Martha J.

Sheer loveliness, Italian-born vocalist/goddess Marth J has the dulcet pitch of Petula Clark, the bedroomy-eye timbres of Lena Horne, and the exquisite nuances reminiscent of Ella Fitzgerald. Martha’s recording, That’s It displays her rendition of several classic jazz numbers that are a part of the American Songbook like George and Ira Gershwin’s “Our Love Is Here To Stay” and Duke Ellington and Paul Frencis Webster’s “I Got It Bad And That Ain’t Good.” Though Martha J started her music career singing mainstream pop, singing jazz just clicks with her vocals and she sings these songs with a physicality that awakens a new life in these tunes, one with a contemporary voice.

“Stompin’ At The Savoy” draws out a snazzy swing-jazz vibe and the smooth vocal lines of “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love” feel dreamy. Martha’s singing provides a plush haven for the listener, creating an intimacy that opens her up to her audience as she sings directly to each individual. She makes a cozy setting for the listener where falling in love is smiled on and encouraged. The blissful fumes in tracks like “You Go To My Head” and “Angel Eyes” give audiences a retreat from the strife of daily life as her singing insulates the listener in a silky cocoon, and her handling of Ray Noble’s “The Very Thought Of You” makes the listener feel like she is singing directly to them. The sophisticated curves and sleek slopes in her vocals have a sensual strut, and her register has a soft feminine lilt that can charm a cynic into believing that love is worth another try.

Martha J might be considered new to the jazz forum, but jazz enthusiasts must be excited that she is here. Her vocals click with jazz music, showing the same natural beauty that daisies do when they flourish in the sunshine and dolphins do when they swim freely in the wide open seas. Martha J takes care to bring out the graceful lines of these songs and is mindful of their classic beauty. Her voice can turn heads in her direction, and even re-store faith in finding true happiness. - Jazzreview.com

Simply accompanied by piano player Francesco Chebat, Italian-born singer Martha J is a natural in classic jazz fittings with a smooth melodic mannerism reminiscent of Edith Piaf and the vivacious swing-jazz incisions of Jane Monheit, her CD No One But You features a selection of jazz standards including Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart’s “Bewitched” and Billy Strayhorn’s “Lush Life” with a few strands of neo-classical jazz numbers like Chebat and Stefania Martinelli’s “No One But You” and Ralph Rainger and Leo Robin’s “Easy Living.” Martha J’s singing makes these songs twinkle as she revels in their elegance and floats through them with the eloquent strokes of someone born to sing jazz.

Some tunes are beacon by an upbeat cocktail-jazz light like “I’m Beginning To See The Light” as Martha J’s vocals give this standard, penned by Johnny Hodges, Duke Ellington, Harry James, and Don George, a sizzling luster. Martha J not only enhances the assets that these songs already have, she increases their value and adds to their trove. The suave gait of “My Foolish Heart” and “Sophisticated Lady” supports the mellifluous tones of her register, and the fluffy, soft lathers rolling along “Gota De Lluvia” put springs beneath her voice as she sings the lyrics in her native Italian. She wraps the title track around her vocals like the words are an intricate part of her soul, and the smooth jazz cabling of “Ev’rytime We Say Goodbye” nestles around her voice like a warm, mink coat perfectly hued to her earthly goddess-like timbres.

Whether it is an evening filled with revelry or one preferably spent in quiet solitude, Martha J’s album hits the spot. She sustains a spellbinding rapport with her pianist Chebat, and has a warm, inviting glint in her voice that makes audiences feel at home while listening to her. If there is such a place as driving in the easy lane, Martha J has found it. Her voice is ideal for classic jazz moods.
- Jazztimes.com

Artist Interview by: Susan Frances

It’s common for aspiring artists to hear that they could be an international star from agents and people in the press, but in the case of singer/ guitarist/ arranger/ teacher Martha J, those folks are not just weaving tall-tales. Martha J has the goods and the chops to become much more than a local attraction in her native land of Milan, Italy. The lass has a set of pipes that can appeal to the denizens of Australia’s outback just as assuredly as she can reel in crowds for a concert in London’s Hyde Park. When Martha sings in her native Italian, it is as lyrical sounding as Venezuela’s Shakira singing in Spanish, or Canada’s Celion Dion performing in French. Though Martha J does sing most tunes in English on her two debut albums, No One But You and That’s It, when she sings in Italian, she makes it the most desirable language to hear old-school jazz standards in and makes the songs a viable part of herself.

She professes, “I always choose songs that I like, that mean something to me, for their lyric or for the music. If I am singing a song I like, I am sure I can more easily please my audience. It is difficult for me to involve the listeners into something that I don’t like.”

