In a glowing review for the German music portal Musik an sich, critic Wolfgang Giese hails A Breath of Fresh Air as an excellent showing, one he's careful to note belongs as much to Mason's band as to Mason himself.
Giese traces the pianist's path from his first turn to the piano at 13, under the influence of Ray Charles, to opening himself fully to jazz at 15, a period shaped by an early meeting with the Marsalis brothers, Branford and Wynton, who quickly recognized his talent. Since 2018, Giese notes, Mason has worked in New York both as a sideman and as leader of his own trio, a period that included his inclusion in the Jazz at Lincoln Center Emerging Artist initiative.
Giese writes that from the very start, with opener "Rediscovery," the music breathes something familiar, a style shaped and proven across decades, one he could trace back through jazz history to figures like Miles Davis and Sonny Rollins. "Secrets," he writes, spontaneously puts him in mind of Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers and their 1960s sound, though he can't quite explain why.
TEARING DOWN ACADEMIC BOUNDARIES
Giese emphasizes that the record's defining triumph is its unforced elegance, with the quintet avoiding the cold, technical traps of modern conservatories in favor of organic, swing-laden clarity. He singles out trumpeter Tony Glausi's bluesy expression on "Secrets," punctuated by drummer Domo Branch's precise, gut-level accents, and calls out the gentle Latin touch of ballad "Duende" as a highlight worth lingering on before moving through the rest of the record.
“This is how jazz should sound.” — Musik an sich (Germany)
ABOUT A BREATH OF FRESH AIR ALBUM
A Breath of Fresh Air stands as a living statement against calculated studio overproduction. Tracked live over a two-day span in December 2024 at Bunker Studios in Brooklyn, Sean Mason assembled his quintet, Tony Glausi, Chris Lewis, Felix Moseholm, and Domo Branch, to record entirely by ear. Released on October 24, 2025, via Taylor Christian Records, the project treats traditional post-bop idioms not as museum pieces, but as a direct, intuitive language.
ABOUT MUSIK AN SICH
Musik an sich is a long-running German digital music publication covering an expansive spectrum of genres, with a dedicated focus on independent rock, progressive movements, and contemporary jazz. The outlet is highly regarded for its detailed, track-by-track critiques and its emphasis on evaluating the emotional and historical authenticity of international releases for a German-speaking audience.
RESOURCES
Official Website: seanmason.net
Stream the Album: Listen on Spotify
Original Source: Read the full review on Musik an sich
