Ian Shaw (piano, vocals); Claire Martin (vocals)
Friends of thirty years, one suspects Ian Shaw and Claire Martin could walk onto stage and do it off the top of their heads. On the other hand, the professionalism of this latest installment of The Return Sessions from Frith Street suggests the duo had worked on the set which ran for for something like seventy five minutes.
Those well known figures from the jazz world, Elton John and David Bowie, featured prominently, as did Joni Mitchell and, for an encore, Stevie Wonder put in an appearance. Throw into the mix Leonard Cohen and Karen Carpenter and it all added up to an eclectic, varied set list.
Teach Me Tonight (Gene de Paul/Sammy Cahn) refocussed attention on the GASbook but it didn't matter what the genre or era Ian Shaw and Claire Martin were nothing short of brilliant. Shaw's vocal range is something else, Martin commands the stage (BSH readers who were at Hoochie Coochie last year for Martin's guest appearance with the SSBB will attest to that), what more could anyone want? Well how about Shaw the (very good) pianist and Shaw the (hilarious) stand up comic?
I Love Being Here with You sang Martin, a la Peggy Lee, the duo had fun with Big Yellow Taxi, Shaw reprised his wonderful Sage Gateshead rendition of My Brother and I Thought About You (Van Heusen/Mercer) returned us to the glories of the GASbook. Mutual respect radiated from the stage, two musicians comfortable with one another, safe in the knowledge that they are top of the jazz tree performers. During the last four months there have been some excellent live stream gigs, this one featuring Ian Shaw and Claire Martin was right up there with the best of them.
Russell
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