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Alphonse Mouzon: In Search Of A Dream

By Chris May
July 2, 2018
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2018 is the 50th anniversary of the founding of the distinguished German jazz label MPS. To mark the occasion, the label's catalogue of over 400 albums has been released on download, and a vinyl and CD remastering and reissue programme has begun.

Alphonse Mouzon

drums
1948 - 2016

" data-original-title="" title="">Alphonse Mouzon's In Search Of A Dream is among the first of these discs. Originally released in 1978, it was the fourth—and finest—jazz-rock set the drummer recorded for the label.

During the 1970s, his first decade on record, Mouzon moved effortlessly between acoustic jazz, jazz-funk and jazz-rock. He recorded frequently with

McCoy Tyner

piano
1938 - 2020

" data-original-title="" title="">McCoy Tyner's acoustic bands on the Milestone label in early and mid decade, while simultaneously making a series of jazz-funk albums under his own name for Blue Note. He is probably best remembered for his jazz-rock outings, however, partly for his work with

Larry Coryell

guitar
1943 - 2017

" data-original-title="" title="">Larry Coryell, but mostly for his role as a founding member of

Weather Report

band / ensemble / orchestra

" data-original-title="" title="">Weather Report—despite being a member of the band for little over a year and appearing on just one album, Weather Report (CBS, 1971).

There are echoes of mid-1970s Weather Report on In Search Of A Dream, although its arrangements are simpler than

Joe Zawinul

keyboards
1932 - 2007

" data-original-title="" title="">Joe Zawinul's, and the degree of post-production much reduced. Part of the resemblance is due to the presence alongside Mouzon of bassist

Miroslav Vitous

bass
b.1947

" data-original-title="" title="">Miroslav Vitous, another Weather Report founding member. Five of the nine tunes were written by Mouzon, two by Vitous, and Weather Report tropes pepper most of them. The references may have been deliberate. Producer Joachim-Ernst Berendt, who died in 2000, suggested that the album was conceived as a tribute to the band.

The other members of the group were never members of Weather Report, but each was to some extent influenced by it. Keyboard player

Stu Goldberg

piano
b.1954

" data-original-title="" title="">Stu Goldberg had played with fellow-travelling

Mahavishnu Orchestra

band / ensemble / orchestra
b.1971

" data-original-title="" title="">Mahavishnu Orchestra in 1975. Tenor saxophonist Bob Malik often sounds like a ramped up

Ben Webster

saxophone, tenor
1909 - 1973

" data-original-title="" title="">Ben Webster, but his tone is closer to

Wayne Shorter

saxophone
1933 - 2023

" data-original-title="" title="">Wayne Shorter's. Guitarist

Philip Catherine

guitar
b.1942

" data-original-title="" title="">Philip Catherine and keyboard player

Joachim Kuhn

piano
b.1944

" data-original-title="" title="">Joachim Kuhn have more explicitly European sensibilities, but the US group's albums will have been familiar to them.

Given that Mouzon and Vitous are the star members of the band—and that one of them is well known for having an ego the size of a watermelon—it is surprising, but a blessing, that there is a near-complete absence of drum and bass solos on the album. Drummer and bassist are both prominent in the music, but Mouzon only solos on two tracks and Vitous on one. Most of the tracks are largely through-composed ensemble pieces. Some are raucous, others are more reflective. Kuhn's only tune is a lovely acoustic ballad on which he and Malik shine brightly.

The only downer on the set is the closer, "Nothing But A Party," which, as with hindsight the title hints, gets perilously close to disco. But hey, eight winners out of nine runners is a solid score, and anyone who enjoys Weather Report is likely to enjoy In Search Of A Dream too.

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Track Listing

Side One: Nightmare; Electric Moon; Shoreline; The Light. Side Two: The Unknown Journey; The Ram And The Scorpio; In Search Of A Dream; Playing Between The Beat; Nothing But A Party.

Personnel

Alphonse Mouzon

drums

Alphonse Mouzon: drums (1-9), organ (1), electric piano (5, 9), percussion (5), voice (8); Miroslav Vitous: electric bass (1, 3, 5-7, 9), acoustic bass (3, 4), Mini Moog (4), electric piano (4); Philip Catherine: electric guitar (1, 6, 7, 9), 12-string acoustic guitar (2, 5); Stu Goldberg: electric piano (6, 7), acoustic piano (2); Joachim Kuhn: electric piano (1, 2), acoustic piano (1, 3); Bob Malik: tenor saxophone (2, 3, 5, 7,9).

Album information

Title: In Search Of A Dream | Year Released: 2017 | Record Label: MPS

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