She tells that she decided to record her solo albums, No One But You and That’s It to have some physical proof of her work. She details, “I had been thinking of making a CD such as No One But You for a long time, because I liked the atmosphere I could make when I performed live accompanied only by a pianist. I thought the moment had come when I started working with Francesco Chebat, a young and very talented piano player and composer. I think I felt it was time for me to make a photograph of where I was in that moment, of what my singing was, of all the changes that happened in more than ten years… just that. After so many years of live performances, maybe I just felt that I needed some kind of substantial evidence of my work!”

She reveals, “To tell the truth, No One But You and That’s It were recorded on the same session. I tell you how it went: I wanted to make a CD only with voice and piano. I talked about this with Francesco Chebat but in the end he convinced me that it was better to record a CD also with a rhythm section… double bass and drums with only one or two songs only voice and piano. We booked the studio for 2 days and planned to record two or three songs only Francesco and I on the first day, and to record the rest of the songs with the band on the following day. At the end of the two days, we realized that we had recorded enough songs to make two albums. And so we released two albums at the same time.”

Joining her on both recordings is pianist Francesco Chebat. They perform as a duo on No One But You and are accompanied by bassist Roberto Piccolo and drummer Stefano Bertoli on That’s It. She explains how she met her band, “I met Francesco maybe ten years ago. I had been called as a guest by a band in which he played. After that we played together now and then, but from 2006 I started to consider Francesco a special partner. His way of playing piano was very inspiring for me and he taught me a lot. So it was obvious for me to involve him in my recording projects. Also for the double bass player I had no doubt… Roberto Piccolo with whom we had already worked a lot in concerts and live performances, (he) was the right man. The problem was the drum player. I didn’t really know who to call so I let Francesco decide. He chose Stefano Bertoli and I think that this has been a very good choice. I love Stefano’s sound!”

She cites, “The arrangements of these songs are the result of many years of live performances with many musicians, especially of course Francesco Chebat. Before the recordings, I had some meetings with Francesco in which we discussed the project, decided some arrangements and so on. His ideas are behind almost every song of both That’s It and No One But You.”

She delivers a stellar performance on her rendition of Matt Dennis’ track “Angel Eyes” and enthuses, “This is one of my favorite songs. I like its harmonic structure and the way the melody grows at the beginning of the B section: here the voice can really fly. I can’t remember when I first heard this song, it was a long time ago, but I remember quite well that it was a live recording by Ella Fitzgerald. The lyrics of this song obviously mean something to me. I remember being in the midst of happy people, in a bar or a party, and asking myself what I was doing there since the only person I wanted to see was somewhere else, probably with someone else... But this was a long time ago, I was very young. Now I can smile at this past heart ache and let myself be carried away mostly by the beauty of the melody.”

Though Martha’s chosen path to lead the life of a recording artist means being set on a conveyor belt where step 1 is recording an album, step 2 is going on tour, and step 3 is repeating steps 1 and 2, she sounds completely satisfied with this life. She remarks, “I like people, I like to stay with people and to share with them my great passion: music. I like to be on stage and share with people the joy I feel when I sing. I think that performing live gives my singing a lot more energy, that’s why I always miss people when I record in a studio. I always tell my students to go and sing in band, to go and sing in a pub, in church, in the street... I tell them to go and sing to people, because singing alone for ourselves is as insane as talking alone to ourselves.”

She ruminates over what kind of an impact she would like to make on audiences, “I would like people to be happy, to feel that they have spent a good couple of hours with my music. I would like them to feel lighter. I think that what I try to reveal is my passion for music. I always imagine myself saying: ‘Hey, listen to this song! It is beautiful!.’ It is like when you put flowers in a vase… it is a pleasure for you to handle such beauty and it is greater pleasure when somebody else sees the vase and cries out, ‘Wow! What beautiful flowers!.’ Sometimes, for some songs, I like to create the same atmosphere you have when you tell a joke to a friend… ‘Hey, listen to this!’ and then you have a laugh together.”

She recalls how growing up in Milan influenced her desire to turn to singing, “Milan is my hometown and it is the Italian capital of music. All the most important record labels and companies are based in Milan. In the ‘80s, when I began singing and playing in pubs and little venues, there were a lot of places in Milan where you could play and it was very easy… if you were good enough to earn your living playing almost every night in different venues. I had the chance to meet musicians and to form my first band: Proxima. While playing in a little, ugly and almost empty bar in the outskirts of Milan, we met our first producer. With Proxima, I took part in Sanremo Music Festival and recorded two CDs for PDU/EMI. Proxima raised some interest, but did not seem to be able to make a great success. This, in addition to the requests of the producer that didn’t match my musical taste, made me quit. Since then I have been an independent artist.”

