Tony Mason

I started playing at age 6 in my uncle "Joe Sobers" steel pan orchestra, on the island of Trinidad & Tobago. I played the tenor pan in his band, as the band already had a drummer. I loved playing drums, so I would come home every day from school and play along to records, unaware that my uncle was keeping an eye on me and my progress. The band had an upcoming engagement and the drummer could not do it, so I was told, or more like ordered, to play drums for the show. That's where it all started and I've never looked back. After a few years of playing with progress, some of the top bands in T&T approached my Mum and uncle, asking for my service. My Mum and uncle were fine with it once they paid me and looked after me. I was only 11 or 12 at the time. At 19, I went off to Drummers Collective in New York City to study. I studied with Kenwood Dennard, Peter Erskine, Frank Malabe and Tommy Campbell. After 3 years at DC, I returned to the UK, my birthplace, to start my career as a professional drummer. My first major clients were - Eddy Grant, John Adams, The Pasadenas, Ronny Jordan, Gabrielle, Dina Carroll, The Fine Young Cannibals, Al Green, The JB's, Aswad, Jimmy Cliff, Incognito, Maceo Parker Band, Matt Bianco, Alexander O'Neal, Brian May, Mark Morrison, Van Morrison, Jocelyn Brown and Stevie Wonder.