“Pushing the boundaries of soul jazz… a scintillating killer of epic proportions”,
Blues & Soul, UK
ARIA-nominated Jake Mason Trio is Australia’s premier soul-jazz act — a Hammond driven force that bridges a vintage aesthetic with contemporary edge. Led by composer and multi-instrumentalist Jake Mason (Cookin’ On 3 Burners), the trio features James Sherlock on guitar and Danny Fischer on drums, two of Australia’s most respected jazz instrumentalists. Their debut album The Stranger in the Mirror earned an ARIA nomination for Best Jazz Album and attracted international attention from ABC Jazz, Jazz Weekly (USA), Soultrain (Germany), and Rhythms Magazine (AU).
Each member brings formidable credentials. James Sherlock, winner of the Ike Isaacs International Jazz Guitar Award, is a prolific recording and touring artist who has worked with Paul Grabowsky, Kristin Berardi, Sheila Jordan (USA), Cyrille Aimee (France), and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, and released six albums as a leader. Danny Fischer drives the groove with pulse and fire, having performed and recorded with Mark Murphy(USA), Vince Jones, and Gary Bartz(USA). His sound combines deep pocket, fearless improvisation, and global experience from years in New York and London.
Leading the trio is composer, bandleader and multi-instrumentalist Jake Mason. As co-founder of the award-winning ensemble Cookin’ On 3 Burners, Mason has helped to define Australian funk and soul, co-writing the global hit This Girl (over two billion streams) and establishing his own imprint Soul Messin’ Records, a key platform for Australian soul, funk, and jazz.
Together, the Jake Mason Trio blend classic organ-groove tradition with a modern edge — music that moves from simmering soul to cinematic jazz with warmth, grit and joy and cementing their place as one of Australia’s most vital contemporary jazz outfits. Their forthcoming release The Modern Ark draws on the golden era of organ-jazz, paying homage to the greats like Jimmy Smith and Brother Jack McDuff with a distinctly modern feel.
Jake Mason Trio – The Modern Ark
Soul Messin’ Records – LP / CD / Digital / Dolby Atmos
Release Date: 13 February 2026
A modern Hammond soul-jazz odyssey.
ARIA-nominated Hammond organist Jake Mason returns alongside James Sherlock (guitar) and Danny Fischer (drums) for their most ambitious studio statement yet: The Modern Ark. Across ten tracks the trio fuse the grit of 1960s soul-jazz with a contemporary conscience, reflecting on humanity’s uneasy dance with its environment while delivering the pocket, melody and feel that define their sound.
Recorded live to tape with vintage style production, the sessions capture three musicians with decades of shared language – Sherlock’s harmonic finesse alongside Fischer’s vibrance and solid groove is perfectly anchored by the weight of Mason’s unmistakable Hammond B3. The production tips its hat to the classic Rudy Van Gelder era of Blue Note recordings — warm, present and human — then carries that tradition forward with a Dolby Atmos presentation that opens the music into wide, immersive space without losing the grit of tape.
While mostly instrumental, The Modern Ark threads a clear narrative. Titles like “Virgin River,” “Beyond Kavik,” and “Here’s Your Change” point to pristine landscapes, extremes of climate and the chance to begin again. Two vocal centrepieces heighten the arc: “The Modern Ark,” co-written with long-time collaborator Eric McCusker and voiced by Grammy-winning jazz vocalist Kurt Elling, imagines the world queueing for a mythical vessel to flee the damage it has done — only to discover salvation must happen here. In graceful counterpoint, “Stop Searching for Love” features Australian icon Kate Ceberano, a luminous ballad about finding peace and love where you stand.
Jake Mason says:
“We wanted to make an album that swings and grooves but also makes you pause to think. The Modern Ark isn’t about escape — it’s about awareness, connection, and maybe redemption.”
Released through Soul Messin’ Records — the label Mason co-founded to champion Australian funk, soul and jazz — The Modern Ark sits comfortably beside the catalogue’s deep-groove lineage while marking a clear evolution. The Trio’s roots in the same scene that produced Cookin’ On 3 Burners are evident in the rhythmic drive; here the mood is more reflective, the harmony broader, the sonic world richer. It’s music equally at home in a late-night jazz club or a hi-fi Japanese style Kissa listening bar.
Echoes of Jimmy Smith, Brother Jack McDuff and Larry Young resonate through the record, yet Mason’s writing pushes beyond homage. “Sharks in the Paddock” and “Danny’s Blues” fuse hard-bop bite with modern harmonic twists; “The Last Piece” opens in uplift, while “Here’s Your Change” closes with optimism — and a quiet nudge toward better stewardship.