Alphonse Mouzon

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Alphonse Mouzon

Alphonse Mouzon (born November 21, 1948 in Charleston , South Carolina , † December 25, 2016 ) was an American drummer , composer and producer .

Career

After finishing school in 1966 Mouzon moved to New York and began shortly after the Broadway - musical Promises, Promises and Ross Carnegie orchestra to play. His big first breakthrough came when saxophonist Billy Harper , who played with Mouzon and pianist Lonnie Liston Smith at a wedding, recommended Alphonse for a record with composer, arranger and pianist Gil Evans .

This is how Alphonse Mouzon's record debut came about, which is documented on Gil Evans' 1969 record Blues in Orbit . This record and the musicians who got to know at jam sessions led to concerts with George Benson , Chubby Checker , Robin Kenyatta , Anita O'Day , Stanley Turrentine and others, some of which can also be heard on record.

In mid-1969 Mouzon met the vibraphonist Roy Ayers , who brought him to his band Ubiquity . This was followed by a tour through the USA and Europe , there u. a. to the Montreux Jazz Festival . In addition, a record was made with this band.

After his time with Roy Ayers, Mouzon went to soul singer and composer Eugene McDaniels . The young Czech bass player Miroslav Vitouš was also in his band . The band recorded Headless Heroes of the Apocalypse on Atlantic Records , a protest album against the Vietnam War and discrimination against blacks. Countless rap groups sampled Mouzon's grooves on this record.

In the middle of 1970 Mouzon got a call from Joe Zawinul who asked him if he would be interested in starting a band with him, Wayne Shorter and Miroslav Vitouš . Mouzon was immediately interested. He knew the three musicians from a joint project. So the band Weather Report was born .

At the beginning of 1972 McCoy got Tyner Mouzon into his band. The first album on Milestone Records and with Mouzon, Sahara , was nominated for a Grammy . In 1972 Alphonse Mouzon was also offered a recording contract with Blue Note Records . Between 1972 and 1975, Blue Note produced four records under his own name.

Larry Coryell , Alphonse Mouzon and keyboardist Mike Mandel founded the band The Eleventh House in late 1973 and brought in trumpeter Randy Brecker and bassist Danny Trifan .

In December 1974, Mouzon released Mind Transplant on Blue Note Records. Mouzon worked with 3 guitarists - Tommy Bolin , Lee Ritenour and Jay Graydon . Mouzon made a guest appearance in May 1975 as a “special guest” at the concert of the “guitar gods” Eric Clapton , Carlos Santana and John McLaughlin in the Nassau Colosseum , Long Island , New York, in front of tens of thousands of people.

When Mouzon's contract with Blue Note expired, he signed a contract with the German label MPS ( Musik Produktion Schwarzwald ). Mouzon's new producer was Joachim-Ernst Berendt . At the Berlin Jazz Festival in 1976 Mouzon made a guest appearance with the German trombonist Albert Mangelsdorff and the bassist Jaco Pastorius in a trio.

In 1979 Mouzon drew for the disco project Poussez! responsible as producer, arranger and multi-instrumentalist. The LP of the same name was created with various studio musicians and singers. The album was a great success in the discos and is now considered a classic of the genre. 1980 followed with Leave That Boy Alone! another LP. In contrast to the debut album, Mouzon was also featured on the cover here.

From 1978 to 1982 Mouzon worked and toured mainly with Herbie Hancock , but also with his own bands or occasionally as a "featured artist". In the summer of 1980 Mouzon made guest appearances at the Berklee Jazz Festival with Herbie Hancock, Stanley Clarke , Carlos Santana , John McLaughlin and John Lucien .

In 1992 Mouzon founded his own record label "Tenacious Records". Between 1992 and 2001, Mouzon released five new productions on his label and re-released eight of his smooth jazz albums recorded in the 1980s .

In the late summer of 1998, the Eleventh House Reunion Band tour went on tour with three original members from the 1970s: trumpeter Randy Brecker , guitarist Larry Coryell and Alphonse Mouzon on drums and the young bassist Richard Bona . The band toured the USA, Europe and Asia in changing line-ups. Randy Brecker was replaced at the end of 1998 by the trumpeter Shunzo Ono or the saxophonist Donald Harrison .

In the summer of 2002, Mouzon went on a short tour with Just Friends , who had toured in 1991. The band again consisted of Jasper van't Hof ( keyboards and piano ), Bob Malach on saxophone , Michał Urbaniak on violin and old Weather Report colleague Miroslav Vitouš on bass. Mouzon also made guest appearances with his band at the Long Beach Jazz Festival in Los Angeles .

In winter 2003 Mouzon toured Europe with his trio ( Ernie Watts - saxophone, Jeff Berlin - bass), in 2009 with Joey DeFrancesco and Larry Coryell .

Alphonse Mouzon has also appeared as an actor in a number of films, including Tom Hanks ' film That thing you do (1996) and Robert Davis The Dukes (2007). Mouzon also contributed film music to both films.

In 2008 Alphonse Mouzon released the CD Jazz in Bel-Air , a live recording of his quintet, and in 2011 the album Angel Face with trumpeters Arturo Sandoval , Wallace Roney and Shunzo Ono, bassist Christian McBride and saxophonist Ernie Watts and Bob Mintzer and pianists Kenny Barron and Cedar Walton . From 2013 Mouzon was also on tour with the Miles Smiles group.

Mouzon died on December 25, 2016 after a long hospital stay of a rare cancer.

Discography (under your own name)

  • The Essence of Mystery, 1972
  • The Funky Snakefoot, 1973
  • Mind Transplant, 1975
  • The Man Incognito, 1975
  • Virtue, 1976
  • Back Together again, 1977
  • In search of a dream, 1978
  • Baby Come Back, 1979
  • By All Means, 1980+
  • Morning Sun, 1981+
  • Step Into the Funk, 1982 (later published under Distant Lover ) +
  • The Sky is the limit, 1985+
  • Back To Jazz, 1985+
  • Eleventh House, 1985
  • Love Fantasy, 1987+
  • Early Spring, 1988+
  • As you wish, 1989+
  • Infinity - NOW, 1990
  • The Survivor, 1992+
  • On top of the world, 1994+
  • The Night is Still Young, 1996+
  • Absolute Greatest Love songs & Ballads, 1998+
  • Live in Hollywood, 2001+
  • Jazz in Bel-Air, 2008+
  • Angel Face, 2011+

+ released on Tenaciousrecords

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Poussez! - Poussez! at Discogs , accessed December 26, 2016.
    Poussez: Poo-Say (LP). DiscoMusic.com, archived from the original on July 28, 2012 ; accessed on December 26, 2016 (English, rated as a classic).
  2. ↑ Leave That Boy Alone - Poussez! at Discogs , accessed December 26, 2016.
  3. ↑ Legendary drummer Alphonse Mouzon dies at age 68 . Soultracks, December 26, 2016, accessed December 26, 2016.
personal data
SURNAME Mouzon, Alphonse
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American drummer, composer and producer
DATE OF BIRTH November 21, 1948
PLACE OF BIRTH Charleston , South Carolina , USA
DATE OF DEATH December 25, 2016