My work moves between genres and form, at times I have felt like a poet who sings, After 5 albums of originals; I can say I am a vocalist and composer.
usually I am singing as a form of smoothing pain, as stones in a tumbler.
Lyrics are channeled, an experience of reception with a strong social content; from society to intimate relationship…
When I paint, I don’t have an active aware mind…I paint, painting is freedom. Freedom to express without the presence of collective opinion.
Sculpting; the terra cotta grog; has consciousness, it has intention and can not be directed. it demands maternal attention.
Interdisciplinary work: I center myself in the elements to be used in the curating: deep listening, improvisation, and interdisciplinary exchange. Rooted in folk (all music) and informed by black american and african traditions. I build a opportunities for exchange; between musicians, between disciplines and between artists and audience…
my music is lyric-driven, socially conscious, and defiant of strict genre boundaries.; as all of us are…My Art is intimate, full of self-discovery and originates through reception.
Living in Brooklyn in the mid 1990s, a musician shared with me, that would later be understood as fusion and world music, shaped by artists such as Dr. Randy Weston who expanded the music by collaborating with Gnawa musicians from Morocco. As well as Don Cherry and his work with poets, and musicians from around the world.
My influences extend beyond sound to include visual art, I was shaped by an early experience of an encounter with Miles Davis—meeting him in Finland and later traveling to Germany at his invitation—where I was able to witness his visual art practice firsthand. Observing Miles create his art by day and by night; his performances at Gasteig Philharmonie Munich, Germany. Witnessing his work with bold, colorful markers, and experiencing his relationship to visual art as distinct from his musical presence and performance, revealed to me how artists process, heal, and discover themselves differently across mediums.
I love the album MINGUS and how Charles Mingus and Joni Mitchell came together… that he sought her out after hearing Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter, he had become ill yet wanted to collaborate, to record unfinished music.
I am struck by the intimacy that artists can achieve after just having met. During Mingus’s healing treatments, Joni painted, documented in art, near to the end of Mingus’s life. And the album MINGUS is his last work.
I studied at the University of the District of Columbia with Profressor Jones and privately with elder musicians including Rueben Brown and Grady Tate, developing a strong jazz foundation -Yet maintaining a commitment to improvisation-creative risk, while seeking cultural connections.
My mission as an artist is to create work that is honest, exploratory, and relational music. That invites vulnerability, presence, and connection. I am continually seeking deeper vocal and emotional expression, balancing control and openness, structure and surrender. Interdisciplinary dialogue, that brings artistic growth.
Living this belief:
improvisation—listening and responding in real time with authentic creativity—is the musical practice and a way of being.
As Abbey Lincoln said, “It’s my life, it’s my work…”
2024, Martin received the Berger-Carter Berger Fellowship from the Rutgers Dana Library Jazz Studies Department to research the Abbey Lincoln Estate. With a focus on Abbey’s Journals, Heidi composed 8 songs thru aligning with Lincoln’s spirit and philosophy. Resulting in a new album ATTUNEMENT (rel Jan. 5th, 2026). Sharing production with Producer and Bassist innovator Michael Bowie.
She shared the stage with Tim Warfield, and George Burton; appeared on recordings with Russell Gunn and Dana Murray.
Her project What Love Endures was commissioned by a 2022 Chamber Music America New Jazz Works grant and premiered at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage in 2023. She has performed both nationally and internationally at:
DC Jazz Fest, Washington, DC
NOMAFEST, Omaha, NE
Mad JazzFest, Virginia
Black Arts Fest Atlanta, Georgia
Winter JazzFest, NYC
Pori Jazz Festival Pori, Finland and Hotelli Vaakuna Helsinki, Finland
Rick’s Café, Casablanca, Morocco (Concert & Master Class).