Duluth News Tribune Nov. 5th 2009
John Ziegler
Have you ever had one of those experiences you just weren't prepared for? Where the sensory overload left your mouth and your eyes, or ears, wide-open?
That's what happened to me when I heard Heather Masse sing for the first time several years ago. The impression she left on me was indelible, and I knew we'd hear more from this amazing talent.
At the time she was with a Boston-based string band and it was the first time in Duluth for the disc-less group. As the four instrumentalists shuffled in and began tuning and noodling on their axes, a rail-thin woman with long dark hair, a summer dress and cowboy boots slipped in and stood quietly in a corner without saying anything or even warming up. I had no idea what was about to unfold.
The red light went on, and Joy Kills Sorrow launched into one of their original compositions. When the woman stepped to the mic and began to sing, it was as if someone had turned on a 500-watt incandescent bulb that glowed and gave off heat. The other instruments, good as they were, melted away as that voice just radiated.
Of all the wonderful women in music over the past 20 years, this girl just flat-out blows 'em all away.
Masse transcends mere singing. It's more like her vocal chords are a nerve ending away from what she wants to communicate to you. Her voice has an effortless majesty that's graceful and acrobatic.
"Bird Song" is Masse's first full-length solo disc showcasing her voice, her songwriting and her outstanding band of East Coast musicians.
"Hollywood" is a sassy little gem with a Rickie Lee Jones sensibility that wonders why we try to live up to societal expectations: "Can't I look different than Hollywood?"
"Over the Mountain" is a churchy ballad that lets Masse's sultry alto soar like an eagle. It sounds like an old gospel tune about redemption and finding peace "over the mountain."
Masse grew up in rural Maine. Her mother played her vocalists like Billie Holiday and Peggy Lee, and their soul was absorbed by the hairbrush-wielding youngster as she would lie on her bed and sing along.
Masse is dividing her time between the Wailin' Jenny's and her own group. She's been a guest on "A Prairie Home Companion" and does spots with Mark O'Connor's Hot Jazz group.
"Time's A Hoax" is a lovely little love song of longing that adds to a good thing when Masse's friend, and formidable singer from Crooked Still, Aoife O'Donovan, joins her with harmony vocals.
If this isn't enough, you'd be hard-pressed to find a sweeter and more humble artist than this woman. When she made her first trip to Duluth she was working with elderly patients in New York as a nurse and hated to go on the road because she'd have to leave them.
I try to avoid those cliche, boring and expected "end-of-year best-of lists," so I will give my truncated version right now and get it out of the way: "Bird Song" is my pick for record of the year for 2009. If you treat yourself, or a loved one, to only one disc this holiday season, get this one; you won't be sorry. Heather Masse is someone very special.
All Music Nov 9th
J. Allen
Bird Song may be singer/songwriter Heather Masse's first solo album, but she had already made a mark in more than one place before its release, as a member of folk trio the Wailin' Jennys (replacing Annabelle Chvostek after the group's third album) and as the frontwoman for rootsy New York band Heather & the Barbarians. Following a solo EP, Bird Song represents Masse's first major bid to present herself as a full-fledged, name-above-the-title auteur. She wisely puts her best foot forward by keeping the focus on her lush, velvety vocals, capable of melting butter in a Siberian winter. The arrangements, led by the sympathetic accompaniment of keyboardist Jed Wilson and lithe-fingered guitarist Lyle Brewer, are mostly sparse, but when the band takes a moment to stretch out, as on closing cut, "Mittens," things get appreciably brighter. Intentionally or not, Masse seems to be coming up to bat in the next-Norah Jonesgame that's been so ubiquitous at the female-troubadour end of the music business since the latter's ascendance, and she moves distinctly away from the overt Americana sound of her work with the Barbarianshere. Interestingly, the most successful moments on the album are the ones where she either embraces those Americana roots wholeheartedly -- the rockabilly train-beat-driven "High-Heeled Woman," the folk-spiritual "Over the Mountain," and the ones where she abandons them entirely, going for an atmospheric effect that owes little to traditional stylistic templates ("Chosen," "Be My Sailor." It's the tracks where she gets caught in between these two approaches that are the least memorable here, coming off as pretty-but-watery versions of a sound you've heard elsewhere many times that was never particularly resonant to begin with. Heading toward the extreme ends of the spectrum would seem to be the best way forward for Masse from here.
| Village Records October 13th, 2009 | |
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With the release of her new solo album Bird Song, arriving November 10 via Red House, Masse and her band have created her most fully realized work yet, a stunning, remarkably varied collection of uniquely American music that touches progressive folk, bluegrass-tinged Americana and contemporary adult leanings. Album opener "I Don't Wanna Wake Up Today" is a gentle blues/rock swayer featuring Masse's lovely vocals and tasteful piano and guitar shadings while the goose-bump inducing title track takes a soft rhythmic accompaniment, Masse's honey-dipped voice and a Celtic-meets-Appalachia melody to subtle, celestial harmonic heights. Highly recommended.
