Irene Martin

Born into an Irish singing family, Irene grew up in the Shropshire Hills listening to her parents singing all the wonderful old standards (her mother had sung with the Neil Kearns Dance Orchestra at Dublin's Olympic Ballroom alongside Rose Brennan of the Joe Loss Orchestra, before settling in the UK). 
From a tender age, Irene was performing to live audiences as well as appearing on the BBC which led to recordings in London. 
Singing and songwriting continued to be part of her life whilst studying in York where she played an active part in the Jazz scene before moving to South America.
Whilst there, in between family and work commitments, she continued singing publicly featuring as guest vocalist at the Orinoco Jazz Festival in Venezuela. 
On returning to the UK, she was quickly accepted into the North West jazz circuit singing with some of the finest pianists and line-ups and has appeared at the Nantwich Jazz and Blues Festival, and the Ribble Valley Jazz Festival. 
Settling in Chester, Irene was invited to join the Wall City Jazzmen as their vocalist in 2006 with whom she sang until they retired as a band in December 2019. 

Irene is currently working on new projects in the North West.