In 1996,
Claire Martin was in same position as fellow British jazz singer
Ian Shaw.
Martin, then 29, had become England's top young female jazz vocalist (just as
Shaw was its top young male jazz vocalist), but in American jazz circles, she was far from well-known. After recording all of her previous albums in England and using mostly British players,
Martin made her U.S. recording debut when she ventured to Manhattan that year to record
Make This City Ours. American players
Antonio Hart (alto sax),
Gerard Presencer,
Peter Washington (bass) and
Gregory Hutchinson (drums) were employed as sidemen along with
Martin's U.K. pianist
Gareth Williams, and they serve her well on both the standard "How Deep Is the Ocean" and less obvious choices like
Gino Vannelli's "Gettin' High,"
Blossom Dearie's "Bye-Bye Country Boy" and
Milton Nascimento's "Make This City Ours Tonight." One of the CD's most interesting surprises is "No Moon at All," which is taken at a fast pace instead of the comfortable tempo one expects from a song
Julie London had defined in the 1950s.
Make This City Ours proved that if
Martin achieved her goal of becoming better known in the U.S., the attention would be well-deserved.