Tony Mason

Biography
Articles

New York City drummer Tony Mason grew up in Southern Pines, North Carolina and started playing the drums at the age of 7. After studying at East Carolina for one year, Tony came to NYC in 1986 to finish his education at The Manhattan School of Music, where he received a performance degree in classical percussion; he’s been a Brooklyn resident ever since.

Tony has toured and recorded with John Scofield, Joan Osborne, Norah Jones, Charlie Hunter, Shooter Jennings, Bernie Worrell, Bo Diddley, Martha Wainwright, Ivan Neville, Cyril Neville, George Porter Jr., Leo Nocentelli, Amy Helm, Leftover Salmon, Natalie Cole, Darlene Love, The Soup Dragons, Paula Cole, Jim Campilongo, Neil Sedaka, Connie Francis, Captain and Tennille, Baba Olatunji, Brooklyn Boogaloo Blowout, Billl Sims Jr., Bloomdaddies and many others. In the studio, Tony has worked with producers Nile Rodgers, Camu Celli, Ron St. Jermaine, Matt Pierson and the legendary Russ Titleman; he has also played on many commercials and television shows.

Luca Benedetti: Slow Down For Turtles

Read "Slow Down For Turtles" reviewed by Doug Collette

by Doug Collette
September 17, 2026

Guitarist/composer Luca Benedetti is emerging from the same hallowed Brooklyn community that has nurtured the alchemy of Medeski Martin & Wood as well as the chameleonic likes of his fretboard peer Will Bernard. The winsomely titled Slow Down For Turtles, Benedetti's third album with bassist Tony Scherr and drummer Tony Mason, is an object lesson in the concept of “less is more;" its music in deceptively stark contrast to its intricate cover images, photographs by Benedetti's father of ...

Album Review

Amy Helm: What The Flood Leaves Behind

Read "What The Flood Leaves Behind" reviewed by Doug Collette

by Doug Collette
July 31, 2021

Amy Helm possesses all the inner direction, motivation and independence of her father, Levon, the drummer and vocalist for The Band. As evidence of those inherent character traits, she projects her personality with no traces of self-consciousness not only in her collaborations--Sisters of the Strawberry Moon's Solstice (New West Records, 2019), produced by the North Mississippi Allstars' Luther Dickinson-- but also her solo projects like What The Flood Leaves Behind. Her third effort to date is an elegant mix of ...