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| Roswell Rudd & Heather Masse at Joe’s Pub  Roswell Rudd, aka THE INCREDIBLE HONK, is one of the most imaginative, stimulating players, Rudd is known for his work with groundbreaking groups and musicians like Herbie Nichols, the New York Arts Quartet, Cecil Taylor, Archie Shepp, Carla Bley, and Steve Lacy.His musical range has expresssed itself in extraordinary musical collaborations and subsequent recordings with musicians from Mali (Toumani Diabate), Mongolia (Buryat Band), the great Puerto Rican cuatrista Yomo Toro, and the Gangbe Brass Band of Benin. Singer-songmaker Heather Masse is a rare artist with "lush velvety vocals, capable of melting butter in a Siberian winter." - All Music She is a member of the Billboard-charting folk group, The Wailin' Jennys She has been a frequent guest on Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion, both as a solo performer and as a member of The Jennys. On the show, she has collaborated with artists such as Elvis Costello, Wynton Marsalis, Sheryl Crow, Renee Fleming, and Emmylou Harris. Rudd and Masse met one another about four years while appearing on A Prairie Home Companion. With almost 50 years difference in their ages, their chemistry is palpable and AUGUST LOVE SONG is about melody and songs both standards and originals. This is music that makes you wish you could live forever just to hear more of it. This is what the critics are saying about AUGUST LOVE SONG As close to us as skin. How unlikely is the pairing of youthful and exuberant vocalist like Heather Masse and the free jazz deity of one Roswell Rudd? Yet, we have August Love Song and what can we make of it? …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. By C. MICHAEL BAILEY ALL ABOUT JAZZ MUSIC MATTERS CD REVIEW Roswell Rudd & Heather Masse—August Love Song 2016, Red House Records Heather Masse's vocals are a rare blend of bell-like timbre and expression. She seems to be a natural alto, yet she can hit impossibly high notes as sweet and easy as a lick on a melting ice-cream cone. At eighty, consummate jazz trombonist Roswell Rudd is still a master at teasing subtle textures from his instrument, no mean feat for an instrument whose basic sound is generated by bilabial vibrations. The tunes are a combination of standards and originals with a strong sense of melody and sophisticated lyrics…. You can enjoy August Love Song a different way every time you play it. Pretty much, whatever song is on at the moment will be your new favorite. The cross-generational chemistry and sublime musicianship of this duo is a constant delight whether you are thrilling to a new interpretation of a standard, exploring one of their originals or just smiling at the unlikely, lovely sound they make together. —Michael Devlin August Love Song (Red House Records CD298, 2016), Heather Masse & Roswell Rudd, released February 26; www.redhouserecords.com. Duluth Reader - by John Ziegler At first blush, it seems a truly odd pairing: a youngish vocalist with a voice so pure and lovely that angels hear her and say "I wish I could sing like that;" mixed with an 80-something free jazz trombonist who made his mark playing with avant garde jazzers like Archie Shepp, Cecil Taylor and The New York Arts Quartet. This teaming appears to be madness, except that being consummate pros, Heather Masse's incandescent vocal lines and Roswell Rudd's tailgating trombone intertwine like a couple of vipers making love and together create brilliant music on their brand new Red House release "August Love Song." Masse says of the teaming "…Roswell and I found a blend and a presence with each other that, at its core, is like two voices listening and connecting with each other." ROSWELL RUDD & HEATHER MASSE AUGUST LOVE SONG Wednesday September 14th at Joe's Pub 7pm Featuring Roswell Rudd-Trombone Heather Masse-Vocals Rolf Sturm-Guitar Mark Helias-Bass Joe's Pub at The Public Theater 425 Lafayette Street New York, NY 10003 write your comments about the article :: © 2016 Jazz News :: home page |