Mason Razavi
Biography Mason Razavi
Mason Razavi
has been a mainstay on the SF Bay Area jazz scene for over a decade, having led his groups at SF Jazz, San Jose Jazz, Kuumbwa Jazz Center, and Bach Dancing and Dynamite as well as countless clubs and concert series. His albums have often featured ambitious original music that has been warmly received, with albums peaking in the top 20 on the jazz radio charts.
He’s performed with some of the west coast’s great musicians including Anton Schwartz, Mimi Fox, John Stowell, Aaron Lington, Hristo Vitchev, Jamie Davis, Josh Nelson, Charles McNeal, Carl Saunders, Lorca Hart, GRAMMY-winning producer Bill Hare, and many others. He’s also been a performer and clinician at the NAMM show and the Rocky Mountain Archtop Festival.
Razavi has been praised for his "top-tier guitarmanship" (Vintage Guitar Magazine), while his compositions offer “an introspective experience of deeper meaning” (Jazz Times). He’s been recognized in his hometown as a “melodically inventive composer” (San Jose Mercury News) and a “terrific and consistent presence in the Bay Area jazz scene” (Metro Online) who has “carefully crafted his own voice” (SanJose.com). He was a recipient of the 2021 Leigh Weimers Emerging Artist Award, named after the longtime Silicon Valley arts journalist.
Prior to making jazz his primary focus, he enjoyed a varied musical background that led him to performing everything from solo classical guitar recitals for concert audiences, to musical theater pit orchestras, backing up pop singers and accompanying concert choirs. Such performances included the Modesto Symphony Orchestra, San Jose Repertory Theater, San Jose Symphonic Choir, and others.
An avid educator, Razavi is an adjunct professor at West Valley College, where he is a lecturer and jazz guitar instructor. He has taught at Chabot College, De Anza College, Las Positas College, Mission College, and CSU Chico and maintains a private studio. His students have gone on to institutions such as the Berklee College of Music, UCLA, USC, Stanford University, and California Jazz Conservatory.
Razavi holds holds a M.A. in music with a concentration in Jazz Studies from San Jose State University and a B.M. from the Berklee College of Music where he majored in Contemporary Writing and Production.
