2020’s Songs And Stories, her acclaimed hook-up with rising trombonist/arranger Callum Au, with another collaborative venture: this time with noted US conductor/arranger SCOTT DUNN on I Watch You Sleep – Scott Dunn Celebrates Richard Rodney Bennett, released by Stunt Records on 31 March 2023.
Martin, who began her recording career 33 years ago and enjoyed a long and fruitful liaison with Scottish indie Linn Records, brings her own experience of working with Richard Rodney Bennett to the project; she recorded three albums with the late New York-based British composer and songwriter, who died in 2012 and whom many will remember for his haunting 1960s movie soundtracks, which included Far From The Madding Crowd and Billion Dollar Brain.
The new album is an ambitious project that pays tribute to Bennett’s musical legacy, including interpretations of some of his own compositions as well as his most-treasured favourites from the Great American Songbook. The sixteen tracks are distinguished by sumptuous arrangements by Dunn, whose orchestral charts – impeccably played by The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra – frame Martin’s gorgeous voice with an immersive backdrop.
Two tasters from the album – the gorgeous ballad ‘I Watch You Sleep,’ a Bennett original adapted from his score to the 1979 movie Yanks and ‘Don’t Play Games With Love’ are available now to buy or stream as digital singles.
The album I Watch You Sleep – Scott Dunn Celebrates Richard Rodney Bennett is released by Stunt Records on 31 March
