I Watch You Sleep (Stunt Records)
Scott Dunn with Claire Martin and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Released March 28, 2023
Jazzwise Top 30 Albums of the Year 2023
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About:
Marking the 10th anniversary of the death of celebrated composer Sir Richard Rodney Bennett, ‘I Watch You Sleep’ is a tenderly curated album conceived by American conductor, arranger, and pianist Scott Dunn, featuring award-winning British jazz vocalist Claire Martin OBE with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, produced by Grammy award-winning Joshua Blair and Exec-produced by Richard’s dear friend and publisher Gill Graham.
Expertly led and orchestrated by Dunn, the album shines a bright light on Bennett’s music and the songs he loved to perform. Known for numerous film scores (two of which received Oscar nominations) and a rich catalogue of concert music, this compilation of Bennett’s original songs alongside works by Harold Arlen, Johnny Mandel, Vernon Duke and Kurt Weill is a fitting testament to his many talents.
Scott Dunn is one of the most versatile artists of his generation, having led many of the world’s most prestigious orchestras including the LA, BBC and Royal Philharmonic Orchestras, the Atlanta, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Sydney, and Vancouver Symphony Orchestras. He’s collaborated with innumerable headliners, most recently Grammy nominated singer songwriter/composer Rufus Wainwright, and jazz vocalist Claire Martin who regularly performed with Richard Rodney Bennett on both sides of the Atlantic. To mark what would have been Bennett’s 80th birthday in 2016, Dunn broadcast a tribute concert on BBC3 with the BBC Concert Orchestra and for which he orchestrated Four Bennett Jazz Songs included in this recording.
Claire Martin has established herself as a tour de force on the UK jazz scene. She has enjoyed worldwide critical acclaim and gained many honours, including eight British Jazz Awards, during a career of over three decades. Claire has performed worldwide with her trio and, until his death in 2012, worked extensively with Sir Richard Rodney Bennett in a cabaret duo setting both in England and the US where they played to sell-out houses at venues
Also featured on the album are jazz pianist Rob Barron, bass player Jeremy Brown and drummer Matt Skelton. And on the final two tracks of this beautiful tribute Dunn also appears as pianist accompanying Martin.
Scott Dunn – conductor, arranger, piano on tracks 15&16; Claire Martin – vocals; with Rob Barron – piano; Matt Skelton – drums; Jeremy Brown – double bass; Ryan Quigley – flugelhorn and with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
‘This recording is treasurable, with superb musicianship and a timeless sensibility. Claire Martin and Scott Dunn have not only lovingly preserved Richard Rodney Bennett’s canon but in the process have given us the joy of discovering some songs we might never have heard otherwise, and that would have been a great loss!’
Michael Feinstein
Track Listing:
1. I Watch You Sleep (Joel Siegel / R. R. Bennett) 4:30
2. Autumn In New York (Vernon Duke) 5:37
3. It’s Only A Paper Moon (Billy Rose / Yip Harburg / Harold Arlen) 4:26
4. For Ev’ry Man There’s A Woman / It Was Written In The Stars (Harold Arlen / Leo Robin) 3:35
5. Round About (Ogden Nash / Vernon Duke) 5:36
6. I’ll Always Leave The Door A Little Open (F. R. Underwood / Johnny Mandel / R.R.Bennett) 4:33
7. I Wish I’d Met You (F. R. Underwood / Johnny Mandel / R.R.Bennett) 4:59
8. Don’t Play Games With Love (F. R. Underwood / R.R.Bennett) 5:13
9. Goodbye For Now (Charles Hart / R.R.Bennett) 4:30
10. Early To Bed (F. R. Underwood / R.R.Bennett) 3:27
11. I Never Went Away (R. R. Bennett) 4:07
