"HEAT" Compilation CD will raise funds to help keep Mainers warm this winter!

by Bob McKillop

 

Taylor Mesple opened The Maple Room in the fall of 2007, and began to bring the best and brightest of the touring folk, jazz, classical, and blues musicians to Maine.

Now, through his new record label, Old Port Records, he is offering high quality, live recordings of the best of those performances on a two-disc CD album, entitled "HEAT"!

But the most impressive part of this project is that the net proceeds of the disc will all go to the "Keep Me Warm Fund", sponsored by Maine Community Action!

This is a wonderful album, containing 34 tracks of knife-edged quality recordings, by artists like Peter Mayer, John Hammond, Pierre Bensusan, John McVey, Mateusz Kolakowski, Pierce Pettis, Jeffrey Foucault, Meg Hutchinson, and Bill Frisell!

Some great local artists round out the collection, including Jud Caswell, Clara Berry, Dan Merrill, Rachel Griffin, and Taylor Mesple himself!

Taylor Mesple describes the project:

"My wife Rebecca and I opened The Maple Room in 2007 to reflect the “magic” of music. We invited our favorite musicians, musical heroes and living legends, along with artists that we had “discovered” – artists that composed the rich soundtrack to our lives, who spoke a “secret language” of the heart and spirit.

And they came. I sat in with them on stage. I played with some for the first time. I played with others like we'd always played.   An intimate listening room was born and a year of amazing concerts followed. Some of the most poignant artists in the world arrived.

The Maple Room’s 95 seat capacity provides a unique listening environment designed to allow the artist and the audience intimate access to the human element in music. Given that and the newness of our venue, many within the larger community missed these amazing performances. Now we share these performances with you on CD.

Distilling a year of performances to just 20+ songs was a serious project. These compositions had to harmonize as a statement, be sonically compatible and convey a congruent mood. A labor of love - this is the cream from our first year's harvest. May they heat your soul and warm your heart."

The idea for the disc actually originated with the album's executive producer, Gil Helmick.  He and Taylor have worked together for over a year to bring the project to fruition.

The production on the tracks is such that you feel as if you are sitting there right in the Maple Room's "sweet spot", enjoying the performance in real time.  The energy that floods the stage from the audience, and that is absorbed and reflected by the performer right back to the crowd, is a tangible vibration that runs through the entire collection.  These are some of the most talented people in the country, in a small, intimate setting, at the top of their game!

The CD has been released just in time for the holiday season - they will delight anyone who receives them as a gift, both for their musical content and for the benefit that flow from this project to those in need of assistance staying warm this winter.

Please consider purchasing one or more of these CDs and help Gil and Taylor reach their goal of 10,000 units.  That will keep a lot of people comfortable this winter.

The CD may be purchased at all Maine and New Hampshire Bull Moose Music locations, and also on line at     http://www.heat4all.com .

The above website also has much more information about the project, and contact information if you'd like to get in touch with Taylor Mesple (at Inner Circle Productions) or with Old Port Records.

Helping this project will keep you warm in several ways!  Please consider purchasing one or more CDs and keep the heat flowing to Maine Families this winter!