Alison Stewart: This is All Of It on WNYC. I'm Alison Stewart. After beginning his career in New York City, Grammy nominated composer, jazz pianist and band leader Sean Mason decided to return home to discover a new creative path. It's fitting that his new album is called A Breath of Fresh Air. Just two years after his well-received debut, The Southern Suite, Mason's latest venture provides a multimedia experience in the form of an album, a short documentary film, photo essay and a video series. All of this at the age of 27.

If the name sounds familiar, it's because the last time Catherine Russell was on our show, she was singing his praises for an album that the two of them worked on. A Breath of Fresh Air is out now. Sean Mason has a concert at the Miller Theater at Columbia University tomorrow, Saturday, November 15th at 7:30 PM, but today he's right over there. He joins me in studio for a live performance. Hi, Sean.

Sean Mason: Hey, how you doing?

Alison Stewart: I'm doing well. We're going to get started with a performance. Tell us about the piece you are going to play.

Sean Mason: I will begin with a bit of romance. This piece is called Kiss Me.

Alison Stewart: This is Sean Mason.

[MUSIC - Sean Mason: Kiss Me]

Alison Stewart: That was Kiss Me from composer and pianist Sean Mason's most recent album A Breath of Fresh Air. He's with me now in studio for a special live performance from WNYC Studio 5 before his concert at the Miller Theater at Columbia University tomorrow, Saturday, November 15th at 7:30 PM. Tell us a little bit about the catalyst for your new album, A Breath of Fresh Air.

Sean Mason: Well, I decided to leave New York and it was a temporary decision, but it turned out to be a longer one. It's not forever, but it was a temporary decision to just take a break and give myself some time to recalibrate and have this sort of pursuit of meaning and figure out what am I doing and all that. Everybody's been through it.

I decided to go home to my hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina to do that, and it was great. Out came this music that I wrote. The concept behind it was this was a breath of fresh air for me. It felt like I was finally coming up to breathe again after a series of unfortunate events. I feel like this album brought a lot of optimism to me and it was exactly what I wanted to say at that period of my life.

Alison Stewart: It sounded like it got real intense here in New York and when you went home, you could kind of relax and breathe a little bit.

Sean Mason: I think so, yes. I broke my foot. A piano dropped on my foot. I got off this three month tour and the night I got back, I was like, "I want to move my piano." I moved the piano from one room to another room in my apartment when I got back at 2:00 in the morning, and it crushed my foot. I was like, "All right, this is a sign that something needs to change." Because the tour also was really hard and it was one of those really hard tours.

I was already feeling a little down, and I was like, "All right, let me move this piano." Then I just crushed my foot, and then I was like, "All right, I have to go home because I can't walk. New York is a walking city and this isn't going to work for me, so I need to go home." It was really temporary. I thought it was going to be for like the two to three months that it was going to take to heal my foot, but it ended up being a year.

Alison Stewart: Well, first of all, is your foot okay?

Sean Mason: It's perfect. I don't know if the audience could hear it. It's stomping. It's stomping great.

Alison Stewart: It was stomping good in your Jack Purcells. What ideas and questions did you want to tackle with a new record? Now that you have this room to breathe, you can think a little bit, what did you want to investigate?

Sean Mason: I wanted to investigate what it meant to be an artist. What was my true purpose in this world as an artist? What was my voice? What did I want to say? Why am I here? Just very big questions that people have tried to answer for the eternity of life. I wanted this album to represent at least where I am right now. I don't think that the answers will always get there, but at least I'm closer than I was before. I wanted to feel the depth of my emotions.

The more I sat at home in solitude, the more things just came up and I was like, "Oh, my God, it just feels like everything's just coming up." It was beautiful for me to take the time to really have the opportunity to feel everything that I was feeling and put that into the music, which is my outlet as an artist. A lot of those questions of what am I doing with my life and what purpose do I serve? They sound miserable questions right now, but they weren't really that miserable at the time. It was really honestly what I was thinking about. This album was an answer to those questions.

Alison Stewart: On the cover of the album, you were just jumping in the air. Where was that? What was that?

Sean Mason: Yes, that was in Charlotte. The photographer was literally laying on the ground. The photographer's name is Alex Lockett. He was laying on the ground in a very awkward position with the camera pointed upwards. I was on this high, I don't know, stoop or whatever we want to call it. I just jumped as high as I could and just spread out my arms and spread out my legs and just free. It was great. He captured it and the sky was clear behind it, and it was beautiful. I was like, "That's the album cover."

Alison Stewart: Why was that the album cover?

Sean Mason: Because it represented exactly how I felt like coming out of that time and writing this music. It just felt exactly how I felt. I actually don't even know any better way to put it. I just felt free.

Alison Stewart: Sean Mason is my guest. His new album is called A Breath of Freshman Fresh Air. Let's hear another song. What are we going to hear?