12. Let’s Go And Live In The Country (R. R. Bennett) 2:53
13. Not Exactly Paris (Michael Leonard / Russell George) 4:24
14. My Ship (Ira Gershwin / Kurt Weill) 3:59
15. I Wonder What Became Of Me (Harold Arlen / Johnny Mercer) 4:01
16. It Was Written In The Stars (Harold Arlen / Leo Robin) 5:13
Personnel:
Scott Dunn: conductor, arranger, piano (15, 16)
Claire Martin: vocals
Rob Barron: piano
Matt Skelton: drums
Jeremy Brown: bass
Ryan Quigley: flugelhorn
with
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
First Violins: Tamás András, Shana Douglas, Esther Kim, Eriko Nagayama, Andrew Klee, Kay Chappell, Anthony Protheroe, Erik Chapman, Adriana Iacovache-Pana, Imogen East
Second Violins: Elen Hâf Rideal, David O’Leary, Jennifer Christie, Charlotte Ansbergs, Peter Graham, Jennifer András, Stephen Payne, Victoria Lyon, Anais Boyadjieva
Violas: Abigail Fenna, Liz Varlow, Joseph Fisher, Ugne Tiškuté, Chian Lim, Jonathan Hallett
Cellos: Richard Harwood, Roberto Sorrentino, Jean-Baptiste Toselli, William Heggart, Naomi Watts, Lucy Gijsbers
Double Basses: Benjamin Cunningham, David Gordon, David FC Johnson, Elen Roberts
Flutes (also piccolo and alto): Ian Mullin, Joanna Marsh
Oboe: Daniel Bates, Maxwell Spiers (oboe and cor anglais)
Clarinets and Bass Clarinet: Nicholas Carpenter, Katy Ayling
Bassoons: Richard Ion, Emma Harding, Alexander Walker (contrabassoon)
French Horns: Alexander Edmundson, Kathryn Saunders, Kristina Yumerska, Paul Cott
Trumpets: Mike Allen, Adam Wright
Tenor Trombones: Matthew Knight (tenor), Rupert Whitehead (tenor), Josh Cirtina (bass)
Tuba: Kevin Morgan
Timpani: Tom Lee
Percussion: Stephen Quigley, Martin Owens
Harp: Daniel De Fry
Recorded on 24 & 25 August 2022 at Blackheath Concert Halls, London, UK
Producer: Joshua Blair
Engineer: Fiona Cruickshank
Executive Producers: Gill Graham and Scott Dunn
Mix and Edit: Joshua Blair
Mastering: John Webber Alchemy Mastering at Air
Recording Rig/Engineering: Sound Corporation
Orchestra Consultant: Ian MacLay
Cover Art by Robert Courtright (1926-2012)
Collage Construction (1980) used with permission of the artist’s estate
Art Photography by Evan Bedford
Session Photography and Graphic Design by Nadja von Massow / nad.works
Review:
A flawless song list comprising Richard Rodney Bennett originals plus some of his favourite standards, stunning arrangements by conductor Scott Dunn, plus the unfailingly mellifluous vocals of Claire Martin, combine to produce an extraordinarily beautiful tribute to Bennett which marks the tenth anniversary of his death.
Whether it’s the majestic sound of the RPO strings in the Bennett/Siegel opener ’I Watch You Sleep’ – an utterly gorgeous song in the hands of Bennett’s great friends and erstwhile musical partners Martin and Dunn which, aside from Shirley Horn’s exquisite version on her 1988 trio album, Softly, has been covered remarkably infrequently – the iridescent vibraphone which introduces a deluxe arrangement of Vernon Duke’s ‘Autumn in New York’ with its vivid imagery of “glittering crowds and shimmering clouds in canyons of steel”; the clarion call of Ryan Quigley’s flugel in ‘Round About’ (another overlooked gem from the team of Duke and lyricist Ogden Nash which seems to hover atmospherically in the air); or the adroit splicing together of a brace of Harold Arlen/Leo Robin songs, ‘For Ev’ry Man There’s a Woman/It Was Written In The Stars’, penned for the 1948 US film noir Casbah, the 16-track album presents an incredibly touching statement from the heart. Whether navigating through the elegiac orchestral textures of ‘I Never Went Away’ or intimate duo and trio versions of ‘I Wonder What Became Of Me’ and ‘I Wish I’d Met You’, Martin’s enormous gifts as a storyteller have never sounded more potent.
Peter Quinn (Jazzwise)
