Heather Masse - Many Moons

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2008
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 23:57
Size: 55,4 MB
Art: Front

(5:25)  1. Moon River
(5:12)  2. Moon Medley
(3:51)  3. Our World
(4:57)  4. Secret Love
(4:31)  5. Stars

New York-based singer song-maker Heather Masse grew up in rural Maine and began singing at an early age. Having taken a degree in Jazz Voice from the New England Conservatory of Music, Heather is steeped in the jazz tradition, which informs her distinct approach to singing music of all sorts. She is a member of the acclaimed Juno-award winning Canadian band “The Wailin' Jennys”, and has performed at 100s of venues across the country including appearances on Garrison Keillor’s A Prairie Home Companion. She has performed with the renowned contemporary bluegrass band "The Wayfaring Strangers," and has appeared at venues including NPR's World Cafe, and Boston's Symphony Hall, sharing the stage with the Boston Pops Orchestra. In 2006, she recorded an eponymous album with the Boston-based group "Joy Kills Sorrow" a modern string band that finds it home in the cracks between bluegrass, jazz, old-time, and pop styles as well as a self-released EP Tell Me Tonight, a collection of original songs performed with her own Brooklyn-based outfit “Heather and the Barbarians.” Heather’s rich, soulful, voice elegantly moves through numerous styles organically and with sincerity- A quality learned from some of her early influences disparate as Ray Charles, Bonnie Raitt, Joni Mitchell, and Chet Baker. Heather’s newest project, The Heather Anne Band plans to record a full-length album of Heather’s original songs and music this coming winter. https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/heathermasse

Many Moons

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Heather Masse, Dick Hyman - Lock My Heart

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 55:25
Size: 126.9 MB
Styles: Vocal jazz, Mainstream jazz
Year: 2013
Art: Front

[4:59] 1. Bewitched, Bothered And Bewildered
[4:20] 2. Lullaby Of Birdland
[5:18] 3. Since I Fell For You
[4:06] 4. Love Is Here To Stay
[5:30] 5. September Song
[4:08] 6. Lost In The Stars
[2:53] 7. Love For Sale
[3:56] 8. If I Called You
[6:37] 9. I Got It Bad And That Ain’t Good
[4:43] 10. Flower Is A Lovesome Thing
[5:07] 11. Morning Drinker
[3:43] 12. I’m Gonna Lock My Heart (And Throw Away The Key)

Heather Masse, part of the Canadian folk duo Wailin' Jennys, teams up with jazz pianist and educator Dick Hyman for a romantic set of standards. Masse and Hyman initially met during an appearance on the radio show A Prairie Home Companion in 2010, performing "I Got It Bad and That Ain't Good," which is included on this set. In a continuation comparable to that first performance together, Lock My Heart is just Masse's voice and Hyman's piano. Over the course of his 60-year career, Hyman has mastered the great American songbook, making him a seamless accompanist to the young vocalist. Masse gained familiarity with these tunes at an early age from her mother, who was a pianist, but she is not a traditional jazz singer, which makes her interpretations of these classics all the more interesting. The majority of tunes on Lock My Heart are standards written by the likes of Rodgers & Hart, George & Ira Gershwin, Billy Strayhorn, Duke Ellington, and Kurt Weill, and to her credit, Masse penned two tracks that fit in neatly with the rest of the program: "If I Called You" and "Morning Drinker." Audiophiles should note that this release is available as a Hybrid Super Audio CD. ~Al Campbell

Lock My Heart

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Roswell Rudd & Heather Masse - August Love Song

Size: 104,5 MB
Time: 45:28
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2016
Styles: Modern Jazz, Jazz Vocals
Art: Front

01. Social Call (3:36)
02. Love Song For August (5:08)
03. I'm Going Sane (One Day At A Time) (5:58)
04. Mood Indigo (4:43)
05. Winter Blues (4:07)
06. Blackstrap Molasses - Old Devil Moon (5:59)
07. Con Alma (4:09)
08. Open House (4:04)
09. Tova And Kyla Rain (2:49)
10. Love Is Here To Stay (4:50)

How unlikely is the pairing of youthful and exuberant vocalist like Heather Masse and the free jazz deity of one Roswell Rudd? It is almost the punchline for a punny joke. Yet, we have August Love Song and what can we make of it?

First, the cover art recalls the movie poster of Summer of '42 (Warner Brothers, 1971) crossed with Love Story (Paramount, 1970). But this love story is one of music...ageless, constant, basic, organic. Both a sepia nostalgia and a fresh, post-modern veneer are evident in these ten well-crafted pieces. They are brilliant contradictions that perfectly complement one another.

Rudd and Masse met one another about four years while appearing on A Prairie Home Companion where Masse has appeared many times, both as a solo ace and as a member of the Wailin' Jennys, a popular folk group consisting of alto Masse, with soprano Ruth Moody and mezzo Nicky Mehta (the current lineup). Masse has made two recordings with the Wailin' Jennys and two solo recordings, her last being the well-received Lock My Heart (Red House Records, 2015) made with pianist Dick Hyman. Of that recording, All About Jazz critic Dan Bilawsky said: ..."Masse may or may not be back on the folk side of the fence but, if she has indeed flown on, she'll hopefully come back to visit jazz on occasion; a songbird with her talents, after all, should be free to fly wherever she pleases." This spirit is in no way diminished on August Love Song.

