LAUGH OUT LOUD! I could not believe what I was listening to and the memories it dragged up. The bleeping blooping sound of the Alphonse Mouzon Band: Back to Jazz track Space Commander reminded me of a pre-personal-computer-day video arcade - which Jim loved! He would spend evenings feeding quarters into the machines at the Electronic Zoo in Kent, Ohio playing some ridiculous game, until he realized quarters were running out and he better get a job.
Fortunately, there is only one piece on the CD, released in 1986 by L & R Records, which sounded video arcade-ish. The rest is very pleasant soul-jazz-funk. I can even remember the tunes and carry them around in my head all day. Sound tracks include:
1 St. Thomas,Written-By – Sonny Rollins
2 The Next Time We Love
3 Poobli
4 Space Commander
5 Peace On Earth
6 The Baker's Daughter
7 Just Because Of You
8 Step Into The Funk
9 When We Were Young
10 Hello, I must Be Going
Space Commander is of course, my favorite. Listen here on Youtube to the CD album. (Try not to dance....)
Alphonse is known as an American jazz fusion drummer and the owner of Tenacious Records - primarily used to release his recordings. He was born in 1948 in South Carolina, and began his music studies in high school. The next step was moving on to New York for college where he began studying medicine. But drumming eventually won out.
His career included acting, producing, voice-over work, composition and arrangement. He performed in all four corners of the world, and is listed in all major jazz publications. Performances included acting alongside Tom Hanks in That Thing You Do! and other acting and musical performances on the movie screen.
He served as the original drummer for Weather Report in 1970-72, and gained even more notoriety with the fusion band Eleventh House, 1973-75. Mouzon's career also included stints with Miles Davis, McCoy Tyner, Jeff Beck, Tommy Bolin, Chubby Checker, Eric Clapton, Betty Davis, Patrick Moraz, Carlos Santana, Stevie Wonder, Jaco Pastorius, Herbie Hancock, Lee Ritenour, Seawind Horns and Freddie Hubbard. A very busy, creative guy.
Mouzon passed December 25, 2016 at his home in Granada, California. You may read more about hiim at Wikipedia. I can see why Jim enjoyed him so much.
