LOVELL — The Brick Church for the Performing Arts, Christian Hill Road, will welcome Heather Masse and Jed Wilson for a return visit after last year’s benefit concert that filled the church at 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 2. This dynamic and engaging duo performs in theaters and venues across the country, including guest spots on Garrison Keillor’s A Prairie Home Companion. They have lent their talents to help Lovell’s historic Brick Church — now a well-loved performance space — raise funds.
New York singer-songwriter Heather Masse grew up in rural Maine and began singing when she was young. Trained at the New England Conservatory of Music as a jazz singer, she is steeped in the jazz tradition, which informs her distinct approach to singing folk, pop and bluegrass.
A member of the Billboard-charting folk super group The Wailin’ Jennys, Masse has performed at top venues, sharing the stage with the world’s most acclaimed pop, classical and jazz acts, including Elvis Costello, Wynton Marsalis, Sheryl Crow, Bruce Cockburn, Joan Osborne, Bruce Hornsby and the Boston Pops Orchestra.
Jed Wilson grew up in Gladstone, Oregon, and began studying piano at a young age. As a teenager, he was an active performer on the Portland, Oregon, jazz scene, and won prestigious awards (including Downbeat Magazine’s “Best High School Jazz Soloist” honor three years in a row). Wilson received a bachelor’s degree in jazz performance from New England Conservatory in 2004.
While still a student at NEC, he formed a long-standing musical partnership with renowned jazz vocalist (and NEC faculty member) Dominique Eade. The duo have toured widely, and in 2006 released a critically acclaimed CD that appeared on many of the year’s top-10 album lists.
Masse and Wilson met as jazz students at The New England Conservatory of Music and have been performing together ever since — for more than 10 years. Their live show mixes a range of music, including folk, jazz, blues and country. Their collaboration has resulted in two albums and a host of appearances across North America. In 2008, Masse released “Many Moons,” an EP of jazz-inspired folk duets with Wilson.
It is rare to hear artists like Masse and Wilson in an informal, local setting. The concert audience will enjoy an extraordinary opportunity — and help support the efforts of the Brick Church for the Performing Arts to restore a local architectural masterpiece.
Tickets are $20 and will be available at the door; refreshments will be served at intermission. For reservations contact Stan Tupaj at 207-925-1500. For more information, go to www.lovellbrickchurch.org.
Heather Masse
Jed Wilson
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