August Love Song

On paper they’re an odd musical couple: Heather Masse sings with folk group The Wailin’ Jennys, while Roswell Rudd is a respected avant-garde jazz trombonist several decades her elder. But their lingua franca of old-school jazz balladry results in an album with an ageless patina. Masse’s silky alto pipes and Rudd’s vibrant, visceral licks dart gracefully around each other like longtime dancing partners, whether they’re tackling originals such as the tender “Love Song for August,” or redefining the Duke Ellington standard “Mood Indigo” as a swooping, diving masterpiece of minimalism.