Harvey Mason (born February 22, 1947) – Groovin' You (1979)
The upbeat, infectiously joyous disco-funk title track to Mason's most successful LP was a club hit and became a favorite of DJ Larry Levan at the Paradise Garage.
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Harvey Mason played drums on many of the most seminal jazz-funk records of the 1970s. He has had his own solo career since 1976 and beginning in the early 90s has been the drummer in the smooth jazz supergroup Fourplay alongside other original members Bob James, Lee Ritenour and Nathan East.
Born and raised in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Harvey William Mason began playing drums at age four, encouraged by his father who was a drummer in the U.S. Army band. He went to Berklee College of Music in Boston during the 60s.
Starting in the early 70s, Mason drummed on a long list of classic jazz-funk albums. He first gained notice on Donald Byrd’s legendary Black Byrd LP (1973), produced by the Mizell Brothers and recorded in April, 1972 but not released until the following year, which became one of Blue Note’s all-time best selling records. He also appeared on Byrd’s later albums Street Lady (1973), Stepping into Tomorrow (1975) and Places and Spaces (1975).
Mason went on to drum on Herbie Hancock’s breakthrough Head Hunters LP (1973) which sold over a million copies and helped jazz-funk cross over to white audiences, as well as Man-Child (1975) and Sunlight (1978); Bobbi Humphrey’s masterpiece albums Blacks and Blues (1973), Satin Doll (1974), and Fancy Dancer (1975), all produced by the Mizell Brothers; and Mister Magic (1975) by Grover Washington, Jr. which went to #1 on both the jazz and R&B album charts and crossed over to #10 on the Billboard 200.
He also appeared on a string of high-profile mid to late 70s records by George Benson, the Brothers Johnson, Minnie Riperton, Bob James, Patrice Rushen, and Bill Withers.
Mason signed a five-year contract with Arista Records in 1975 and put out his own classic albums featuring some of the best jazz-funk session players of the decade. His first three solo LP’s for the label were Marching in the Street (1976), Earth Mover (1977), and Funk in a Mason Jar (1977).
In 1979 Mason released the album Groovin’ You. He produced all of it and wrote or co-wrote five of its nine tracks. Recording sessions took place at the Power Station in New York City. It was his most commercially successful LP, reaching #11 on Billboard’s jazz charts, #48 on the R&B album charts and becoming his first record to enter the Billboard 200 at #149.
The upbeat, infectiously joyous disco-funk title track was a club hit and became a favorite of DJ Larry Levan at the Paradise Garage. “Groovin’ You” was co-written by Kenny Mason, Harvey’s brother, and Sally Mason, his first wife.
It featured an all-star cast of musicians, most of whom played on the entire album. Ray Parker Jr. was on guitar, Richard Tee on acoustic and electric (Roland) piano, Jerry Peters on Fender Rhodes, David Shields on bass, and Harvey on drums and all percussion, which he arranged. The horns and rhythm arrangements were handled by Kenny.
Backing vocalists were Roger Saint Kennerly, Wilfredo Wilson, and Jim Gilstrap, the prolific background singer who a member of Stevie Wonder’s backing group Wonderlove and sang the male lead vocal on the iconic theme song to the TV show Good Times. Lead vocals were by Harvey and Kenny plus Morris Paul Kennedy.
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