Guardian Praise for Claire Martin and Ian Shaw

Prior to their recent sell-out show at The Purcell Room on London's South Bank, The Guardian ran a praiseworthy preview of the, now annual, Christmas concert featuring Claire Martin and Ian Shaw.

"Traditionally, hardcore jazzers aren't crazy about singers. They have a tendency to think of them as more concerned with the camera than the microphone, uncomfortable with improvising, and stuck with the literalness of lyrics. A few win the purists' respect, however. Claire Martin can count the late violin virtuoso Stéphane Grappelli among her fans, as well as the likes of Tony Bennett. She achieved instant recognition with her debut album in 1992 and since then she's been acclaimed as one of the outstanding jazz voices of the last decade. Ian Shaw has been equally celebrated, and often compared to his early idol, Mel Torme. However, he adds a subversive humour to Torme's swing and fluency, as well as an appetite for soul music and a selfless ability to adapt his technique to almost any context. Martin and Shaw spark even more fireworks from each other - and their mutual capacity for deflationary humour runs about as fast as their formidable abilities as spontaneous musicians."  John Fordham

Further evidence indeed that the stock of these two artists is rising. Claire's 2007 album He never mentioned love has been roundly lauded by the jazz and music press in general, deemed by many to be her finest recording to date. She has tour dates planned for various countries in Europe as well as the UK in 2008.

Meanwhile, Ian is readying a highly-anticipated new album of self-penned material for release in Spring 2008. Entitled "Lifejacket" it follows his hugely successful recording of Joni Mitchell songs Drawn to all Things. Watch this space for further details of the album and extensive tour.