Chameleon

A veteran of numerous straight-ahead jazz, R&B, and pop sessions, drummer/composer Harvey Mason revisits his own fusion past on Chameleon. The Fourplay cofounder gathered both his peers and next-generation players for this revisitation of electric jazz classics from the '70s. The late Grover Washington Jr.’s “Black Frost” opens the proceedings as Kamasi Washington (no relation) takes up tenor saxophone duties with a throaty approach. Kris Bowers and Cory King’s twin keyboard work anchors Mason’s pulsating drumming, which is also heard on that first Washington recording from 1974. “Montara,” Bobby Hutcherson’s breezy classic from a year later, is up next. Mason skillfully handles both Hutcherson’s iconic vibraphone role and the drumming (as he did on the original). The title track closes with an assist from Headhunter and legendary reed man Bill Summers, who reprises the breathy hinedewho introduction to “Watermelon Man” on this jazz-funk standard.