Goldmine included A Breath of Fresh Air in its Fourth Quarter Jazz Roundup for the end of 2025, a column gathering what the outlet calls the best of the best in new, reissued, and archival jazz releases from that period. Critic Tone Scott opens by noting Goldmine's prior encounter with Mason just over a year earlier, covering his duet album with vocalist Catherine Russell, before turning to this second solo-billed release, describing Mason as leading a well-calculated, precision-assembled quintet.
The review credits the full band, Tony Glausi on trumpet, Chris Lewis on tenor, Felix Moseholm on upright bass, and Domo Branch on drums, with a virtuosity that bleeds through every player's parts across all eight Mason-composed tracks, playing in what Scott calls pure straight-ahead fashion. Rather than treating the album's familiar sound as a shortcoming, the review frames it as evidence of Mason's deep knowledge of jazz history at such a young age, an exposition in preserving the jazz mentality from its foundational era.
“A highly recommended acquisition for your discerning jazz collections.” — Goldmine
Scott recommends the album equally to listeners just venturing into jazz and to longtime aficionados, filing it under a wide stylistic range: hard bop, post-bop, soul jazz, cool jazz, and jazz ballad.
ABOUT A BREATH OF FRESH AIR ALBUM
For a magazine built around what collectors treasure, A Breath of Fresh Air offers plenty worth holding onto: released October 24, 2025, on Taylor Christian Records, the album was captured live over two days at Bunker Studios in Brooklyn in late December 2024, with Sean Mason's quintet, Tony Glausi, Chris Lewis, Felix Moseholm, and Domo Branch, tracking all eight songs together in one room, without overdubs, isolation booths, or written charts. The record is available on vinyl, CD, and as engraved sheet music, formats built to be kept rather than streamed and forgotten.
ABOUT GOLDMINE
Goldmine, founded in 1974, is the world's most renowned publication for music collectibles and memorabilia, covering all genres of music news, interviews, and reviews, with a historical focus on rock and roll. Its regular Jazzology column, written by Tone Scott, focuses specifically on new, reissued, and archival jazz releases each quarter.
RESOURCES
Official Website: seanmason.net
Stream the Album: Listen on Spotify
Original Source: Read the roundup on Goldmine
