Pianist and composer Sean Mason and vocalist Catherine Russell have released My Ideal, a duo album of voice and piano, out today on Dot Time Records. The record is available digitally, on CD, and on vinyl LP.
My Ideal is Russell's ninth studio album and brings together two artists from different generations of the same tradition. Russell's ties to early jazz run deep: her father, pianist and bandleader Luis Russell, was Louis Armstrong's longtime musical director. Mason brings a command of the stride piano style that much of this repertoire was first written for.
A PARTNERSHIP BUILT ON THE BANDSTAND
My Ideal grew out of a working relationship that began on Russell's 2022 album Send For Me, where Mason played piano on seven of the tracks. Two years later, the pair stripped the format down to its essentials: one voice, one piano, and nowhere to hide.
The sessions took place at Sear Sound's Studio A in New York City, with Russell producing alongside Paul Kahn and engineer Katherine Miller. With no band behind them, every choice rests on the conversation between the two players, and Mason moves between supporting Russell's phrasing and stepping forward with stride passages of his own.
It is Russell's first full album of voice-and-piano duets. Mason brings both modern harmonic ideas and a deep command of the stride tradition to the bench. Russell has said the duo gives her "the freedom to have fun and be in the moment."
Critics took notice before the release. The Arts Desk's review of My Ideal placed it alongside classic voice-and-piano records such as Ella Fitzgerald with Ellis Larkins and Tony Bennett with Bill Evans.
A WALK THROUGH JAZZ HISTORY
Across 11 songs, My Ideal moves from the early days of jazz into the 1950s, tracing the music's history in miniature. Mason's playing draws on the stride masters James P. Johnson and Fats Waller, while the program reaches as far forward as Ray Charles, one of Mason's own earliest influences.
The title track is the 1930 standard "My Ideal" by Richard A. Whiting, Newell Chase, and Leo Robin, a tender ballad that gives the album its name and its mood. The duo also takes on "A Porter's Love Song," the Ray Charles hit "I Don't Need No Doctor," and "South to a Warmer Place." The album closes on the Peggy Lee blues "Waitin' for the Train to Come In."
CREDITS
- Sean Mason: piano
- Catherine Russell: vocals
- Producers: Catherine Russell, Paul Kahn, and Katherine Miller
- Recorded: Sear Sound, Studio A, New York City, by Katherine Miller
- Mixed: Katherine Miller at Annandale Recording
- Mastered: Alan Silverman for Arf! Mastering
- Photography: Sandrine Lee
- Art direction and design: Karin Elsener
- Liner notes: Will Friedwald
LISTEN
My Ideal is out now on all major streaming platforms, CD, and vinyl LP. Both physical editions include liner notes by jazz critic Will Friedwald, and the album was recorded at Sear Sound's Studio A in New York City with just voice and piano. Full credits and the complete track list are on Dot Time Records' My Ideal album page, and you can stream and download My Ideal on Bandcamp.
For more of Sean's music as a leader, explore his debut album The Southern Suite, released in October 2023 on Blue Engine Records, the label of Jazz at Lincoln Center. A set of original compositions for his quintet, the album draws on his North Carolina roots and earned praise from NPR and DownBeat, which noted his "penchant for elegant melodicism."
