from the LP Rhythm of Life, Chiaroscuro Records, 1977Having the chance to play in Roy Ayers’ famed Ubiquity crew of the mid – late ’70s served jazz guitarist James Mason rather well, showing off his chops on the Ayers classic “Running Away” and then dropping this, his one and only solo album, immediately afterwards. What’s really incredible is that Mason handles all the synthesizer and keyboard work in addition to the guitar parts (including a Fender Rhodes, 2 ARP synths & and poly-Moog), crafting some of the finest jazz-funk ever put to wax, in my humble opinion; rather than trying to be more spaced-out or technical than his jazz-funk peers, Mason and the crew he brought together center squarely on the groove, vamping like a motherfucker! After this album, which failed to sell many copies and whose label promptly went out of business, James Mason mostly faded from sight, leaving us to wonder what could have been…
