Martha D Lewis

Last updated
ML Main website pic.jpg

Martha D Lewis (aka Martha Lewis and Martha Demetri Lewis) (born 1967 in London) is a British performing and recording artist regularly performing in the contemporary jazz and world music scene in the UK and Europe. She is also a presenter, broadcaster, composer, multi-instrumentalist and educator. Lewis' work combines Mediterranean and other world musical influences with jazz and electronica. Lewis is Patron of the Leukaemia Cancer Society UK.

Contents

Lewis' musical work is included in the British Library.

In 2018, Lewis gained a master's degree in songwriting. In 2022, Lewis moved away from her trademark Mediterranean world jazz genre and released her 6th album, All That You See, [1] an album of songs recorded at Peter Gabriel’s, 'Real World' Studio in UK. The album was produced by producer and bass player, Nick Cohen and mixed by producer and engineer, Stephen W Tayler. Also in 2022, Lewis established a new platform called UK Jazz Plus created to promote and spotlight new storytelling in jazz.

Biography

Martha was born and raised in London to Greek Cypriot immigrant parents. At seven years old, she studied guitar and voice and formed a semi-pro covers band at the age of 14 years. She went on to study music at Middlesex University, where she also studied opera singing for three years. After graduating Martha's career was launched as part of a group representing Cyprus in the Eurovision Song Contest in Luxembourg.

Martha's went on to form the award-winning music-comedy duo Donna & Kebab the early 1990s. This long term and ongoing creative partnership with singer musician actress, Eve Polycarpou rapidly accumulated TV, radio and theatre credits. The duo have toured throughout UK Europe and Middle East. In 1995, 'Donna & Kebab', renamed Martha and Eve, focused their attention on their prolific songwriting skills and have recorded three albums, a club single and a DVD of their show Live at the Hackney Empire.

Martha's solo project was launched in 1999 following a commission by The Arts Council of Great Britain for a 30-minute musical work, this work was broadcast by BBC Radio 3. Martha has since received numerous commissions for music work including further works from the Arts Council, PRS foundation, London Arts Board, music festivals, a short film Silences; theatre plays Mrs Ruskin, Lucrezia; title and incidental music for Channel 4 documentaries Midlife, Mind.

Martha has released two CD's as a solo artist. Martha D Lewis-Cafe Aman-Double Life released in 2007. Lewis's most recent large scale project was as a singer and presenter in the film documentary My Sweet Canary about the life and music of Roza Eskenazy. Following Lewis’ participation in the film, she released her second solo CD in 2015 Homage To Roza an album of contemporary interpretations and arrangements of classic Greek Blues, specifically Eskenazy repertoire, from 1920s to the 1950s. This album featured drummer Jack De Johnette. Martha's previous 2010 release of ‘Misirlou’ was featured on the ‘Best of European Jazz 2010’ compilation for The EFG London Jazz Festival.

Martha presented a documentary on 'BBC Radio 3' entitled, A Journey Into Rembetika-Music of the Outsiders

Discography

Martha & Eve

Solo

On Film

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Benny Andersson</span> Swedish musician and composer (born 1946)

Göran BrorBennyAndersson is a Swedish musician, composer and producer best known as a member of the pop group ABBA and co-composer of the musicals Chess, Kristina från Duvemåla, and Mamma Mia! For the 2008 film version of Mamma Mia! and its 2018 sequel, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, he worked also as an executive producer. Since 2001, he has been active with his own band Benny Anderssons orkester.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martha Reeves</span> American singer (born 1941)

Martha Rose Reeves is an American R&B and pop singer. She is the lead singer of the Motown girl group Martha and the Vandellas, which scored over a dozen hit singles, including "Come and Get These Memories", "Nowhere to Run", "Heat Wave", "Jimmy Mack", and their signature "Dancing in the Street". From 2005 until 2009, Reeves served as an elected councilwoman in her hometown of Detroit, Michigan, U.S. Martha Reeves and the Vandellas were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995. In 2023, Rolling Stone ranked Reeves at number 151 on its list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bruce Hornsby</span> American musician (born 1954)

Bruce Randall Hornsby is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. His music draws from folk rock, jazz, bluegrass, folk, Southern rock, country rock, jam band, rock, heartland rock, and blues rock musical traditions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rufus Wainwright</span> Canadian singer-songwriter and composer

Rufus McGarrigle Wainwright is a Canadian-American singer, songwriter, and composer. He has recorded eleven studio albums and numerous tracks on compilations and film soundtracks. He has also written two classical operas and set Shakespeare's sonnets to music for a theatre piece by Robert Wilson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Fletcher</span> English author, composer, musician and singer

Thomas Michael Fletcher is an English musician, composer, author and vlogger. He is one of the lead vocalists and rhythm guitarist of English pop rock band McFly, in addition to being the group's founder.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Madeline Bell</span> American soul singer

