James Mason

Guitarist/keyboardist James Mason was a member of Roy Ayers' legendary late-'70s jazz-funk band, making his most prominent appearance on the 1977 LP Lifeline and its Mason showcase cut "Running Away." That same year, Mason recorded his debut solo album, Rhythm of Life, for the tiny New York independent label Chiaroscuro. It went out of print in an extremely short time, and Mason never recorded another one, pretty much disappearing from sight. However by the '90s, Rhythm of Life had attained near-Holy Grail status among acid jazz enthusiasts, partly because of its rarity and partly because its music -- even more rooted in funk than Ayers' -- seemed to perfectly epitomize what the rare-groove revival was all about. Finally, in 1999, England's Soul Brother Records acquired the rights to the master tapes and reissued Rhythm of Life on CD, allowing the album to claim its rightful status as a lost classic. ~ Steve Huey