CLTure's profile of Sean Mason, a Phillip O. Berry Academy of Technology graduate, frames The Southern Suite as an extension of the city itself, built to honor the range of musical influences he grew up around. Mason tells the outlet he wanted the album to reflect Charlotte's underrated depth as a musical city, particularly its jazz and gospel traditions, weaving eight songs across classical, 1920s and modern jazz, R&B, and church music into a single suite.
The piece traces how Mason found his way out of a Charlotte jazz scene that wasn't especially built for aspiring musicians in the late 2000s and early 2010s. A chance meeting with Branford Marsalis at UNC Greensboro in 2017, arranged with help from professor Chad Eby, turned into a ten-minute lesson and, eventually, a lasting mentorship. "Meeting Branford Marsalis at UNCG was a pivot point," Mason says of the encounter that led Marsalis to bring him on tour and later recommend him for Juilliard, where Wynton Marsalis serves as Jazz Director.
CLTure also credits JazzArts Charlotte, then still known as JazzArts Initiative, with shaping Mason's early development after his mother found the program advertised in the local paper the summer before ninth grade. Beyond the technical training, Mason describes the program as his first real exposure outside a childhood spent almost exclusively around Black peers, a shift he calls disorienting at times but ultimately one he's grateful for. He singles out JazzArts founders Lonnie and Ocie Davis by name for the formal musical education he says he couldn't have gotten anywhere else.
The profile closes by placing The Southern Suite alongside two more recent projects: Chrome Valley, his collaboration with poet Mahogany L. Browne on the Black experience in America, and My Ideal, an August 2024 duo album with vocalist Catherine Russell that pays tribute to early jazz figures like James P. Johnson and Fats Waller.
ABOUT CLTURE
CLTure is a Charlotte, North Carolina-based publication covering music, arts, food, sports, and culture across the Southeast, founded in 2012. The outlet regularly profiles Charlotte-connected artists and covers the local creative community alongside broader entertainment news.
ALSO AVAILABLE
The Southern Suite is available on vinyl, CD, and sheet music, with a student discount for enrolled learners. For updates, subscribe to Sean's mailing list.
FOLLOW SEAN MASON
Instagram: @seanmason
TikTok: @seanmason_
Facebook: Sean Mason Official
YouTube: Sean Mason
X (Twitter): @seanmason
Spotify: Sean Mason
RESOURCES
Official Website: seanmason.net
Stream the Album: Listen on Spotify
Original Source: Read the profile on CLTure