Sean Mason: Ah, actually talking about my foot, this one is going to be called Bone Back. I wrote it because my bone grew back in my foot. It's called Bone Back and it's a celebration song.

Alison Stewart: All right, this is Sean Mason.

[MUSIC - Sean Mason: Bone Back]

Alison Stewart: That was Sean Mason. We'll have more after a quick break. This is All Of It.

[music]

You're listening to All Of It on WNYC. I'm Alison Stewart. My guest is composer and pianist Sean Mason. He's discussing the inspiration behind his new album, A Breath of Fresh Air. He's going to perform a few songs for here in the studio ahead of his concert at the Miller Theater at Columbia university tomorrow, Saturday, November 15th at 7:30 PM. Sean, when did you gravitate towards the piano when you were a kid?

Sean Mason: That's a good question. Well, I grew up around music in general, but the piano specifically, that didn't happen until I was 13 years old.

Alison Stewart: At 13 years old, what happened?

Sean Mason: Well, I started playing the trombone first. I didn't like that. Then I played the drums second. Also didn't really like that, although I wasn't drum line in high school. Then I switched to the piano and loved that. Then I watched the movie Ray and that kind of sealed it for me. I was like, "I want to do that." There was something in my heart that aligned and gravitated to that. I said, "I want to do that." Here I am.

Alison Stewart: You didn't like the drum line?

Sean Mason: I loved the drumline, but the piano felt more aligned.

Alison Stewart: What was it about the piano? Was it that you could express yourself? What was going on?

Sean Mason: I think now looking back, there's a lot that the piano can do. We can deal with melody, we can deal with harmony, and we can deal with rhythm. I think looking back, I probably internally knew that. Where drums, I can't deal with harmony in the same way, of course, that I can deal with piano, and I love harmony.

Alison Stewart: Do you remember the first song that you truly learned to play, that you felt comfortable playing in front of a group of people?

Sean Mason: Frosty the Snowman.

Alison Stewart: Really?

Sean Mason: Yes.

Alison Stewart: Who taught you?

Sean Mason: I taught myself.

Alison Stewart: You taught yourself?

Sean Mason: Yes.

Alison Stewart: You're not self-taught, are you?

Sean Mason: I'm self-taught.

Alison Stewart: Totally?

Sean Mason: Totally self-taught. Then I had lessons a couple years after I started, and then I went to jazz camp and all that stuff. Yes, I started self-taught for sure.

Alison Stewart: Okay, so you're self-taught and then someone comes in and wants to teach you lessons. How did that work?

Sean Mason: It was hard because, my nature, I'm such a free spirit. Institutions in general are very, very, very hard for me.

Alison Stewart: Explain. What do you mean?

Sean Mason: I don't know, I just-

Alison Stewart: You fight against them?

Sean Mason: I'm not the best student. I don't know if any of my former Juilliard teachers are listening, but they probably agree.

Alison Stewart: Well, when did you decide you wanted to be a professional musician?

Sean Mason: That didn't happen until I was going to go to college and I was applying to colleges and I said, "I guess I figure I should figure out what to major in." I decided to do music. There wasn't that much internal support. It's not like my family and my friends were rooting for me. I was like an outsider.

Alison Stewart: Oh, that's interesting.

Sean Mason: Yes, I was definitely an outsider. I just decided to do music. I took it more seriously when I moved to New York, I think, but I didn't necessarily have-- I guess I was too young to really have the self-confidence to really know that I was going to do it as a living.

Alison Stewart: Do you remember your first paid gig?

Sean Mason: Yes. It was my mom's company and the CEO hired me for a restaurant gig for their holiday party. That was my first paid gig.

Alison Stewart: What did you play?

Sean Mason: I played with the trio and I played Christmas season including Frosty the Snowman.

Alison Stewart: It all comes back to Frosty the Snowman.

Sean Mason: That's it.

Alison Stewart: Let's talk about this album. A Breath of Fresh Air. You've called this a testimony of sorts. How does jazz lend itself for testifying? For speaking truth?

Sean Mason: I could spend about three hours answering that question. I think the short version is that, first of all, from a musician's perspective, to really make the decision to play jazz, you have to be out of your mind. You have to be completely crazy, because the work that you put in and the time and energy that you put in, the output and the reward on the other side does not match it.

You have to be crazy to want to do jazz. It's already an unpopular kind of music to begin with, so the odds are already against you. You have to actually really, really love the music, which I do. I love the music. I think it's just a testimony every day to be able to play this music and to play it with the spirit of blues and happiness and joy, which I try to play in the music because the music makes me happy and joyful. In that sense, it's a testimony.

I also think to the audience listening, it can serve as a testimony because of how vulnerable the music demands the listener. Most of the music, it can be challenging to listen to for a younger crowd, but I think it's very demanding, and it requires a certain focus and vulnerability that I think can offer real results and just beauty from the audience to consume the art.

