Seawind Seawind

Released in 1980 on A&M Records and produced by George Duke and engineered by Erik Zobler, this album, combined with the popularity of the others, became the height of Seawind's success and recognition. A&M also produced a video of the song What Cha Doin', which helped it become a top ten hit and Seawind was now on both the jazz and R&B charts of the major trade magazines. The group tours Japan for a second time, performs in Manila, Philippines and stops in Hawaii for their annual home coming tour, performing on Kauai, The Big Island and Oahu. Record sales and radio air play peaked in 1981, and the group began working on their fifth recording. Completed in 1982, it sadly was never released and the group breaks up.

Seawind is a band formed in Hawaii in the mid-seventies that prominently featured a horn section of University of Indiana alums. Seawind was more than just a springboard for Jerry Hey and the Seawind horns however. Seawind was also a highly musical and accomplished band that released four records during their career.

This album was released in 1979 on Horizon Records (owned by A&M) and it gave birth to Seawind's signature, Bob Wilson song, Follow Your Road! Produced by Tommy Lipuma and engineered by Al Schmitt, Light the Light won many new Seawind fans and the group performed in front of thousands as the opening act for the multi-platinum George Benson and for Boz Scaggs on his platinum "Silk Degrees" tour! Pauline & George Benson sing a duet on the Grammy Award winning album, In Harmony and Seawind and George Benson co-headline on the now-legendary, 1979 Hawaiian Islands Tour!

In the 1970s, Harvey Mason was one of those busy L.A.-based sessions players who had one foot in jazz and the other in R&B. The drummer backed his share of soul heavyweights (including Earth, Wind & Fire, Aretha Franklin, James Brown and the Brothers Johnson), but he never lost his jazz chops. Recorded in 1976, Earthmover is among the mostly instrumental albums that Mason provided during his stay at Arista. This self-produced LP, which finds him trying to balance commercial and creative considerations, is a mixed bag. Some of the material is strong, especially the cerebral fusion item "No Lands Man" (which boasts Jan Hammer on keyboards) and the funky "Bertha Baptist." And the contemplative "First Summer" is an enjoyable track that reminds the listener of the underrated Hawaiian funk/fusion outfit Seawind, which isn't surprising because it was co-written and arranged by Seawind's Bob Wilson.