Winning, witty and set to swing

My Account
Logout

Create an Evening Standard Account

Use your social network

Save time by using your existing account to sign in to Evening Standard

We'll never share your information or post anything to your account without your permission

Welcome! Sign in here

Use your social network

Save time by using your existing account to sign in to Evening Standard

We'll never share your information or post anything to your account without your permission

Forgot your password ?

Registration

* indicates fields that are mandatory

Email *

Password *

Confirm Password *

First name *

Surname *

Postcode *

Country *

Mobile phone number

Username *

Gender *

Year of birth *

When you sign up...

You will have access to all our online competitions, discounted offers and can post comments on our site.

You will also receive The Weekender newsletter sent every Thursday - it’s full of fantastic offers and ideas for the weekend. You can update your email preferences in your account page when you log in.

Other newsletters and emails

Homes & Property Newsletter - Yes I want to receive the weekly email with all the latest news on property in the capital

Occasionally we would also like to send you relevant emails detailing specific offers either from ourselves or carefully selected partners. If you would prefer not to receive these then please tick the appropriate boxes below. We will never pass on your details.

I do not want to receive additional offers and information from the Evening Standard

I do not want to receive additional offers and information sent by Evening Standard on behalf of carefully selected partners

Terms and Conditions

* I have read, understood and agree to be bound by the terms and conditions of Evening Standard

Registration

Mail Sent for Registration Confirmation.

A confirmation email has been sent. Please activate your account by clicking on the activation link sent in your mail box.

With a dozen records for Linn to her name, this hip and hard-working lady is approaching her professional prime. Limber and relaxed on stage, she has a sophisticated vocal technique, a keen ear for worthy new songs, a winning way with audiences and, most importantly, a jazzer's urge to swing at all times and to deliver each phrase in a gutsy, unpredictable way.

Singing material associated with one of her heroines, the late Shirley Horn, she gave All Night Long more pace than the languid Shirley would have liked, but the title track was appropriately sorrowful and My Dissipation, a sex-and-drugs bossa-nova tale of Rio streetlife "trans-lated by my Brazilian au pair", was grimly hilarious.

I Didn't Know What Time It Was produced another amusing moment when Claire pretended to hesitate before singing those words after a snappy drum break by Shaney Forbes, a former Young Warrior with a very bright future.

He, plus regular pianist Gareth Williams and bass- guitarist Laurence Cottle, kept things nice and pacy right up the set-closer, Never Make Your Move Too Soon, a rollicking bluesy hit for the great Ernestine Anderson. But as ever with Claire, we also got an unaffected slice of girlish good humour.

"I'm coming out of the closet and admitting I'm a big Jack Jones fan," she said while introducing one of the Californian's least romantic songs, LA Breakdown. "I met him and he's a very nice guy, very orange, with a very nice wife, who comes from Ealing. She had a great American accent and a fabulous handbag that I really really wanted."

Perhaps you'll find one on Fifth Avenue, Claire.

Until Sunday (020 7734 3220).

Claire Martin
Pizza Express Jazz Club
Dean Street, W1D 3RW