American drummer
Harvey Mason
Mason in 2004
Background information Born Harvey William Mason
(1947-02-22 ) February 22, 1947 (age 78) Genres Jazz ,[ 1] jazz fusion ,smooth jazz ,jazz funk ,jazz rock ,crossover jazz Occupation(s) Musician, producer, composer Instrument(s) Drums, percussion Years active 1970–present Labels Eleni ,Atlantic ,Concord Website harveymason
Musical artist
Mason performing Harvey William Mason (born February 22, 1947)[ 2] jazz drummer , record producer, and member of the bandFourplay . He was the original drummer forHerbie Hancock 's bandThe Headhunters .
Mason was born and grew up inAtlantic City, New Jersey , United States,[ 2] Atlantic City High School .[ 3] [ 4]
He was the original drummer forThe Headhunters , the jazz fusion band led byHerbie Hancock . After leaving Headhunters in the early 1970s, Mason co-founded the jazz quartetFourplay .[ 5] sideman withBill Withers ,George Benson , andLee Ritenour .
Mason, who attendedBerklee for a year and a half in the 1960s eventually transferred to New England Conservatory where he studied with Vic Firth. Mason received an Honorary Doctorate at Berklee's 2015 Commencement Ceremony for his achievement and influence in music and enduring contributions to American and international culture.[ 6]
Mason endorses Canopus drums,[ 7] [ 8] Remo drumheads,DW pedals, andVic Firth drumsticks.[ 9] [ 9] [ 9]
Influences Mason has citedArt Taylor ,Art Blakey ,Roy Haynes ,Max Roach ,Philly Joe Jones ,Elvin Jones ,Pistol Allen ,Jabo Starks ,Tony Williams ,Buddy Rich ,Steve Gadd ,Jimmy Cobb ,Joe Chambers , andBilly Higgins as influences.[ 10]
Title Label Released Marching in the Street Eleni 1976 Earth Mover Eleni 1977 Funk in a Mason Jar Eleni 1977 Groovin' You Eleni 1979 M.V.P Eleni 1981 Stone Mason Atlantic 1982 Ratamacue Atlantic 1996 Trios Videoarts Music 2003 With All My Heart RCA 2004 Changing Partners Videoarts Music 2006 Chameleon Concord 2014 Changing Partners evosound 2025
WithFourplay
WithGeorge Benson
WithThe Brothers Johnson
WithDonald Byrd
WithRon Carter
WithCasiopea
WithDeBarge
WithWill Downing
WithHerbie Hancock
WithGene Harris
WithBobbi Humphrey
WithBob James
Three One on One In Hi-Fi (Audio Fidelity, 2003)Angels of Shanghai (Universal, 2006) – rec. 2004-2005WithCarole King
WithSérgio Mendes
WithMinnie Riperton
WithLee Ritenour
WithPatrice Rushen
WithMoacir Santos
WithDiane Schuur
WithStanley Turrentine
WithDionne Warwick
WithGrover Washington Jr.
WithBill Withers
WithBobby Womack
With others
Arthur Adams ,I Love Love Love My Lady (A&M, 1979)Christina Aguilera ,My Kind of Christmas Herb Alpert ,Midnight Sun Patti Austin ,Love Is Gonna Getcha Chet Atkins ,Street Dreams Beck ,The Information Mary J. Blige ,The Breakthrough Dee Dee Bridgewater ,Just Family James Brown ,Hell Irene Cara ,Carasmatic Keith Carradine ,I'm Easy Larry Carlton ,Deep into It (Warner Bros., 2001)Jean Carn ,Trust Me (Motown, 1982)Cher ,Stars Merry Clayton ,Beautiful Scars (Motown, 2021)Natalie Cole ,Stardust Rita Coolidge ,Behind the Memories (Canyon, 1996)Chick Corea ,The Mad Hatter Miles Davis &Michel Legrand ,Dingo Terence Trent D'Arby ,Symphony or Damn The 5th Dimension ,Earthbound Charles Earland ,Leaving This Planet Earth, Wind & Fire ,Spirit Joe Farrell ,Night Dancing Victor Feldman ,Audiophile (JVC, 1997)Roberta Flack ,Oasis Robben Ford ,Bringing It Back Home (Provogue, 2013)Michael Franks ,Objects of Desire The Friends of Distinction ,Love Can Make It Easier Hiroshi Fukumura withSadao Watanabe ,Hunt Up Wind (Flying Disk, 1978)Terry Garthwaite ,Terry (Eleni, 1975)Jim Gold,I Can't Face Another Day Without You (Tabu, 1977) Lesley Gore ,Love Me By Name (A&M, 1976)Dave Grusin andLee Ritenour ,Harlequin Don Grusin ,The Hang (Sovereign Artists, 2004)Lani Hall ,Blush (A&M, 1980)Tramaine Hawkins ,To a Higher Place The Headhunters ,Survival of the Fittest Eddie Henderson ,Sunburst Joe Henderson ,Black Miracle Bobby Hutcherson ,Montara