Although trained at the New England Conservatory of Music as a jazz singer, New York singer/songwriter
Heather Masse is equally versed in a variety of American song traditions, which influences her more prevalent work in folk, pop, and bluegrass. She has performed at venues all over the world.
Masse, who grew up in rural Maine, is perhaps best known as a member of the charting folk group
the Wailin' Jennys.
As a performer, she is a noted soloist as well as a collaborator. She has been a frequent guest on
Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion, in both capacities. On these programs, she has collaborated with a variety of artists including
Elvis Costello,
Wynton Marsalis,
Sheryl Crow,
Renee Fleming, and
Emmylou Harris.
Masse is also celebrated for her performances with contemporary bluegrass band
the Wayfaring Strangers and
Mark O'Connor's Hot Swing. In 2006, she recorded an album with
Joy Kills Sorrow, a contemporary string band. She also led the Brooklyn-based collective Heather & the Barbarians for the album Tell Me Tonight.
In 2008,
Masse released her solo debut EP, Many Moons, a collection of jazz-inspired folk duets with pianist Jed Wilson. Her full-length album
Bird Song was issued by Red House Records the following year. In early 2011,
the Wailin' Jennys released
Bright Morning Stars; it won Canadian Juno Award in 2013. That same year saw the release of Lock My Heart, an album of jazz standards and originals recorded in collaboration with pianist
Dick Hyman that had a long run on the jazz charts.
Masse, who lives in New York's Catskills region, met jazz trombonist
Roswell Rudd during a Prairie Home Companion performance. The pair discovered they were neighbors.
Rudd invited her to sing on his Trombone for Lovers album issued by Sunnyside in 2014. They proved natural collaborators. In 2015, during
Rudd's 80th year, they began to work on a recording project that combined standards and originals. They were aided by bassist
Mark Helias and guitarist Ralf Sturn. The finished album,
August Love Song, co-credited to
Masse and
Rudd, was released by Red House in the winter of 2016. ~ Thom Jurek