She remembers how it all began for her, “I started going in pubs and venues in Milan. I was too young to drive a car so I had to stay in my home town and play and sing alone. I not only played in little clubs, but also on big stages. Alone! I don’t know if I would have the courage to do this now! After a few years, I started to play with other musicians. I remember a good friend I met at the University, he was a pianist and it was with him that I started singing jazz songs. Then I met Andrea Majocchi who played keyboards and Alberto Deponti who played guitar. We founded Proxima.”

She recollects about those early days, “I began writing and arranging songs when I was twenty. It all started when we met our first producer and the dream of recording our records became true! Being with Proxima was the key to get into the music business and to learn how to become a professional musician. Going to radio stations and (on) TV shows was a great experience and made me aware of the great job you must do to promote your work! I learned that being a good singer and songwriter is not enough. I had to learn to stay on a stage or in front of a camera, to talk to fans and to the press, to make a soundcheck, to do my best in a recording studio... But the most important thing is that I understood that my first goal is to use my vocal skills to truly communicate with people. I understood that for many of us. it is not simple to express our feelings and we turn to art… music, visual arts, theater, cinema, literature, because artists can express what we feel but cannot say. As a vocal artist, this awareness makes me feel very strongly (about) the responsibility of being true to myself and, as a consequence, true to people. I mean, it is just like when you tell a story to a child… we are not children anymore, but we all like to sit and listen to a good story! And the more the story teller delves into his own feelings, the more he can get in touch with the listener’s soul. So, most of all I feel I am a story teller!“

She shares, “Both my parents are good singers but none of them studied music or are particularly inclined to music. This may not have helped me in many things, but maybe let me free to explore, to learn, to choose freely... I am a self-taught guitarist and singer. To tell the truth, my mother sent me to guitar lessons when I was eight, but after a few months the teacher told my mother I did not have a flair for music, so he suggested my mother to save her money and don’t send me to guitar lessons any more. All this was just because I was too young to understand solfeggio. I kept on playing guitar by myself, learning chords and songs by ear. When I was fifteen, I started to study fingerpicking style, listening to John Renbourn, Stefan Grossman and Jorma Kaukonen. As for my voice, I started taking singing lessons very late, just a few years ago. They helped me in very many ways, but I think that sometimes vocal trainers tend to teach not only a technique, but also a style of singing and I think this is very dangerous for a singer. I have always been afraid they could change my personality, making me copy somebody else’s style or trap my creativity with all their rules! Very few vocal trainers seem to understand this, that’s why I never rehearse my songs with a vocal trainer!”

She transitioned from singing pop tunes and folk songs to singing jazz. She admits, “I don’t really know why I have been attracted by jazz music. As a very little child, maybe I was two or three years old, I used to steal my father’s forty-five by Fred Buscaglione and listen to them all day long. Fred Buscaglione was a very famous Italian singer during the ‘50s. He started playing violin. Very few people in Italy know that his name in Europe came immediately after Stephane Grappelli and Joe Venuti. Jazz was his great passion. His style as a singer is something between Louis Prima and classic Italian songs. He was a kind of Italian Clark Gable. I think that I learned from him what swing is! Growing up, I never missed a movie with Fred Astaire or Frank Sinatra and similar. I liked those songs a lot, but nobody told me it was jazz! When I was thirteen, someone introduced me to the Beatles. I learned all their songs with my guitar. I collected records, photographs... I was a real Beatles-maniac! That summer I went to the seaside with my parents and I played guitar and sang on the beach with friends. A boy told me I sang like Joni Mitchell; I said ‘Who is Joni Mitchell?.’ This boy lent me some of Joni Mitchell’s records and I loved her at once! The first songs I recorded when I was seventeen were ‘Little Green,’ ‘The Circle Game,’ ‘Big Yellow Taxi.’ In those years, I discovered also Ella Fitzgerald. I remember listening to some live recordings. I guess it was Montreaux festival. I immediately got mad! This is where it all began, and it went on with Billie Holiday, Dinah Washington, Nat King Cole... But when I really decided to study those songs, my guru has been Chet Baker. He seemed to make it all so easy and straightforward, but with such elegance and feeling!” she emphasizes. “Now a lot of time has passed, but sometimes, I still need to go back to my ‘maestro’ Chet Baker and discover his soft style again. It helps me to remember, that in the end, it is better to sing with a good heart rather than with a good technique.”

