Drummer-producer-composer-session royal Harvey Mason is known first and foremost as a funky fusioneer, thanks to his fine work with Herbie Hancock and his own soul-inclined albums in the 1970s. However, Mason has always had a foot in the straightahead camp, and this second installment of trio music shows his consummate skill as a musician insofar as he moves from the hardest swing to the most sensitive ballad playing in the changing company of bass and piano partners, including legends such as Stanley Clarke and Chick Corea, and the lesser known Darek Oles and Lars Jansson.

On a largely standards-based set the players perform as impressively as one would expect given their status, and it is tempting to think this is a ’workout.’ That said, the immensely rich detail Mason brings to his timbre as well as rhythm, with his ride cymbal assuming a bell-like clarity and carefully shifting weight, lifts the music beyond the pedestrian, especially on a skillfully re-harmonised version of ‘You Don’t Know What Love Is’ that has funky subtleties from Mason and bassist James Genus as well as deliciously dark chords and countermelodies from pianist Jacky Terrasson. (Note – The vinyl LP version contains fewer tracks but is a very fine-sounding ‘one-step’ cut).