Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Alphonse Mouzon was born November 21, 1948 of African-American, French and Blackfoot descent in Charleston, South Carolina. He received his first musical training at Bonds-Wilson High School and moved to New York City upon graduation. He studied drama and music at the City College of New York as well as medicine at Manhattan Medical School.

Mouzon continued receiving drum lessons from Bobby Thomas, the drummer for jazz pianist Billy Taylor. He played percussion in the Broadway show “Promises, Promises” and then went to work with McCoy Tyner. He ventured into jazz-fusion spending a year as a member of Weather Report but gained greater visibility during his tenure with guitarist Larry Coryell’s Eleventh House fusion band from 1973 to 1975. His power, style and speed helped propel the band to notoriety, producing such albums as Introducing the Eleventh House, Level One, Mind Transplant and Back Together Again.

From the early 70s into the Eighties he would record a series of R&B dance style albums for Blue Note Records with Tommy Bolin, Herbie Hancock, Lee Ritenour, Seawind Horns and Freddie Hubbard supporting as sidemen on the sessions. Staying predominately in jazz-fusion he would go on to perform with Miles Davis on the soundtrack to “Dingo”, composing the song “The Blue Spot” for the jazz club scene, appeared in the film That Thing You Do, played the lead role as “Miles” in the film The High Life, played “Ray” in the movie The Dukes, as well as appearances in the movie First Daughter.

Outside of jazz-fusion Mouzon has played with Stevie Wonder, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Carlos Santana, Patrick Moraz, Betty Davis, Chubby Checker, Robert Plant among others. He formed Tenacious Records in 1992 releasing his top 10 album The Survivor followed by several more that landed in the top twenty category. Drummer Alphonse Mouzon passed away on December 26, 2016 of Neuroendocrine Carcinoma, a rare form of cancer just two months after doctors discovered the severity of his illness. He was 68.

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