Like a rose bush, Martha J’s budding florets have branched out from many different points while always held firmly to the roots system. She reflects, “I think I’ve changed a lot. I feel more mature, both as a singer and as a live performer. I think I gained strength and self assurance. I am quite aware of what I can or cannot do, of my strengths and weak points, of the things I still have to learn or to improve. I am less tempted to follow other people’s suggestions and more inclined to follow my own way, though I always listen with great attention to musicians’ advice and to what people think about my work. As a songwriter, I still need somebody else’s help… that’s why I am working with Francesco Chebat for the new CD. I really hope I will be able to grow. I am sure that there are a lot of things I still need to learn, to practice, to improve. I keep on studying, listening, trying, searching... But all these efforts are just one of the reasons why I love music so much and I need it to be part of my life!”

She confides, “Of course I hope That’s It will become one of the best selling albums of the year! Joking apart, I hope this album will introduce me in the jazz world, giving me the chance to make my work known by many people all around the world. This album is already giving me the possibility to play in festivals and jazz clubs, where I could not even dream to perform before its release! I hope That’s It will go far and will take me far too! I would really like to go and play around the world: USA, Canada, France, Japan, and all the places where great singers performed. That’s It is very important for me because it is getting so many good reviews and appreciation by the public that I feel strong, good and excited enough to go on and write new songs for a new album. I plan to record in September and publish the new CD in winter.”

Though most artists release just one debut record, Martha J is offering two recordings for her debut outing. Her vocal strokes appear effortless as she performs with a beauty that can rival the most attractive songbirds. Martha J has been singing, performing, composing, arranging, and recordings for three decades now, and she sounds exquisite. It’s quite certain that Martha J won’t be terminating her efforts as a solo artist with an album titled That’s It. If anything, the recording leaves the impression that “you ain’t seen nothing yet,” in the immortal words penned by singer-songwriter Randy Bachman from Bachman-Turner Overdrive. - Jazzreview.com

During 2008 the independent label Music Center released "That's It", the first CD dedicated to jazz standard signed by Martha J., singer born in Milan (Italy).
Martha J. is straightforward and unfeigned and can transmit deep and vibrant feelings, with her expressive, deep and at the same time fresh voice.

This fascinating and refined project sums up 10 years of live shows and is based on the collaboration between Martha J. and the pianist Francesco Chebat. To complete the group, Roberto Piccolo on double bass and Stefano Bertoli on drums. They created a energetic and scintillating sound that brings old and famous jazz standards up to date.

The tracklist is composed by ten songs that were smash hits in the first half of the 20th century thanks to the most famous singers of jazz history. The CD opens with 'Almost Like Being in Love' written by Frederick Loewe and Alan Jay Lerner. Also 'I Can't Give You Anything But Love' ''Deed I do' and 'Angel Eyes' are noticeable: Martha performs these songs with her firm voice, showing great confidence without being selfish.
This album expresses clearly also Francesco Chebat's talent: Chebat is able to show al the skill requested by great jazz and is wonderfully supported by the rhythm section (Roberto Piccolo and Stefano Bertoli).

These elements, together with a very good mastering and a crystal clear sound, make the listening of "That's it" a very pleasurable experience. We can say that this is a CD that all jazz lovers will greatly welcome.

Elio Marracci - Jazzitalia.net

This month I will not talk about an old record, but I will tell you about a brand new CD that pays honor to old jazz standards.

The CD is ‘That’s it!’, by the quartet leaded by Martha J. a well known jazz singer from Milan, Italy, with Francesco Chebat - piano, Roberto Piccolo - double bass and Stefano Bertoli – drums (all of them are excellent musicians!). This Cd is the natural result of years of concerts that Martha gave from 1999 on, when she turned almost exclusively to jazz music, after having experienced different musical genres (folk, electronic, pop...).

The title of this CD expresses well what Martha J. is now: an experienced and accomplished vocalist, with a voice full of colors and shades, sure of her talent and of her style, thanks also to the musicians she came across (and that she does not forget to thank!), especially Francesco Chebat, with whom she achieved a deep and intense musical feeling.

Classics like ‘Deed I Do by Hirsch and Rose (this is the oldest song in the CD and one of my favorites), Our Love is Here to Stay by George and Ira Gershwin, I got it bad and that ain’t good (he never treats me sweet and gentle / the way he should) by Duke Ellington and Ben Webster, and Stompin’ at the Savoy by Benny Goodman ... all these songs are remade with respect but with a personal style, and at the same time they have an up to date and fresh feeling; but the most surprising thing is the beginning of the CD, Almost Like Being in Love, where Martha lively leaps over a smooth and rustling background of brushes, with the other musicians that burst in with energy after the first theme... a perfect start!
The CD is really all very good and I can listen to it oven and over ... to listen to some samples, you can go to www.cdbaby.com , where you can also buy it if you like it.
You can also have a taste of Martha’s skill at her concerts: on her website (or on myspace – ndt) you can find an up to date list of her shows (also with other musicians).

