Sean Mason is in no rush. The young pianist and composer takes his time in playing and composing, imagining his music as a physical space through which to guide the listener. He sees much of that music taking place in the south, specifically North Carolina, where he grew up playing piano in church. “It’s something about … that feeling of going to that part of the south that always sticks with me,” he says. “And so I can’t really get that out of my music.”
Mason’s music is also exceptionally groovy – as he puts it, “my purpose is to play dance music,” citing ragtime and stride piano as two of his greatest inspirations, along with early hero Ray Charles.
Mason moved to New York in 2018 to attend Juilliard, where he connected with the late pianist Frank Kimbrough, who became his private instructor and an important friend. Mason also caught the attention of both Wynton and Branford Marsalis, who have selected him for the piano chair on some highly prestigious gigs, from an all-Ellington program at Jazz at Lincoln Center to the soundtrack for the film Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.