Photo: Harvey_Mason_2004.JPG : Meutia Chaerani / Indradi Soemardjan http://www.indrani.net derivative work: Haltiamieli ( talk ) · CC BY 2.5 · credits
Tier 3 · vertical & regional
Harvey Mason
Person · male · United States · Atlantic City · born 1947 · recording since 1975
American jazz drummer
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Also known as H. Mason · Harvey Mason, Sr. · Harvey William Mason · 哈維·梅森
Timeline
13 events▣ Album 11◦ Birth 1★ Debut release 1
1940s
1970s
· Debut release
Debut release: Marching in the Street
First documented Album in the MusicBrainz discography.
source: musicbrainz
1980s
1990s
2000s
2010s
2020s
Biography
English biography333 words · 5 sectionssource: wikipedia-en · licence CC BY-SA 4.0 · revision 1376455393
Biography
Harvey William Mason (born February 22, 1947) is an American jazz drummer, record producer, and member of the band Fourplay. He was the original drummer for Herbie Hancock's band The Headhunters.
Life and career
Mason was born and grew up in Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States, and attended Atlantic City High School. He began playing drums at the age of four with the support of his father, a drummer in the army band.
He was the original drummer for The Headhunters, the jazz fusion band led by Herbie Hancock. After leaving Headhunters in the early 1970s, Mason co-founded the jazz quartet Fourplay. They are on an indefinite hiatus as of 2017. Mason has played as a sideman with Bill Withers, George Benson, and Lee Ritenour.
Mason, who attended Berklee for a year and a half in the 1960s, eventually transferred to New England Conservatory where he studied with Vic Firth. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate at Berklee's 2015 Commencement Ceremony for his achievement and influence in music and enduring contributions to American and international culture.
Influences
Mason has cited Art 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, and Billy Higgins as influences.
As leader
Marching in the Street (Arista Records, 1976)
Earth Mover (Arista, 1977)
Funk in a Mason Jar (Arista, 1977)
Groovin' You (Arista, 1979)
M.V.P (Arista, 1981)
Stone Mason (Atlantic,1982)
Ratamacue (Atlantic,1996)
Trios (Videoarts Music, 2003)
With All My Heart (Videoarts Music, 2003)
Changing Partners (Videoarts Music, 2006)
Chameleon (Concord, 2014)
As a member
With The Headhunters
Survival of the Fittest (Eleni, 1975)
With Fourplay
Fourplay (Warner Bros., 1991)
Between the Sheets (Warner Bros., 1993)
Elixir (Warner Bros., 1995)
The Best of Fourplay (Warner Bros., 1997)
4 (Warner Bros., 1998)
Snowbound (Warner Bros., 1999)
Yes, Please! (Warner Bros., 2000)
Heartfelt (Bluebird, 2002)
Journey (Bluebird, 2004)
X (Bluebird, 2006)
Energy (Heads Up, 2008)
Let's Touch the Sky (Heads Up, 2010)
Esprit de Four (Heads Up, 2012)
Silver (Heads Up, 2015)
Discography & profile
Normalised profile
Percentiles are computed over every artist in the database, so a tier-3 artist can still sit in the 95th percentile on a single axis.
| Metric | Value | Percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia language versions | 18 | 78.1th |
| Spotify monthly listeners | — | no data |
| Release groups in DB | 14 | 84.5th |
| Studio albums | 12 | 92.8th |
| Awards recorded | 0 | 0th |
| Timeline events | 13 | 89.7th |
| Recording span (years) | 50 | 90.9th |
| Genres | 5 | 88.3th |
Percentiles are computed at render time; missing values mean the artist has no data on that axis.
Discography (14 release groups · 12 studio albums)
Albums · 12
1975 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 7 tracks · 41:19
A1Marching in the Street6:40A2Modaji6:55A3Hop Scotch7:12B1Wild Rice6:42B2Ballad for Heather7:08B3Fair Thee Well2:56B4Building Love3:461977 · studio album
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Tracklist · 9 tracks · 41:39
A1Pack Up Your Bags5:14A2Till You Take My Love3:43A3Space Cadets3:36A4Freedom Either Way3:36A5Funk in a Mason Jar1:57B1What's Going On?8:31B2Set It Free5:54B3Phantazia4:30B4Liquid4:381979 · studio album
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Tracklist · 9 tracks · 42:55
A1I'd Still Be There3:48A2Groovin' You5:53A3The Race3:18A4We Can5:11A5Never Give You Up3:48B1Say It Again5:05B2Here Today, Gone Tomorrow4:23B3Wave6:23B4Kauai5:061981 · studio album
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Tracklist · 8 tracks · 34:22
A1How Does It Feel4:12A2We Can Start Tonight4:15A3Universal Rhyme3:29A4Spell3:57B1On and On5:00B2Going Through the Motions3:49B3You and Me5:10B4Don't Doubt My Lovin'4:301982 · studio album
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Tracklist · 8 tracks
A1It All Comes From YouA2AppassionataA3Autumn FlowA4Grusin's GrooveB1What Goes AroundB2Love LettersB3Hot Summer NightsB4Someday We'll All Be Free1996 · studio album
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Tracklist · 10 tracks · 52:00
1Take Five5:4128:22 A.M.6:333Ratamacue4:404Noble Places of the Heart7:055Scream5:316Whatever It Is6:387It's You3:518Crush4:289Tee Time5:0710Take It Slow2:262003 · studio album
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Tracklist · 12 tracks · 1:08:26
