Turning Point | Interview with Janette Mason

There’s a bizarre story about how I heard this record first. Where I lived, you could tune into the local police radio; which I used to do, just to pass the time. But when I was doing that one day, fiddling with the dial, a track came on - ‘April Joy’ [from Pat Metheny Group.]

My mother was a jazz musician, so I’d been brought up with Erroll Garner and Oscar Peterson and Sergio Mendes, that kind of thing. But when I heard this track, I thought, ‘What is this music?!’ It was so different to what I’d been listening to. I was probably 15. And that was it – I was hooked. The announcer said the name on the programme that I had tuned into somehow – Pat Metheny popping up when I was expecting police messages! It’s still my favourite, I think; it’s got a timeshift in the middle and the two different halves help carry an 8-minute track.

My brother was heavily into jazz-funk – Ronnie Laws, George Benson, and so on – so I had two different types of music round me. But this was somewhere completely different to both.

I bought it straight away. I was a big vinyl person, so I’d save up my pocket money and go and buy records at the weekend – up to town [London], Tower Records or HMV. Not a specialist jazz
shop at that point! And I wasn’t disappointed when I came home and
put it on. I’ve bought every Pat Metheny record since. I remember going to see them at the Hammersmith Odeon - it was a great show.

I was just relistening to the album this morning and it’s very cohesive – it was the first release of that group but he [Metheny] was already heading towards a particular sound. It’s very melodic and very cinematic, and I think that is always how I like to write music. So it was a very early influence for me.

Lyle Mays plays an Oberheim, and I’ve got a copy of that synth now because I just love those sounds; I use it in lots of projects. It was pre- the Yamaha DX-7, which was a big change. Before the DX-7, it was all analogue, and you could get beautiful sounds! Music is driven by the technology of the day and getting the most out of it; and those keyboards blended really well with Pat Metheny’s guitar sound.

But for me, as much as the keyboards, it was the overall thing: the compositions that were not straight-ahead standards; the cinematic approach to creating and releasing tension; and the blend of sounds: it was unique. I think I picked that up very quickly because I was already pretty well versed in the different styles of jazz and Brazilian music. Those styles have their own sound pallettes – and this was different.

I set about trying to transcribe the songs, as all young jazz musicians do to improve how you play. I transcribed some of the chord sequences and tried to play some of the stuff Lyle Mays was doing. In fact, he plays quite a lot of acoustic piano on that album – it’s almost classical at times.

I think you can hear the strongest reflection of that album on my latest record is probably the Kate Bush track [‘The Man With The Child In His Eyes’]. But certainly, some of the early stuff I wrote was influenced by that kind of sound, as well as the two Lyle Mays solo albums. Though I was always composing, even before I was playing. I kind of wanted to be a full-time composer, but I kept getting dragged out to play! My happy place is when I’m at my piano, writing. But you have to share your music, and it’s fun. So it’s been a double-edged sword - I’ve really enjoyed performing, but it’s a lot of pressure. You’re out there, being judged - because you are, that’s the reality. But it’s an incredible thing: you’re connecting with people; and music is a joyful thing, and a healing thing. So you want to get out there, and seeing people responding is the fuel to keep going. But still, sometimes it’s great to be behind the keyboards!

Janette Mason’s latest album is ReWired (ECN Music)

This article originally appeared in the May 2025 issue of Jazzwise – Subscribe Today