Joe Farrell: Night Dancing (1978)

After his association with CTI ended, Joe Farrell made two weak and rather commercial sets for Warner Bros., of which this LP is the second. Although Farrell gets in a few good spots on tenor, soprano and flute, the strictly for-the-money arrangements of Trevor Lawrence and the excess of musicians sinks this effort. The version of Stevie Wonder's "Another Star" is dominated by dull "background" vocalists; most songs have instantly dated funk played by the rhythm section, and the talents of keyboardists Herbie Hancock and Victor Feldman are wasted. Only a three-and-a-half-minute unaccompanied tenor solo on "Come Rain or Come Shine" by Farrell still sounds good 20 years later.

Tracklist:
A1 Katherine - Written-By – Jeff Lorber 6:36
A2 Silver Lace - Written-By – Joe Farrell 8:15
A3 How Deep Is Your Love - Written-By – Robin Gibb, Barry Gibb & Maurice Gibb 4:19
A4 Come Rain Or Come Shine - Written-By – Harold Arlen & Johnny Mercer 3:24
B1 Another Star - Written-By – Stevie Wonder 5:30
B2 Casa De Los Sospensos - Written-By – Joe Farrell 7:30
B3 Night Dancing - Written-By – Trevor Lawrence 5:49
B4 You're In My Heart (The Final Acclaim) - Written-By – Rod Stewart 3:13
Personnel:
Joe Farrell – Soprano and tenor saxophone, flute
Herbie Hancock – Piano, electric piano
Victor Feldman – Piano, electric piano
Michael Boddicker – Synthesizer, Clavinet
Lee Ritenour – Guitar
Jay Graydon – Guitar
Richard Greene & Beryl Marriott – Violin, viola
Robert W. Daugherty – Bass
Abraham Laboriel – Bass
Mike Porcaro – Bass
Chuck Rainey – Bass
John Guerin – Drums
Jeff Porcaro – Drums
Harvey Mason, Sr. – Drums
Airto Moreira – Percussion, cuica
Paulinho Da Costa – Conga
Joe Romano – Tenor saxophone
Oscar Brashear – Trumpet
Garnett Brown – Trombone
Quitman Dennis – Baritone saxophone
Chuck Findley – Trumpet
Lew McCreary – Bass trombone
Flora Purim – Vocals
Andrea Robinson – Vocals
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Harvey Mason: Stone Mason (1982)

Rare album of the fantastic drummer Harvey Mason who played with the best jazz funk musicians during the 70s. This album was only issued in Japan and was produced by Lee Ritenour and Harvey Mason. This LP includes a killer modern soul tune "What goes around" and a good remake of Donny Hathaway's song "Someday We'll All Be Free".

Tracklist:
A1 It All Comes From You
A2 Appassionata
A3 Autumn Flow
A4 Grusin's Groove
B1 What Goes Around
B2 Love Letters
B3 Hot Summer Nights
B4 Someday We'll All Be Free
Personnel:
Backing Vocals – Arnell* (tracks: B1), Deon Estus (tracks: B2), G. Kronstadt (tracks: B2), Harvey Mason (tracks: B1, B2), J.D.* (tracks: B1), King Floyd (tracks: B2), Pages (3) (tracks: B3), Ray Parker* (tracks: B1)
Bass – Abe Laboriel* (tracks: B4), Anthony Jackson (tracks: A3, A4), Gary King (tracks: A1, A2), Scott Edwards (2) (tracks: B1), Welton Gite (tracks: B2)
Drums – Harvey Mason
Engineer – Don Murray, Humberto Gatica, Joe Jergenson*, Keith Seppanen, Peter Chaiken
Flugelhorn – Kenny Mason (tracks: A3)
Guitar – Cash McCall (tracks: B2), John Tropea (tracks: A2), Lee Ritenour (tracks: B3, B4), Ray Parker* (tracks: B1), Steve Kahn (tracks: A1 to A4)
Lead Vocals – Karen Floyd (tracks: B2), Kelly McNulty (tracks: B1), Lisa Nemzo (tracks: B3)
Lyricon – Rod Zantey (tracks: A1, A2)
Marimba, Bells [Orchestra] – Harvey Mason (tracks: A1)
Percussion – Harvey Mason (tracks: A1, A3, A4), Jack Ashford (tracks: B1)
Piano – Bob James (tracks: A1, A2)
Piano [Accord] – Bernard Wright (tracks: A3, A4), David Paich (tracks: B3), Teuneson Stevens (tracks: B2)
Piano [Fender] – Bob James (tracks: A1)
Piano [Rhodes] – Dave Grusin (tracks: A3, A4), David Foster (tracks: B4), Sylvester Rivers (tracks: B1), Teuneson Stevens (tracks: B2)
Producer – Harvey Mason, Lee Ritenour (tracks: B3)
Recorder – Phil Ayling (tracks: B4)
Saxophone [Alto] – Dave Boruff* (tracks: B2)
Saxophone [Tenor] – Tom Scott (tracks: A2)
Synthesizer – Bob James (tracks: A2), Dave Grusin (tracks: A4), Harvey Mason (tracks: B1, B2), Ian Underwood (tracks: A1), Jeremy Lubbock (tracks:
A1, B4), Jerry Peters (tracks: B1, B2), Steve Pocaro* (tracks: B3)
Synthesizer [Keyboard Bass] – David Paich (tracks: B3)
Vibraphone – Harvey Mason (tracks: A3, A4)
Vocals – Harvey Mason (tracks: A1), Stephanie Spruill (tracks: B4)
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Harvey Mason: Earth Mover (1976)

In the 1970s, Harvey Mason was one of those busy L.A.-based sessions players who had one foot in jazz and the other in R&B. The drummer backed his share of soul heavyweights (including Earth, Wind & Fire, Aretha Franklin, James Brown and the Brothers Johnson), but he never lost his jazz chops. Recorded in 1976, Earthmover is among the mostly instrumental albums that Mason provided during his stay at Arista. This self-produced LP, which finds him trying to balance commercial and creative considerations, is a mixed bag. Some of the material is strong, especially the cerebral fusion item "No Lands Man" (which boasts Jan Hammer on keyboards) and the funky "Bertha Baptist." And the contemplative "First Summer" is an enjoyable track that reminds the listener of the underrated Hawaiian funk/fusion outfit Seawind, which isn't surprising because it was co-written and arranged by Seawind's Bob Wilson. Meanwhile, some of the more commercial jazz-funk and pop-jazz tracks are less impressive and tend to sound overproduced. But while Earthmover is uneven, it has more ups than downs. Overall, this isn't a bad record, although Mason is capable of being more consistent.

Tracklist:
1 K. Y. And the Curb-Mason, Peters 4:58
2 Sho Nuff Groove-Johnson, Mason 3:56
3 The Mase-Mason 4:13
4 Sweet Mercy-Mason, Peters 5:54
5 Earthmover Prelude-Mason 0:58
6 Bertha Baptist-James 5:46
7 First Summer-Mason, Wilson 6:12
8 No Lands Man-Hammer 4:22
9 When I'm with You-Mason 4:25
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