Home » Jazz Articles » Rising Stars » Meet Pianist Sean Mason
Meet Pianist Sean Mason
Courtesy Carter Wade
He just had huge ears. Students would be assigned writing out four and five horn arrangements from Benny Carter and Duke Ellington, and he’d just be leagues ahead.
—Steve Haines, University of North Carolina at Greensboro Music Professor
Sean Mason got a late start on piano. He began playing at age 13 after first trying trombone and percussion. As a result, he said, "I didn't apply to any music schools for college. I just decided to go about 1 ? hours from where I lived (in Charlotte, NC) to the University of North Carolina at Greensboro."
UNCG does, however, offer degrees in Music Education and Music Performance along with a Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Jazz. While studying there in 2017, Mason learned that
Branford Marsalis
saxophoneb.1960
Remembering his encounter with Mason in a January 2020 interview with the Charlotte Observer's Lawrence Toppman, Marsalis said, "I had 15 saxophone players and Sean. I gave him 'King Porter Stomp' to transcribe. I must have given that to 15 students (over the years), and none ever learned it... I gave him Edvard Grieg's 'Lyric Pieces,' and he came back and played two of those basically from memory. I said, 'You might want to consider Juilliard. Go to their website, put in your audition tape, and they will call you.' I told my brother (Wynton, Director of Juilliard Jazz), 'Be on the lookout for this kid."
Recalled Mason: "I played 'Sunny Side of the Street,'" and he asked for my email. He sent me some music to transcribe—'King Porter Stomp' and a couple of classical pieces. I was hungry. I memorized everything. That impressed him, we developed a long-term relationship, and he encouraged me to go to Juilliard."
Haines recognized Mason as "a very special musician. I mean, he just had huge ears. Students would be assigned writing out four and five horn arrangements from
Benny Carter
saxophone, alto1907 - 2003
Duke Ellington
piano1899 - 1974
Mason attended Juilliard but left during the pandemic and formed his own trio with bassist Butler Knowles and drummer Malcolm Charles. He also performs frequently as a sideman. "I like being a sideman learning other people's music," he said. On August 19, he subbed for
Emmet Cohen
pianob.1990
Herlin Riley
drumsb.1957
Through his connection with Marsalis, who wrote the soundtrack for the Netflix movie, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Mason played piano on the soundtrack. "We finished Ma Rainey during the pandemic," he said. "It was a pretty long process. We had to make sure we stayed safe. It was difficult. This was music from 100 years ago. The language was constricted to the 1920s. It was as if bebop never happened. We did all the recording in New Orleans."
In January 2020, Mason was part of trombonist
Mariel Bildsten
trombone
Count Basie
piano1904 - 1984
Duke Ellington
piano1899 - 1974
Fats Waller
piano1904 - 1943
Wynton Marsalis
trumpetb.1961
Mason's connection with Bildsten dates to early 2019 when he was part of her band playing the late night slot at Dizzy's. That week-long gig resulted in Bildsten's 2020 Outside In album, Backbone, which, as Bildsten described in last month's Jersey Jazz, was developed during rehearsals for that engagement and recorded the day after the gig ended. Recalling that during that week, "We really wanted to get comfortable with the music," Mason added that the resulting album, "shows how good a bandleader Mariel is."
Last month, Mason appeared with Bildsten's septet at Chelsea Table + Stage, a new club on West 26th Street, and he has played at another new club in the Wall Street area called Casa Cipriani. He has also performed as a sideman in bands led by bassist Russell Hall, trombonist Jeffrey Miller, vibraphonist Joel Ross, and trumpeter Charles Turner.
Mason taught himself to play piano on a Casio keyboard his grandmother gave him as a 13th birthday present. Two years later, he took lessons at the JazzArts Initiative (now JazzArts Charlotte) camps. But the biggest influence on his decision to get serious about piano was
Ray Charles
piano and vocals1930 - 2004
Tags
Rising Stars
Sean Mason
Sanford Josephson
Sean Mason - piano
Branford Marsalis
Dizzy's Club
Chelsea Table Stage
Comments
PREVIOUS / NEXT
Sean Mason - piano Concerts
Nov
15
Sat
Sean Mason Quartet
Miller Theatre at Columbia UniversityNew York, NY
Support All About Jazz
All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.
Buy Now
