I Watch You Sleep Scott Dunn Celebrates Richard Rodney Bennett with Claire Martin and The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

• 1 I Watch You Sleep 04:30
• 2 Autumn in New York 05:37
• 3 It's Only a Paper Moon 04:25
• 4 For Ev'ry Man There's a Woman / It Was Written in the Stars 03:34
• 5 Round About 05:35
• 6 I'll Always Leave the Door a Little Open 04:32
• 7 I Wish I'd Met You 04:59
• 8 Don't Play Games with Love 05:13
• 9 Goodbye for Now 04:30
• 10 Early to Bed 03:26
• 11 I Never Went Away 04:06
• 12 Let's Go and Live in the Country 02:53
• 13 Not Exactly Paris 04:23
• 14 My Ship 03:58
• 15 I Wonder What Became of Me 04:01
• 16 It Was Written in the Stars 05:13
• Total Runtime 01:10:55

Info for I Watch You Sleep

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 jazzvocalist Claire Martin OBE, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Produced by Grammy Award winning JoshuaBlair and Exec-produced by Richard’s dear friend and publisher Gill Graham

Scott Dunn introduces the album perfectly in the booklet notes: “This lush recording is a tribute to Sir Richard Rodney Bennett and his love of jazz. Bennett pursued multiple musical fields with extraordinary success. Not only was he an incredible pianist; one of Britain’s leading concert composers and Pierre Boulez’ first student, he was also a prolific film composer who contributed to some fifty movies and won Oscar nominations for Far From The Madding Crowd (1967), Nicholas And Alexandra (1971) and Murder On The Orient Express (1974). Alongside all of this, Bennett sustained a career as a jazz pianist, singer, songwriter and lyricist. His stints at New York’s Algonquin Hotel and London’s Pizza on the Park were legendary. He often appeared alone but among his distinguished partners were singers Cleo Laine, Eartha Kitt, Chris Connor, Marion Montgomery, Mary Cleere Haran and Claire Martin. It is to celebrate this jazz side of our late friend, that Claire Martin, Gill Graham and I conceived this recording.” American conductor Scott Dunn – one of the most versatile and capable musicians of his generation – has appeared with leading orchestras in the United States, the UK and all over the world. Dunn is a passionate promoter of American and contemporary music, with a special affinity for film and cross-over composers ranging from George Gershwin and Rufus Wainwright to Leonard Rosenman and Danny Elfman. He made his momentous Carnegie Hall debut playing the premiere of his own orchestration of the ‘lost’ Vernon Duke Piano Concerto in C. Also a distinguished pianist, Dunn was a student of Byron Janis and a former assistant to Lukas Foss. He has held posts with Pittsburgh Opera, New York City Opera, Glimmerglass Opera and currently serves as associate conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Hollywood Bowl Orchestra.

"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." (jazzwise.com)

Claire Martin, vocals
Ryan Quigley, flugelhorn
Rob Barron, piano
Jeremy Brown, double bass
Matt Skelton, drums
The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Scott Dunn, conductor, arranger, piano on tracks 15, 16

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. In 2018 she was the proud recipient of the BASCA Gold Badge Award for her contribution to jazz and was voted Jazz Vocalist of the Year at the Parliamentary Jazz Awards in 2022. Claire became a professional singer at nineteen and signed to the prestigious Glasgow based Linn Records in 1990, Claire has since released twenty albums with the label, collaborating with musical luminaries including Martin Taylor, John Martyn, Stéphane Grappelli, Kenny Barron, Sir Richard Rodney Bennett and Jim Mullen on many of these recordings. She has also recorded three albums for the Copenhagen-based Stunt Records, including the highly praised ‘Songs & Stories’ album with Callum Au in 2020. Claire has performed worldwide with her trio and, until his death in 2012, worked extensively with the celebrated composer and pianist Sir Richard Rodney Bennett in a cabaret duo setting both in England and the US where they played to sell-out houses at venues. Claire has appeared as a featured soloist with the Hallé, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, the Royal Northern Sinfonia, the BBC Big Band and the BBC Concert Orchestra. She co-presented BBC Radio 3’s flagship jazz program ‘Jazz Line-Up’ from 2000 to 2017 and interviewed many of her musical heroes, including Pat Metheny and the late Michael Brecker. At the Queen’s Birthday Honours in June 2011 Claire was delighted to be awarded an OBE for services to Jazz.

Scott Dunn
American conductor Scott Dunn has recently appeared with the Cleveland Orchestra, the Atlanta Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, BBC Concert Orchestra, San Diego Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Sydney Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, Vienna Radio Orchestra (RSO), Toledo Symphony and other distinguished ensembles – as well as with such headliners as Trey Anastasio, Beck, Bill Charlap, David Foster, Elvis Costello, Leslie Odom Jr., Sutton Foster, Steve Martin, and many others.

Recent highlights have included Richard Rodney Bennett/Total Immersion with the BBC Concert Orchestra, Singers and Claire Martin broadcast live from London; Sondheim and Jazz Side by Side with Ann Hampton Callaway, Bill Charlap and others at UC Berkeley and Disney Hall; the world premiere of Dunn’s live to film orchestral adaptation of REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE with the LA Phil at Disney Hall; STAR TREK BEYOND live with the Seattle Symphony, numerous pops appearances with the Atlanta and San Diego Symphonies; and Jonathan Dove’s MANSFIED PARK with UCLA opera. His most recent project was conducting Rufus Wainwright’s opera Hadrian at Madrid’s Fundación del Teatro Real.

Dunn is the Associate Conductor of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra since 2012. Also, a distinguished pianist Dunn made his 1999 Carnegie Hall debut playing his own orchestration of Vernon Duke Piano Concerto. His recent CDs include The Complete Violin Works of Vernon Duke (UAV 5990) with the RSO and violinist Elmira Darvarova; and a ‘new’ Vernon Duke musical, MISIA (PS Classics 1526) with arrangements by Dunn and orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick.

This album contains no booklet.