1Bernie's Tune3:412If I Should Lose You7:273So Near, So Far4:424Swamp Fire4:185Smoke Gets in Your Eyes6:136Hindsight5:267Dindi7:488Without a Song6:409One Morning in May4:4210Speak Like a Child5:1911Tess4:5012P's & Q's7:202006 · studio album
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Tracklist · 10 tracks · 54:58
1All Of You4:152Change Partners6:493That Night4:374Mean Old Man4:215You Don't Know What Love Is6:326There Will Never Be Another You4:447Waltz For Dave8:428Sweet And Lovely6:239Prelude To A Kiss3:3210Bebop Betty5:032014 · studio album
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Tracklist · 15 tracks · 53:14
1Black Frost6:082Montara5:313If I Ever Lose This Heaven5:584Looking Back1:355Before the Dawn6:496Studio Live (Hold It One Second)1:067Places and Spaces7:038Either Way5:199Mase’s Theme1:4410Chameleon6:5911[silence]0:1512[silence]0:1513[silence]0:1514[silence]0:1515Looking Forward (Breaking Bad)4:022023 · studio album
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Tracklist · 8 tracks · 1:11:53
1Dixie Hop8:302Smells like Teen Spirit8:143Sex Pots5:434Kiss From A Rose8:355Black Hole Sun8:476Hearts Of Havana13:567Dancing Barefoot9:538Jean-Pierre8:152025 · studio album
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Tracklist · 8 tracks · 41:52
1Forever Yours5:342Before I Go5:213Mbali Jazz5:044Iguela Love4:355Following My Star4:476One Step Ahead4:237Loango Park6:368Teke Flower5:32— · studio album
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Tracklist · 9 tracks · 40:44
1K. Y. And The Curb4:582Sho Nuff Groove3:563The Mase4:134Sweet Mercy5:545Earthmover Prelude0:586Bertha Baptist5:467First Summer6:128No Land's Man4:229When I'm With You4:25
Album · 2
| Cover | Year | Title | Notes | First release |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Sho Nuff GrooveSearch SpotifySearch YouTube MusicTracklist · 12 tracks · 1:01:241Groovin' You (12" mix)6:14 2Marching in the Street6:37 3Sho Nuff Groove3:57 4Set It Free5:49 5Till You Make My Love3:39 6What's Going On8:23 7Liquid4:39 8Say It Again5:01 9We Can Start Tonight4:18 10Spell3:59 11Don't Doubt My Loving4:30 12How Does It Feel4:18 | Compilation | 26 October 1999 | |
| 2017 | Sho Nuff Groovin' You (The Arista Records Anthology 1975-1981)Search SpotifySearch YouTube MusicTracklist · 33 tracks · 2:37:00Disc 1 1Groovin' You (12" disco version)6:15 2We Can Start Tonight4:17 3Till You Take My Love3:37 4The Mase4:12 5Pack Up Your Bags5:09 6Shi Nuff Groove3:57 7Space Cadets3:34 8How Does It Feel4:18 9Say It Again5:01 10Going Through the Motions3:50 11On and On5:01 12Never Give You Up3:46 13We Can5:11 14Spell3:58 15Freedom Either Way3:34 16Funk in a Mason Jar1:54 17The Race3:19 18Universal Rhyme3:29 19When I'm With You (live version)4:24 Disc 21Marching in the Street6:36 2K.Y. And the Cur4:57 3Wild Rice6:39 4Wave6:20 5Modaji6:52 6Liquid4:39 7First Summer6:11 8Ballad for Heather7:03 9What's Going On?8:22 10Earthmover Prelude0:57 11Bertha Baptist5:45 12Here Today, Gone Tomorrow4:20 13Building Love (Hymn)3:45 14Set It Free5:48 | Compilation | 30 June 2017 |
Stats & PK
Percentile within all 23,672 published artists.Put Harvey Mason head-to-head →
| Metric | Value | Percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia language versions | 18 | 78.1th |
| Spotify monthly listeners | — | no data |
| Release groups in DB | 14 | 84.5th |
| Studio albums | 12 | 92.8th |
| Awards recorded | 0 | 0th |
| Timeline events | 13 | 89.7th |
| Recording span (years) | 50 | 90.9th |
| Genres | 5 | 88.3th |
Awards & honours
Line-up
| Name | From | To | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fourplay(band) | — | present | |
| The Writers(band) | — | present | membranophone |
| シスターラビッツ(band) | — | present | drums (drum set) |
| Jazz/Takes Supergroup(band) | — | present | |
| Orquestra Was(band) | — | present | |
| Modern Standards Supergroup(band) | — | present | |
| The Headhunters(band) | 1973 | 1974 |
Where this record comes from
portrait—Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.5 · retrieved 11 October 2026
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Harvey_Mason_2004_cropped.jpgaliases/urls—musicbrainz · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://musicbrainz.org/artist/1081d9bb-17fa-43cf-8b2e-05f7e6029f70discography—musicbrainz · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://musicbrainz.org/artist/1081d9bb-17fa-43cf-8b2e-05f7e6029f70core—wikidata · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q914034genre—wikidata · CC0 · retrieved 11 October 2026
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q914034seed-list—wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvey_Masonbiography—wikipedia-en · CC BY-SA 4.0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvey_Mason
Why this artist is in the database
- List of disco artists
Tier rule: curated genre/region list
Image: Harvey_Mason_2004.JPG : Meutia Chaerani / Indradi Soemardjan http://www.indrani.net derivative work: Haltiamieli ( talk ) · CC BY 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons
Wikidata: Q914034 · MusicBrainz: 1081d9bb-17fa-43cf-8b2e-05f7e6029f70
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