Behold this curious chemistry where Rudd and Masse prod and feed off one another. Masse emulates Rudd with the most spirited scat and vocalese of recent memory and Rudd digs deep, way past his freedom days, back to when Kid Ory transmogrified into Tricky Sam Nanton crossed with Al Grey on their way to the Eminent JJ Johnson. This chemistry, alchemy really, blooms from the small confines of a quitar-bass rhythm section supporting the two principals. This gives the music a '20s and '30s Hot Club aroma, but that aroma is pine- needle sharp with gin...the good stuff, too. Masse grows languid from Rudd's almost boozy blowing, characteristically in the lower register.

Perfect is Masse and Rudd's command of Gigi Gryce's "Socal Call" as realized by Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday, and Betty Carter. She slows her crack phrasing to the rheology of Molasses. The two build a monument worthy of being strolled through with the diptych made up of "I'm Going Sane (One Day at a Time)" and "Mood Indigo," the latter introduced by Rudd with a growling "It Don't Mean a Thing." The pair duet on the Ellington piece and the results are that of a smoky diamond awaiting proper discovery. Masse reaches deep herself and finds the blues and she is not shy in sharing them with us. A musical center of beautifully titrated honey and Quaaludes languidness.

But we have yet to hear the best. The medley of "Blackstrap Molasses" and "That Old Devil Moon" look clean and clear as water from the old home place well, except for the razor bite of the moonshine when you hear it. This is music that makes you wish you could live forever just to hear more of it. Rudd and Masse close with a sweetly quaint "Our Live is Here to Stay," capping as fine a recording as I believe I can bear. ~Michael C. Bailey

Personnel: Heather Masse: vocals; Roswell Rudd: trombone; Rolf Sturm: guitars; Mark Helias: bass.

August Love Song

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Heather Masse & Dick Hyman - Lock My Heart

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2013
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 55:43
Size: 128,0 MB
Art: Front

(5:00)  1. Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered
(4:20)  2. Lullaby of Birdland
(5:21)  3. Since I Fell for You
(4:09)  4. Love is Here to Stay
(5:31)  5. September Song
(4:09)  6. Lost in the Stars
(2:54)  7. Love for Sale
(3:57)  8. If I Called You
(6:38)  9. I Got It Bad and That Ain't Good
(4:44) 10. Flower is a Lovesome Thing
(5:09) 11. Morning Drinker
(3:45) 12. I'm Gonna Lock My Heart (and Throw Away the Key)

Vocalist/songwriter Heather Masse received her didactic training at the New England Conservatory of Music and her practicum on Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion. Her academy training was in jazz vocals, but her practical experience reflects more folk- flavored fare. Her previous recording, Bird Song (Red House, 2009), was a well- received collections of folk originals, solidifying Masse's folk bona fides established with the wildly popular Wailin' Jennys. Her voice is user friendly, neither over-practiced nor hyper-informed by her education. She is comfortable in her voice. It was inevitable that Masse would return to jazz in the studio, only a matter of time.  That said, only a most impeccable talent could have been tapped for Masse's jazz disc. Not some flashy pianist like the late Oscar Peterson nor an impressionistic player like Brad Mehldau; no, neither of those would do. What Masse's talent and vision requires is an equally informed and experienced musician who could bring a broad horizontal knowledge of jazz piano...and she found that in Dick Hyman. As a mainstay in the music for 60 years, Hyman is proficient in every jazz piano style and brings exactly the skills set necessary for a Heather Masse recording of standards.

From the outset, this recital is something out of the ordinary. First, Masse is liberal and permissive with her treatment of the material. However, that is not to say that she is reckless. Quite the opposite: Masse's superb training has enabled her to bring out the commonalities in music, from the doo wop in "Since I Fell For You" to the stride-blues extravaganza of "Our Love Is Here To Stay." Hyman easily falls into the groove and even guides Masse empathically through these songs, a coalescence of musical vision and sound.

Masse's voice is perfectly natural and fresh lush and supple. She is neither married to the melody nor has the compulsion to show off vocal fireworks. She is relaxed as opium and honey, yet is as exacting as a mathematical equation. Her treatment of Kurt Weill's "September Song" and "Lost In The Stars" reveal Masse's soft touch for difficult material. It does the same for Hyman's playing, which is as impressionistic as it is expressionistic. 

Hyman can simply play anything...well. He gives Cole Porter's "Love For Sale" a barrel-house flavor with a walking left hand. His solo is all 1960s soul jazz crossed with James P. Johnson. Masse belts it out with a commanding sexuality and aplomb. Lock My Heart is a beginning...a beginning of a survey Masse will be making expertly through the Great American Songbook. To think that this is all there will be from the jazzy Heather Masse is unacceptable. ~ C.Michael Bailey   

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=43717#.Up--LeJc_vs

Personnel: Heather Masse: vocals; Dick Hyman: piano.

Lock My Heart

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