Flying Shoes Review Nov. 20th 2009, Maurice Hope
First off I must state what a fabulously voice New York-based musician Heather Masse possesses and that she uses it beautifully. With support from her band of Jed Wilson (keyboards), Karl Doty (bass), Lyle Brewer (acoustic, electric and baritone guitar) and Joel Arnow (drums) plus, Crooked Still vocalist Aoife O’Donovan on harmony vocals simple Masse’s music comes over in a warm relaxed fashion. She wrote all the songs too —apart from the title cut ‘Bird Song’ (a co-write with fellow Wailin’ Jennys act, Nicky Mehta). From start to finish the set is spare and enchanting.
Rich in her jazz roots and folk littered with pop and country the music weaves so gently —you could compare it to fitting like an old shoe as she utilises the above in a cultured, near hypnotic fashion.
The bass playing vocalist with The Wailin’ Jennys, Masse keeps it real simple and never once over elaborates either in production or vocal delivery. There is every suggestion Heather’s popularity and fine musical acumen will go on from here. If she is cool and laidback to becoming horizontal on a couple of tracks (that I love) she kicks up more dust than a Texas twister on the rockin country, swing delight ‘High Heeled Woman’. Listen to Brewer’s trucking lead guitar runs —follow that why don’t you! I could imagine the likes of Texas blues gal Marcia Ball like with a few more tackling this one.
Seductive and superbly relaxed the peaceful ‘Mornings Breaking The Rules’ coupled with a gentle coercing vintage sounding ‘Bathtub’ (Billie Holiday etc would have loved to do this) and with tinkling piano ‘Orphan Girl’ that eases along in a heart-breaking Hem-like style are the business. Boy, what a beautiful cut this is. she wrote all the songs with few better than ‘Ophan Girl’. A song that owes a little borrowed from the chest of traditional classics in texture, tone and lyrical content as she carves out her own indelible mark.
Others of note include the jazz shuffling ‘Hollywood’, the stripped-bare ‘Be My Sailor’ and with an infectious lilt to it ‘Mittens’ weaves between country and folk in splendid fashion (great acoustic bass and effective piano). There are others of note, and some though sleepers they are non-the less quality. Songs like ‘Time Is A Hoax’ and the gentle coercing ‘Be My Sailor’ are of the kind that you will be end up playing time and time again and enjoy more every time you hear them.
"What a voice! Every once in a while I happen on a voice so pure, with such great texture, intonation, time and phrasingthat it stops me in my tracks. Heather Masse has all that and more." - John Ziegler, KUMD
"Heather Masse has a stunningly beautiful voice and impeccable musicianship. You don't want to miss a chance to hear this singer." - Jazz singer Dominique Eade
"The icing on the cake [of Joy Kills Sorrow] though, is vocalist Heather Masse, whose voice hovers somewhere between Alison Krauss and Maura O'Connell, with the versatility to take on material as widely diverse as Johnny Cash's "I Still Miss Someone", Hank William's "Weary Blues from Waitin'," Paul Seibels's "Louise" and old time standards like "Train on the Island," yet give them each her own intriguing twist." - Sing Out Magazine
"Masse may be the perfect catch for The Wailin' Jennys, which is rounded out by Ruth Moody and Nicky Mehta...Of course, there's also her voice: Masse's surprisingly deep vocal sent a ripple of reaction through the audience. It's a throaty voice, fit for sultry jazz, and it was best showcased on a spooky a cappella rendition of Lead Belly's Bring Me Little Water Sylvie." - Uptown Magazine, Winnipeg
"For the Words Project, New York based reedist Sam Sadigursky crafts ten pieces to accompany poems by lesser-known poets... Heather Masse's performances are the standouts. While this would be a solid record without her involvement, her interpretations and ability to wrap herself into the core of each syllable sends this record into the emotional stratosphere. The record's opening piece, the haunting 'After Paradise,' cuts deep due to Rende's crestfallen piano and Masse's rich alto that eventually builds to a simmering vamp. Masse's interpretation of 'Water, Aspirin, You' matches perfectly with Sadigursky's moving score that allows her to stretch her impressive range and is at its apexduring wordless unison vocalizing. Though the tango dance of'In The Kitchen' is probably not meant to show off the sensuality of Masse's voice, really, it's the kind of performance (and voice) that one could never tire of hearing." - Cadence Magazine's review of The Words Project