WHILE, as a family group, Mason have that fact in common with the likes of the Jacksons, Pointers and Isleys, they have one further common factor with the Wilson Brothers, a.k.a. the Gap Band. Both families hail from the unlikely city of Tulsa, Oklahoma.



                                      

WHILE, as a family group, Mason have that fact in common with the likes of the Jacksons, Pointers and Isleys, they have one further common factor with the Wilson Brothers, a.k.a. the Gap Band. Both families hail from the unlikely city of Tulsa, Oklahoma.

"Coming from Tulsa has been frustrating for us," admits Tony Mason, the group's lead vocalist and guitarist. "But the fact that the Gap Band made it from here has actually proven to be an incentive for us to succeed. "Musically, Tulsa is a funk city so I guess that the Gap Band has had a little influence on us. But on the other hand we listen to all kinds of music ? Rock, Jazz, Soul and Funk and, since we're from Tulsa, even Country and Western. We tend to incorporate a little of all of it.

"Actually, Charlie Wilson (of the Cap Band) has been in town recently producing a group out of Memphis called Skwares. The economy has been real slow around here because of the oil problem but we feel that things will start to improve this year and we'd like to do our part in putting Tulsa on the map as far as music is concerned."
CERTAINLY, the three Mason brothers' debut album on Elektra, "Livin' On The Edge" features some sterling funk that has already won a substantial audience in Britain.
How the album ended up on Elektra is actually a story in itself, as brother Tre Mason recalls. "We were actually hooked up with the Barkays production company but things weren't working out for us up in Memphis. So, we were about to head home in defeat. Just at that time, another group was having a showcase in the city and executives from some of the major record companies came into the city.

"Now during the course of the time we were working out with the Barkays, we'd made some good contracts and friends and one of these friends, Wayne Douglas, happened to mention to a couple of the companies about us. And then completely by accident, some of them happened to hear our tapes and they seemed very interested.

"It just so happened that Elektra acted the fastest and so ... here we are."
FUTURE projects for the brothers includes a production project on their sister, Crystal. "We are a closely knit family and we thrive on family unity," Gary explains. "We've been playing together as a group for more than twelve years so I guess you could say we're pretty tight!

"But we have also lived and grown up together and that's a definite plus for us ? especially during the tough times."Just to further add to the
family unity, the group's father, Clifford Mason, is their manager and it looks likely that a goodly amount of the Mason brood will be on British shores soon to promote the family name ? and that of good ol'Tulsa. (B&S)