James Mason -

James Mason is an American keyboardist, guitarist, songwriter, and producer who released the 1977 album Rhythm of Life on Chiaroscuro Records. During the early 1980s, he adopted the moniker Wuf Ticket for a pair of rap singles on Prelude.

Background

James Mason came of age in the Bronx in the early 1970s, where African-American and Latin music formed part of the musical environment around his development as a guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter, and arranger. Mason worked in an early band with bassist Gene Torres, drummer Dwayne Perdue, and percussionist Mustafa Khaliq Ahmed.

Mason gained his first national exposure in 1977 as a touring guitarist with Roy Ayers, who used Mason on guitar for the album Lifeline, alongside musicians from the Ubiquity circle that included saxophonist Justo Almario and pianist Philip Woo. Mason also served as electric guitarist on the 1977 self-titled second album by New York jazz-funk group Tarika Blue, a Chiaroscuro release recorded at Downtown Sound with producer Hank O’Neal and engineer Fred Miller.

Mason prepared his first album for Chiaroscuro with O’Neal as co-producer at Downtown Sound. He retained Torres, Perdue, Ahmed, Almario, Woo, and added lead singer Clarice Taylor and drummer Narada Michael Walden. Mbewe Ninoska Escobar co-wrote nine compositions with Mason and sang backing vocals on sessions that produced the 1977 debut Rhythm of Life.

Discography: