Mason knows how to keep a tune on its toes.
Taylor Christian Records
Sean Mason – piano; Felix Moseholm – bass; Domo Branch – drums; Reyna Nuñez and Leandre Douglas – movement artists
Sean Mason is a forceful piano player, hitting the keys hard, with a sharp ear for rhythm and a feel for how far he can push the time. There are touches of Monk, Horace Silver and maybe even Ramsey Lewis in his playing, but none of them sounds quite like Mason. He knows his jazz history without sounding like he’s sitting in anybody else’s chair. And for all that force, he can pull back and play with a gentle touch. On State of the Art, he brings bassist Felix Moseholm and drummer Domo Branch back for another trio recording, with movement artists Reyna Nuñez and LeAndre Douglas joining them in the studio.
Mason grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina, where his grandfather was a jazz drummer and ran a club. Moseholm and Branch have played with him on his previous trio albums, The Southern Suite and A Breath of Fresh Air. In 2025, he recorded My Ideal, a piano-and-voice duo album with singer Catherine Russell.
Mason swings hard. On “Secure the Bag,” Branch gets a lot of punch out of his brushes, riding a shuffle beat the bass helps set up. Some of Mason’s chords sparkle with a bit of dissonance before he slips back into the swinging opening shuffle. On “A Good Day,” Mason pounds out a repeated figure, then backs off and touches the keys more lightly. He pushes and pulls at the time, tossing the music around as if he’s trying out different ways to play it before letting it go. Claps and shouts break in around him, the happy racket of people caught up in what’s happening.
Mason does play hard but he’s also good at making a melody sound almost fragile. In “Honey Pie,” the high notes ring out above a left hand that seems wired straight into the bass. Then he sweeps dramatically down the keyboard, as if he’s not worried about being polite. In “Carolina Waltz,” Mason starts pushing a lovely melody, improvising around it as the bass and drums grow louder. He returns to the original tune and the others quiet down around him. “Nightcap” is low-key, but the bass and drums try not to let it be. Mason feels like he’s working out ideas on the piano, sampling simple phrases before grabbing the melody again.
“One United” was recorded live at Dizzy’s Club. The band’s introduced, Mason takes off, and the rhythm section leaps in. Little melodic phrases dart across the piano, with a little dissonance off in the corner. Near the end, someone’s singing, and that seems to push the piano even harder, until the applause takes over.
Mason knows how to keep a tune on its toes.
