JazzArts Charlotte caught up with Sean Mason, a familiar face to the organization after a decade of local support, while he was on tour ahead of the October 27 release of The Southern Suite. Mason describes the album as an exercise in duality: rooted in Southern tradition, yet reaching forward into the innovation expected of him in his adopted home of New York, refusing to treat the two as mutually exclusive.
He traces that duality directly into "Closure," pointing to the way it layers the Black gospel church and bebop's Charlie Parker lineage over the collective improvisation of New Orleans polyphony, with roots reaching back further still to the voice leading and counterpoint of Bach. Despite that density, Mason says the goal was always for the song to stay danceable and singable first, with the complexity working beneath the surface rather than getting in the way. He extends that same idea of duality to the album as a whole, from its balance of masculine and feminine visual energy on the cover to his willingness to hold both love and criticism for the South.
Mason also traces his musical lineage back to Charlotte, crediting Ray Charles as the reason he first sat at a piano and JazzArts, then still known as Jazz Arts Initiative, as the program that shaped his early years after his mother enrolled him in a summer camp she found advertised in the local paper. He credits mentors Lonnie and Ocie Davis with keeping him in the program through high school, and points to Charlie Parker, Bach, and Richard Strauss as broader influences, describing his own approach as continually learning wherever he can while staying rooted in his own voice. Asked what he'd want the next generation of musicians to take from his example, Mason says simply that he wants them to feel free to follow their own calling rather than someone else's.
ABOUT JAZZARTS CHARLOTTE
JazzArts Charlotte, founded in 2009 by Lonnie and Ocie Davis as Jazz Arts Initiative, is a Charlotte, North Carolina nonprofit dedicated to jazz education, performance, and musician support. The organization has worked with tens of thousands of K-12 students across the Charlotte region through its youth ensembles, workshops, and summer programs, with Sean Mason among its most prominent alumni.
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 interview on JazzArts Charlotte