James Ingram ,It's Your Night Yosui Inoue ,Nishoku no Koma Jessy J ,Hot Sauce (Heads Up International, 2011)Ahmad Jamal ,Genetic Walk Jamiroquai ,Dynamite Dr. John ,In a Sentimental Mood Jack Jones ,New Jack Swing (Linn, 1997)The Keane Brothers ,The Keane Brothers (20th Century, 1977)Eddie Kendricks ,The Hit Man Earl Klugh ,Earl Klugh Patti LaBelle ,Winner in You Hubert Laws ,The San Francisco Concert Peggy Lee ,Let's Love John Legend ,Once Again Chuck Loeb ,Plain 'n' Simple (Tweety, 2011)Kenny Loggins ,Celebrate Me Home Jackie Lomax ,Livin' For Lovin' (Capitol, 1976)Jon Lucien ,Song for My Lady (Columbia, 1975)Cheryl Lynn ,Cheryl Lynn Barry Manilow ,Showstoppers Barry Manilow,This Is My Town: Songs of New York Wade Marcus ,Metamorphosis Marilyn McCoo ,Billy Davis Jr. ,Marilyn & Billy (Columbia, 1978)Michael McDonald ,Motown Lonette McKee ,Words and Music (Warner Bros., 1978)Carmen McRae ,Can't Hide Love Luis Miguel ,Aries Keb' Mo' ,Peace... Back by Popular Demand Tim Moore ,White Shadows (Asylum, 1977)Gerry Mulligan andChet Baker ,Carnegie Hall Concert Walter Murphy ,Walter Murphy's Discosymphony (New York, 1979)David "Fathead" Newman ,Scratch My Back Joe Pass ,Whitestone Esther Phillips ,All About (Mercury, 1978)Michele Pillar ,I Hear Angels Calling (335, 2006)Daniel Powter ,Under the Radar Helen Reddy ,Music, Music Lee Ritenour &Larry Carlton ,Larry & Lee (GRP, 1995)Rockie Robbins ,I Believe in Love (A&M, 1981)Rufus ,Numbers Véronique Sanson ,Le Maudit (Warner Bros., 1974)Masahiko Satoh ,All-In All-Out (CBS, 1979)Seals and Crofts ,Diamond Girl Marlena Shaw ,Who Is This Bitch, Anyway? Charlie Shoemake ,Collaboration Phoebe Snow ,It Looks Like Snow Rod Stewart ,It Had to Be You: The Great American Songbook Tavares ,Supercharged The Manhattan Transfer ,Tonin' The Singers Unlimited ,A Special Blend (MPS, 1976)Johnny "Hammond" Smith ,Gears Donna Summer ,Donna Summer Gábor Szabó ,Macho Jimmy Webb ,El Mirage The Whispers ,Imagination Joe Williams ,Feel the Spirit (Telarc, 1995)Vanessa Williams ,The Comfort Zone Renn Woods ,Out of the Woods (Columbia, 1979)Stevie Woods ,The Woman in My Life (Cotillion, 1982)Gary Wright ,Headin' Home Syreeta Wright ,Syreeta Year Title Peak chart positions Album Hot R&B [ 11] Dance [ 12] Smooth Jazz [ 13] 1976 "Marching in the Street" 93 — — Marching in the Street 1978 "Till You Take My Love" 57 — — Funk in a Mason Jar 1979 "Groovin' You" 58 32 — Groovin' You 1981 "We Can Start Tonight" 55 94 — M.V.P. 2014 "If I Ever Lose This Heaven"(featuring Chris Turner) — — 19 Chameleon "—" denotes a recording that did not chart.
^ Harvey Mason allmusic Retrieved 23 August 2025^a b Colin Larkin , ed. (1992).The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music Guinness Publishing . p. 1637.ISBN 0-85112-939-0 ^ Jackson, Vincent."AC native Harvey Mason moves to the beat of his drum; Native son returns to Atlantic City Saturday to perform his own music" ,The Press of Atlantic City ^ Feather, Leonard (1987).The encyclopedia of jazz in the seventies 234– 235.ISBN 978-0-306-80290-4 ^ "Fourplay Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & More" .AllMusic . RetrievedMarch 15, 2024 .^ "Harvey Mason to Receive Honorary Degree at Berklee Commencement" .Modern Drummer Magazine . April 16, 2015. RetrievedNovember 8, 2021 .^ "Harvey Mason Profile" . Archived fromthe original on January 7, 2015. RetrievedAugust 2, 2017 .^ "Harvey Mason: Murat Diril Cymbals" .muratdiril.com . RetrievedFebruary 27, 2017 .^a b c "Artists" .Vic Firth the original on August 17, 2016. RetrievedJuly 22, 2016 .^ Drummer, Modern (August 19, 2014)."Influences: Harvey Mason" .Modern Drummer Magazine . RetrievedAugust 22, 2025 . ^ "Harvey Mason: Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs" .Billboard ^ "Harvey Mason: Dance Club Songs" .Billboard ^ "Harvey Mason: Smooth Jazz Airplay" .Billboard
Studio albums Compilations
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