Personnel
Claire Martin (vocals), Steve Melling (piano), Arnie Somogyi (bass), Clark Tracey (drums), Mark Nightingale (trombone), Jim Mullen (guitar)
A new phase in Claire’s recording career opened in 1994, when she joined forces with her new producer, Joel Siegel, manager to the cult jazz singer, Shirley Horn. Introduced to Claire by Richard Rodney Bennett, Siegel supervised proceedings on Claire’s third album Old Boyfriends.
It was another acclaimed exercise in daring and unorthodox programming, the material ranging from the risque lyrics of Rupert Holmes’ ‘Partners in Crime’ to the heart-on-sleeve sentiments of ‘Close As Pages In A Book’ a vintage ballad from the pen of Dorothy Fields and Sigmund Romberg. The title tune, written by Tom Waits, had previously been heard on the soundtrack of the Francis Ford Coppola film ‘One From the Heart’.
Warmly recieved by the critics, Old Boyfriends was another best-seller, rising to Number Two slot on the Virgin jazz charts.