Madeline Bell is an American soul singer, who became famous as a performer in the UK during the 1960s and 1970s with pop group Blue Mink, having arrived from the United States in the gospel show Black Nativity in 1962, with the vocal group Bradford Singers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donna Lewis</span> Welsh singer

Donna Lewis is a Welsh singer. She is best known for the 1996 pop hit single "I Love You Always Forever", which peaked at number five on the UK Singles Chart, and also peaked within the top ten of the charts in Australia, Austria, Canada, France, Germany, New Zealand, Norway, and the United States. In the latter country, the song peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 for nine weeks, having been held off the summit by the Bayside Boys Remix of "Macarena" by Los Del Rio. It also became the highest-charting single on the Billboard Hot 100 by a Welsh artist since Bonnie Tyler topped the chart with "Total Eclipse of the Heart" in 1983. Additionally, the single is tied third among songs with the longest runs at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and at second for most weeks at number one on the Billboard Mainstream Top 40 chart. Lewis teamed up with Richard Marx on the 1997 adult contemporary hit "At the Beginning" for the Anastasia soundtrack. In 1997, Lewis was nominated for the Brit Award for Best British Female Artist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Suggs</span> English musician

Graham McPherson, known primarily by his stage name Suggs, is an English singer-songwriter, musician, radio personality and actor.

Mandalay were a trip hop duo from the United Kingdom, composed of multi-instrumentalist Saul Freeman and multi-instrumentalist-composer-singer Nicola Hitchcock. They released two albums and were briefly tagged as "Madonna's favourite band".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brenda Russell</span> American singer-songwriter

Brenda Russell is an American singer-songwriter, producer, and keyboardist. Russell has a diverse musical range which encompasses R&B, pop, soul, dance, and jazz. She has received five Grammy nominations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ruby Turner</span> British Jamaican singer, songwriter, and actress

Francella Ruby Turner MBE is a British Jamaican R&B and soul singer, songwriter, and actress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gail Ann Dorsey</span> American singer and bassist

Gail Ann Dorsey is an American musician. With a long career as a session musician mainly on bass guitar, she performed regularly in David Bowie's band, from 1995 to Bowie's last tour in 2004.

Honey Bane is an English singer and actress, possibly best known for her 1981 UK Top 40 single "Turn Me On Turn Me Off".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sophie Solomon</span> English musician

Sophie Solomon is a British violinist, songwriter and composer who fuses many different musical influences into her music. She was artistic director of the Jewish Music Institute, SOAS from 2012 to 2015 and is now Chief Marketing Officer at high-growth music technology start-up ROLI.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carleen Anderson</span> American soul singer (born 1957)

Carleen Cassandra Anderson is a US American born/UK resident Music Artist. She was the vocalist, composer and musician for the Young Disciples and is known for her numerous, varied collaborations. Her solo career began in 1992. She is credited for composing and writing futuristic Operas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leona Lewis</span> British singer (born 1985)

Leona Louise Lewis is a British singer, songwriter, actress, and model. Born and raised in Islington, Inner London, she later attended the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology in Croydon. Lewis achieved national recognition when she won the third series of the television talent show The X Factor in 2006, winning a £1 million recording contract with Syco Music. Her winner's single, a cover of Kelly Clarkson's "A Moment Like This", peaked at number one for four weeks on the UK Singles Chart and broke a world record by reaching 50,000 digital downloads within 30 minutes. In February 2007, Lewis signed a five-album contract in the United States with Clive Davis's record label, J Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Orphy Robinson</span> British jazz musician and composer

Orphy Robinson MBE is a British jazz multi-instrumentalist who plays vibraphone, keyboards, saxophone, trumpet, piano, marimba, steelpans and drums. He has written music for television, film and theatre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eric Lewis (pianist)</span> Musical artist

Eric Robert Lewis, popularly known as ELEW, is an American jazz pianist who has found cross-over success playing rock and pop music. He is known for his unconventional and physical playing style, which eschews a piano bench and includes reaching inside the piano lid to pull at the strings directly, as well as the creation that he calls "Rockjazz", a genre that "takes the improvisational aspect of jazz and 'threads it through the eye of the needle of rock.'"

My Sweet Canary is a French-Greek-Israeli-German documentary film from 2011 about the life of Jewish-Greek rebetiko singer Roza Eskenazi. Its director is the Israeli Roy Sher. In the movie, Martha Demeteri Lewis, Tomer Katz and Mehtap Demir, three young musicians, look for the most famous singers of rebetiko and especially with the intention of learning more about the music career of Roza Eskenazi, as they travel between London, Jerusalem, Corinth, Istanbul, Athens and Salonika.

Eve Polycarpou is a British stage actress, singer and songwriter. She is best known for her roles in Mother Courage and Her Children and In the Heights.

References

  1. "Martha D Lewis: All That You See". Jazzwise. Retrieved 2023-04-25.