- www.iltonnuto.it

A beautiful, clear voice, dynamic phrasing, incisive style, relaxed and self confident vocality, untrimmed of vibrato: this is what appears at first Martha J.
Then, going a bit deeper, you find a balladeuse with deep sensibility, confidential phrasing, a smooth feeling and a natural elegance.

"That's it!" and "No one but you" (both recorded in August and September 2007) are her debut as a leader: in the first work she tends to underline her light and rhythmic side, supported by a very appropriate trio (Francesco Chebat on piano, Roberto Piccolo on double bass and Stefano Bertoli on drums); in the second CD (where ballads stand out) she is a romantic and intimate singer, in a confidential vis à vis with Chebat, one of her most skilled and sensitive partners. (...)

Bruno Schiozzi - Musica Jazz

"... Un disco che coinvolge, emoziona e diverte sin dal primo ascolto ed in cui il jazz più raffinato si avvicina al pop e alla canzone d'autore."

Elio Marracci per Jazzitalia - Jazzitalia.net

"... Un disco che coinvolge, emoziona e diverte sin dal primo ascolto ed in cui il jazz più raffinato si avvicina al pop e alla canzone d'autore."

Elio Marracci per Jazzitalia - Jazzitalia.net

Martha J. : a magic comeback.
A vocal skill that has few equals.

In the current music scenery full of braying donkeys, of empty boxes put at the top of the charts by marketing, in a world where swords remain at home while sheaths are sent to war, to come across he beautiful voice of this singer is a real panacea for the reviewer’s soul, made ugly by the rampant mediocrity.
Martha J., an explosion of freshness, of vocal skill and great professionalism, together with a talent that no school can teach: to cut a long story short, a great, wonderful vocalist.
This CD is a real revelation and its excellent level is not accidental, but... stop reading this review and hurry to buy it!
Moreover, this CD is recorded much better than the most so called audiophile recordings: all instruments are perfectly outlined, with astounding tridimensionality, my compliments to the sound engineer, it makes you want to buy a sound system that is up to the mark!
Martha J. introduces us to the genesis of this work:
“After many years of concerts, I decided to go to a studio and record some of the jazz standards I love most. I had always put off this idea for many reasons: I asked myself what was the point in playing today songs that have been written over half a century ago... I wandered it there was really the need of another version of songs that have been already sung by very famous singers...
In the end, I felt I was ready (maybe also because I finally found the right musicians): I went to a studio and recorded.
I selected the songs that touch me most and I hope I succeeded in transmitting to listeners the same emotions I feel.
The first day I went to the studio with pianist Francesco Chebat. We wanted to do something simple, without slavishly copying the traditional way of playing these songs. First of all, we wanted to transmit emotions, rather than try to stun with vain virtuosities.
To tell the truth, I have always been thinking of making a CD only voice and piano. But then I discussed this idea with Francesco and we both agreed to make a CD with some songs piano and voice, and some songs with a rhythm section (double bass and drums).
So the first day in the studio should have been dedicated to the recording of 3 or 4 songs, only with voice and piano. At four o’clock in the afternoon we had recorded 7 songs!
On the second day the rhythm section arrived: Roberto Piccolo (double bass) and Stefano Bertoli (drums).
We scheduled to record 5 or 6 songs, that should have been added to 3 of the songs Francesco and I recorded on the previous day. But the story repeated itself: at 4 o’clock in the afternoon we had recorded 9 songs!
On the third day, Francesco and I went to the studio and listened to all the stuff. We realized that there were so many good things that it was so difficult to choose, and we regretted not including some songs...
So Francesco and I recorded some more songs, so as to have enough material to make 2 CDs: one only voice and piano and the other voice, piano, double bass and drums.
I hope that listeners can share with us our pleasure to make music, the intensity that all the musicians put in this work and all the emotions I feel when I sing.”
A simple and straightforward story that tells how a work of art, or rather two works of art are born: “That’s It!” and “No one but you” (with Martha J., vocals, and Francesco Chebat, piano):there is no doubt that also this CD deserves a first class degree and even only the song “Sophisticated lady” makes it worth buying it.
(G. Candiano) - www.tgcom.it