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
's voice and
's piano. Over the course of his 60-year career,
has mastered the great American songbook, making him a seamless accompanist to the young vocalist.
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
are standards written by the likes of
Rodgers & Hart
,
George & Ira Gershwin
Billy Strayhorn
Duke Ellington
, and
Kurt Weill
, and to her credit,
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