Two Voices, One Room: Hervey & Mason Reframe Monk at SFJAZZ
Sean Mason. Photo: EBAR
Trumpeter Anthony Hervey and pianist Sean Mason bring a living-room energy to the Joe Henderson Lab—blues first, intellect in the pocket—and unpack the stories behind “Du-Rag,” “Open Your Heart,” and a Monk program built to unfold in the moment.
Before a note is played, Anthony Hervey and Sean Mason want the Joe Henderson Lab to feel like a living room—cozy, inviting, conversational, and rooted in the kind of trust that allows two musicians to take risks and connect.
“We bond over making music that makes people feel good—putting that blues into the spirit, making people clap, stomp their feet, and have a good time,” Mason says. “And we like to balance that with a touch of intellect and create a full experience.” Hervey nods at the shared ethos: “Everything I do comes from a place of soul and blues. I’m trying to uplift and inspire people and bring a certain warmth, which is why I love making music with Sean.”
Part of that warmth comes from the pair’s easy history—Juilliard classmates who logged marathon duo sessions in Harlem during the pandemic and discovered that the fewer musicians on stage, the more room there is for conversation. “We’ve played duo a lot, so this almost feels like a reunion,” Mason says. “It’s not going to feel uptight. It’s going to feel like two brothers coming together to make some music.” Hervey adds, “It’ll be a very raw, intimate performance—we’ll be talking to the audience, just the two of us making music as if we’re in your living room.”
“We bond over making music that makes people feel good—putting that blues into the spirit, making people clap, stomp their feet… and we balance that with a touch of intellect to create a full experience.”
For Hervey, that dialogue is embedded in “Du-Rag,” the trumpet-piano piece from his debut *Words From My Horn*. “I started writing the song at Juilliard while studying ragtime form with the late, great Phil Schaap,” he says. “Ragtime’s multiple strains and modulations produce so much contrast, and I wondered what that would sound like in a modern setting. I love early music, bebop, hard bop, and the blues—I try to embrace all of it. The song explores ragtime, blues, and gospel, covering a range of emotions. I had Sean in mind while writing, and I was also inspired by the Earl Hines/Louis Armstrong ‘Weather Bird’—I studied how they built a melody in that style.”
Mason smiles at the memory—and the title. “It’s like the blackest title you can give a rag,” he says, laughing. “If you know Hervey, you know he’s quirky and funny, and he wrote the music that way—the different strains, the way he handled the melodic and harmonic development. I love ragtime and I love all kinds of music, and I see a through-line from early jazz to modern jazz today. I appreciate that he brought that to the 21st century; it was an honor to play on that track.”
Anthony Hervey. Photo: EBAR
The duo’s other benchmark is Mason’s new single “Open Your Heart,” a ballad that encourages vulnerability before unexpectedly shifting into a double-time detour. “I wanted a song that asked the artist—and the audience—to open their hearts,” Mason says. “A lot of what’s talked about in this music is intellectual intelligence, sometimes almost anti-emotional. But to get to the core of the music, you have to be in touch with your emotions. We slipped a little R&B section in there, and the double-time was completely spontaneous. We didn’t plan it—you can hear the drummer getting ready to go back to the ballad, and I just wasn’t done. I did throw that ‘Blue Monk’ quote in there, but I wasn’t thinking about it. We were just in the vibe.”
How Mason runs a band shows why the track feels so alive. “I learned music in church where there was no sheet music—you have to hear the song and play it in whatever key the singer needs,” he says. “That pressure shaped me. With my group, most keys are chosen the day of the session. Charts are written after we record; I teach the music by ear. I want the studio to mimic the stage—close enough for eye contact, not hidden behind big headphones—so I can play the music authentically.” He adds a mission statement for the recordist’s art: “In acoustic jazz, the purpose of recording is to capture the essence of the live performance. My favorite records feel live; they’re not artifacts created in a lab but real human beings at a specific moment in time.”
Hervey meets that philosophy with a résumé that bridges tradition and the present: Juilliard at 18; work with Jazz at Lincoln Center and Christian McBride; and a nod from Grammy.com as one of the “10 Emerging Artists to Know.” Wynton Marsalis calls him “a beautiful trumpet player of the first magnitude,” and his debut album reveals a composer whose warmth and optimism are rooted in the blues. Mason, meanwhile, has stepped forward as a bandleader with *The Southern Suite*, writing music steeped in the sound of the South and built to swing without losing its church-born groove.
Put the two in a duet, and the repertoire practically chooses itself. “Thelonious Monk has so many beautiful things in his music to draw from,” Hervey says. “We might do something like ‘Monk’s Dream.’ It’s pretty open — we don’t always discuss the music. We like to let it unfold in the moment, so you have to be there to see.” He smiles: “We’ll be doing some of Monk’s music, some of my music — and, yeah, we have to do ‘Du-Rag.’ We’ll probably do something to honor San Francisco, too.”
“It’s pretty open—we don’t always discuss the music. We like to let it unfold in the moment, so you have to be there to see.”
Even the schedule becomes a flexible element. “Every time we play, both sets are a bit different,” Hervey explains. “The special thing with Sean is our rapport—we go way back. Coming to this show will be different from a typical one: raw, intimate, casual.” Mason agrees: “It’s going to feel like a reunion—very comfortable. Not standard and over-planned, just us following the music.”
That ease extends into Hervey’s expanding Bay Area connection. He has started teaching trumpet and ensembles at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music’s Roots, Jazz & American Music program, flying in monthly to work with students. “The students are super hungry and very humble,” he says. “It’s been really great so far.”
The final say belongs to the music itself—or rather, to how this duo will let it decide its path. “It’s not a typical show where everything’s planned,” Mason says. “We’re very comfortable letting it evolve naturally.” Hervey embraces the idea: “Just the two of us, like we’re in your living room.”
Ticket Info
Hervey and Mason bring the same mix of humility and fearlessness to SFJAZZ’s Joe Henderson Lab on Sunday, October 12, with two shows at 6:00 pm and 7:30 pm—an intimate space perfectly suited for a duo that embraces risk as part of their art. Tickets are available at sfjazz.org.
