"He Never Mentioned Love," British jazzbird Claire Martin's twelfth album on the prestigious Scottish jazz label Linn, is her tribute to the esteemed late American jazz singer Shirley Horn, who's too little-known to the general public. The album comes to us in hybrid SACD format, containing eleven songs associated with Horn, and a cover of Leon Russell's "A Song for You." It also contains two new songs, one, "Slowly But Shirley," with witty words by Martin herself, and music by Laurence Cottle, the album's bassist/producer.

Martin, a multiple-award winning performer whom some have described as "the Madonna of British Jazz," describes this album as "a really heart-felt hour of remembering someone who I really loved." Horn was known for her intimate, whisper in the ear, story-telling approach; songs done at a slow tempo that allowed no place to hide. Martin, a favorite at London's well-known jazz venue, Ronnie Scott's, and New York's equally well-known venue, the Oak Room at the Plaza Hotel, can do that same kind of lovely story-telling, but she can also deliver a smoky, sexy mood piece. She further remarks, "My friends say I'm 50% tart, 50% nun." Indeed.

The album at hand is dominated by slow songs, as you would expect. The title song is simply beautiful, the most touching of a serving of beautiful ballads. However, Martin and guest performer Jim Mullen have reimagined "Everything Must Change," giving it a nice bossa nova beat. "All Night Long" comes to us swinging, loose and lively. "LA Breakdown" has been sped up to a hard-driving, bluesy waltz that would feel at home in the Ray Charles songbook; it's just a show stopper.

Oddly enough, this is the first and only tribute album to Ms. Horn since she's passed, but she's been well-served by it.

I was taking Claire Martin's music for granted. The three releases after
the stunning PERFECT ALIBI sounded, to my ears, nice and polite. Not
particulary engaging. HE NEVER MENTIONED LOVE marks the return of Claire
Martin's music I know and love: gutsy, adventurous, full of the CM attitude that speaks to the mind and heart. The other musicians are with
her every step in every selection. This is the CD that should have been
pressed on vinyl, rather than TOO DARN HOT.

Claire Martin is about to begin a residency in the US.
With luck, her stateside concerts will not become rare occurances.

"He Never Mentioned Love" - a disc that, as eloquently phrased by her long-time record company Linn, 'remembers' the great American jazz diva Shirley Horn is Claire Martin's twelfth album for Linn, and looks set to be rated as her best yet.
While Martin has always acknowledged an eclectic range of influences, it is Horn who has made the deepest impression - and it shows.
Claire Martin wraps her smoky vocals around eleven songs associated with Shirley Horn plus an original specially written in tribute to her by Martin herself and her producer Laurence Cottle ("Slowly But Surely"), and a song by Ian Shaw inspired by a Horn/Miles Davis recording session ("Slow Time").
Martin's vocal art has always been notable for its unaffected, almost conversational warmth and intimacy, the result of a sympathetic intelligence that enables her to identify the emotional core of a song and infuse her version with a precisely appropriate degree of sentiment, and since this rare and valuable skill lies at the heart of Horn's appeal, too, this project was never going to suffer from the tribute's album's besetting sin: contrivance.
Martin's versions of such songs as "The Music that Makes Me Dance", "If You Go", "Forget Me" and "The Sun Died" archetypal, often achingly slow Horn staples are just as affecting as their templates, whether they're subtly combining a wry acceptance of love's vicissitudes with a bruised but defiant optimism, or simply and touchingly confessing undying adoration for a perhaps unreliable lover.
Martin's band pianist Gareth Williams, growling but nimble electric bassist Cottle, drummer Clark Tracey, supplemented or replaced from time to time by various combinations of flugelhorn player Gerard Presencer, guitarist Jim Mullen, saxophonist Nigel Hitchcock, acoustic bassist Steve Watts and percussionist Massimo Marraccini perform flawlessly throughout, self-effacingly enough in their accompanying role to ensure that Martin's mesmerising performances capture and hold the attention, but sparkily assertive and muscular where required for solo duties.
In short: a gem of an album, pulling off the difficult feat of simultaneously showcasing Martin's unrivalled vocal gifts (crystal-clear diction, sureness of emotional pitch chief among them) and celebrating the extraordinarily moving quality of Horn's music.
The album feels fresh, which is a hard ask for a tribute album. Whereas most homage projects feel like a sort of artistic necrophilia, dogged by the looming ghost of talents past, this comes over as an individual take on a fellow star's legacy
Strongly recommended.

This new album from Claire Martin shows why she IS the best female Jazz vocalist in the UK. Most of the songs on this album were recorded by Shirley Horn a great American Jazz singer and Pianist who was obviously a big influence on Claire Martin.

Theres a wonderful mix here, ballads and swing plus a few unusual covers which demonstrate Claire Martins eclectic taste. My favourites at the moment are "Everything must change" with Jim Mullen on guitar and "Song for you". This last song shows how a classic pop/rock song (Leon Russell wrote and recorded it in 1970) can be adapted to Jazz. Her phrasing on this track is immaculate.

The band are very good, Clark Tracy is on drums, Gareth Williams Piano and there are various guest musicians including the aformentioned Jim Mullen on guitar. This is a superb album and I'll be surprised if I hear a better one this year.