Alison Stewart: A Breath of Fresh Air is your second solo project after The Southern Suite, and you also did an album with Catherine Russell, who was here, had nice things to say about you, called My Ideal. What's the difference between composing for yourself, just you, versus working with others?

Sean Mason: Well, I take composing very seriously. So whether I'm playing somebody else's compositions, like we did for Cat's record, we played a lot of standards and a lot of tunes from the '20s and '30s, or whether I'm composing my own music, I really take composition seriously because I feel like the whole thing starts on the song. You have to have a good composition, in my opinion.

I take composition really seriously, and I take a long time to write the music, and it's never really done. I'm always changing things. It's never really done. I think in general, I take composing very seriously, and when I learn other people's music, I take it really seriously. For the Cat project, I took that really seriously, and I memorized all the lyrics and memorized the-- Even though I didn't sing, I just really wanted to dive as deep as I could into the music. As a person and as an artist, I take composition really seriously.

Alison Stewart: It's interesting, when you play the piano, you sort of sing to yourself.

Sean Mason: Yes.

Alison Stewart: A little bit. Because at first I was like, "Wait, somebody's singing in my ears?" Then I realized it was you.

Sean Mason: Yes. A lot of pianists do that. A lot of pianists do that. I don't know why. It's not like we choose to do it. I actually don't know why.

Alison Stewart: Do you hear it and it comes out when you're playing or? I'm just curious why that-- I do it. I play piano a little bit and I sing along.

Sean Mason: Yes. I have no clue. I don't know. I mean, if you know the answer, let me know.

Alison Stewart: It's because I hear the music in my head. It's got to go somewhere.

Sean Mason: I think that's right. I think that's exactly right. Yes. I think if I were to think about it, that may be right. Yes.

Alison Stewart: You came up to New York to go to Juilliard.

Sean Mason: Yes.

Alison Stewart: What did you get out of Juilliard that you use all the time during your studies?

Sean Mason: Wow. It's the first time I've been asked that specific of a question about Juilliard. I wish I had an answer. I don't know.

Alison Stewart: All right, well, think about that. Do you want to play another song for us?

Sean Mason: I would love to play another song. I wish I had an answer to the Juilliard. A lot of things popped up, so maybe I'll say the first thing that came to mind. Because five things popped up, and I think my gut was just like, "I don't know," but five things popped up.

Alison Stewart: Go for it.

Sean Mason: The first thing that popped up was I learned the value of human relations and how to talk to people, even outside of music. That's something I still use today, just how to talk to different kinds of people, and Juilliard was great because of that.

Alison Stewart: All right. That's a good answer.

Sean Mason: That's it.

Alison Stewart: My guest is Sean Mason. His new album is called A Breath of Fresh Air. What's the song you're going to play for us? Tell us a little bit about it.

Sean Mason: I will now play a composition from the album that I wrote called Unfinished Business, which is about the work that still remains that needs to be done.

Alison Stewart: This is Sean Mason.

[MUSIC - Sean Mason: Unfinished Business]

Alison Stewart: That was composer and pianist Sean Mason. His new album is called A Breath of Fresh Air. You're going to be performing tomorrow at Columbia University in the evening. What are people going to hear?

Sean Mason: They're going to hear a quartet, so they're going to hear a trumpet, a piano, a drum set and a bass. They're going to hear original music, and I'll throw a couple of standards in there, some good tunes to play.

Alison Stewart: Ooh, what standards do you like to play?

Sean Mason: The first one that came to mind is On the Sunny Side of the Street.

Alison Stewart: Why do you like to play that one?

Sean Mason: Because it's really, really fun and it brings back great memories.

Alison Stewart: Memories of what?

Sean Mason: It was a tune I played a lot. It was also the first tune I played for Branford Marsalis, who was my mentor. When he asked me to play a tune, it was On the Sunny Side of the Street. That was the first tune I played for him.

Alison Stewart: What's the best lesson he ever gave you? Brantford Marsalis.

Sean Mason: So many lessons. That's like the Juilliard question. How do I answer that?

Alison Stewart: The first thing. First thing that comes to your mind.

Sean Mason: First thing is to not take things personally.

Alison Stewart: Oh, that's interesting.

Sean Mason: He's intense.

Alison Stewart: Yes, that's interesting for piano.

Sean Mason: Yes, keep the art first and center. Not my ego.

Alison Stewart: That's smart. Sean Mason is a pianist. He will be performing tomorrow night at Miller Theater at Columbia University, Saturday, November 15th at 7:30 PM. The name of his album is A Breath of Fresh Air. Thank you for being with us. We really appreciate you taking the time.

Sean Mason: Thank you, Alison.

Alison Stewart: I'm so glad your foot's good.

Sean Mason: Me too.

Alison Stewart: That is All Of It. I'm Alison Stewart. I appreciate you listening and I appreciate you. I'll meet you back here next time.