Heather Masse has earned deserved praise for her work with Country band "The Wailin' Jennies". I expected this to be in a similar vein. It is in fact, much closer to jazz. With fascinating new takes on some old friends like Moon River and Secret Love, along with some interesting new material, she shows what a memorable instrument she has, and that she is in full command of it. After listening to this EP I can't wait to see where she goes next. It will certainly be a most interesting journey, and I will go whereever she takes me. journey
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This EP has been available for a while, and I'm surprised no one has written a review yet.  Many Moons is a wonderful collection of five tunes split between originals and standards.  Heather's singing is beautiful and soulful as always.  Jed Wilson provides an excellent, constantly engaging, and subtly provoking piano accompaniment.  The recording quality is excellent as well -- the music is presented with warmth, clarity, and intimacy.  The five tracks are well matched, and the EP represents a profound expressive whole that gains rather than loses through repeated listening.  I can strongly recommend Many Moons to both new and old fans.
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I reviewed this EP and the Joy Kills Sorrow debut album featuring Heather Masse MONTHS ago.  Neither review ever posted.   Here's the actual review:  I have greatly enjoyed this EP.  Heather Masse has a beautiful, smooth, and expressive voice.  She puts her own twist on the standards.  Jed Wilson is a terrific pianist.  I would love to see the two of them put out a full cd.  I gave this to my brother, who absolutely loved it.   My favorites are "Moon River" and "Moon Medley".  The latter consists of "Blue Moon", "Kentucky Waltz",  and "Blue Moon of Kentucky".   BMOK is quite slow, but lovely.  The low C Masse hits on Kentucky Waltz is too low for her voice; it doesn't sound bad, but it doesn't sound quite right either.  It sounds heavy, as if she were singing through a fog or something.  I think I only noticed it because I have a similar vocal range.  Of the two songs written by Masse, I prefer "Our World".   "Stars" will appeal to fans of Sarah MacLachlan.  Although it has one rather silly line ("you had the blue eyes, I had the brown"), it is still worth hearing; the melodic line is lovely and HM sings the song beautifully. Those who are sticklers for the correct words may be a little bothered by the fact that on both "Blue Moon" and "Secret Love", HM either deliberately changes some of the words or mistakenly sings a few wrong words.   The original lyrics of "Blue Moon" make more sense than the altered lyrics.  However, someone who is unfamiliar with the song probably wouldn't notice that the lyrics don't quite make sense in one place.  Although this EP is not perfect, it is still one of my favorite recent purchases.  It's peaceful, but not at all boring.  I plan to give copies of this EP to my sister and one of my cousins.
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