A full-on electric jammer from Alphonse Mouzon, cut in the frenetic style of his Blue Note sides, but given an extra electric MPS twist! The lineup includes a host of strong European fusion players, including Miroslav Vitous on bass, Philip Catherine on guitars, and Joachim Kuhn on Fender Rhodes, plus American Bob Malik on saxes.

• Audiophile Analogue Remastering
• Remastered by Christoph Stickel and Dirk Sommer
• Reforest The Legend MPS AAA Reissue Series
• 180 Gram Audiophile Vinyl
• Pressed at Optimal Media in Germany
• Large insert with photo of the Original Master Tape box

A full-on electric jammer from Alphonse Mouzon — cut in the frenetic style of his Blue Note sides, but given an extra electric MPS twist! The lineup includes a host of strong European fusion players — including Miroslav Vitous on bass, Philip Catherine on guitars, and Joachim Kuhn on Fender Rhodes — plus American Bob Malik on saxes, fleshing out the best tunes with a strong funky groove — and the overall sound is quite dynamic, but also nicely focused too — never too over the top, and still very much in the jazz side of the spectrum, not the rock-fusion one. Titles include the break track "Nothing But A Party," plus "The Ram & The Scorpion," "The Unknown Journey," "Nightmare," "Electric Moon," "Shoreline," and "The Light."

Before they recorded Nothing but a Party, his fellow musicians sang Happy Birthday to You; Alphonse Mouzon celebrated his 29th birthday during the November 1977 MPS session in Stuttgart, Germany. The American drummer is one of the originators of jazz-rock, the fusion of jazz and rock music; “Incest is best” was German rocker Udo Lindenberg’s comment on the coupling. No one had a better understanding of this melding of jazz polyrhythms with rock’s pulsating beat than Mouzon; with his furious propulsive style, he was welcome in both camps. Weather Report founders Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter, and Miroslav Vitous brought him into the premier edition of the band. Mouzon and bassist Vitous made up the rhythm section. From Prague, Czech, Miroslav had also played in Miles Davis’ band. As he had already shown with Weather Report, he demonstrates how well he could integrate acoustic bass into a jazz-rock concept. In duo with Mouzon, Vitous bows the deep tones on his composition The Light; he grabs the electric bass on the other compositions. Vitous as well as saxophonist Bob Malik and keyboard player Stan Goldberg were all part of the 1977 version of Mouzon’s touring band. Pianist/keyboarder Joachim Kühn and guitarist Philip Catherine joined the troup for the recording of In Search of a Dream. Thus, the session was a sort of summit meeting of the jazz-rock elite of that time.

On December 25th, 2016, Master drummer Mouzon died in Los Angeles from complications brought on by a rare form of cancer. He was 68 years old. In its obituary, the New York Times printed a 1970’s quote from Mouzon: "Because my mind is open, I don´t always want to be identified as just a jazz drummer." Today, there are at least as many rock fans as there are jazz aficionados who know Mouzon’s music.

Musicians:

Bass – Miroslav Vitous
Drums – Alphonse Mouzon
Guitar – Philip Catherine
Tenor Saxophone – Bob Malik

Track Listing:

Side A

01. Nightmare
02. Electric Moon
03. horeline
04. The Light

Side B

05. The Unknown Journey
06. The Ram And The Scorpio
07. In Search Of A Dream
08. Playing Between The Beat
09. Nothing But A Party

Click here to listen to samples on YouTube.com ♫