After two decades of playing with the Grammy-nominated ensemble Fourplay - with which he's still a member - Mason decided to reignite his solo career by forming a band based on the first edition of Hancock's Head Hunters ensemble. Mason took the combo to Japan and received rave reviews. That reception, along with serious encouragement from his manager, inspired him to record 'Chameleon'.

During the sessions, Mason was surprised about how strongly '70s jazz-funk resonated with today's more cutting-edge jazz artists:

"It's funny because a lot of those records, I may have listened to them maybe one time since I recorded them. As a musician, you're always trying to evolve. When I listen to my drumming back then, it sounds dated. Now my sound is more opened. Back then, I had only one head on the toms, so they didn't ring as much. They had a darker sound. I've modernized my drumming to accommodate the music that's happening now. So when I listen to the old stuff, I just say, ‘Wow! That's really something. That's what they want to hear now.'"

Chameleon features some of the brightest young jazz talents on the scene today:

• NEXT Collective alumni such as trumpeter Christian Scott, bassist Ben Williams, pianist/keyboardist Kris Bowers and guitarist Matthew Stevens.
  
• trombonist/vocalist Corey "Ck" King
  
• saxophonist Kamasi Washington
  
• vocalist Chris Turner
  
• keyboardist/electronica producer, Mark de Clive-Lowe

Helping Harvey steer this cooperative are some of his contemporaries:

• bassist and co-founder of the legendary Yellowjackets, Jimmy Haslip
  
• percussionist and founder of Los Hombres El Calientes, Bill Summers
  
• and bassist Paul Jackson.

Harvey Mason - Chameleon


Pre-listen 'Chameleon'
You can listen to 15 minutes of Chameleon on Soundcloud.com