Alphonse Mouzon - Mind Transplant (1974)

Amazing Jazz Fusion
Drummers Alphonse Mouzon and Billy Cobham led almost parallel careers during the 1970s and helped to raise the bar by which all subsequent drummers were to be judged. They were both in legendary fusion bands (Mouzon in Weather Report and Larry Coryell's Eleventh House and Cobham in Dreams and the Mahavishnu Orchestra), both led their own successful bands, both reinvented jazz-rock drumming, and both released one classic, genre-defining recording. Cobham's classic was Spectrum, a recording that is regularly considered as one of the genre's best. This, Mind Transplant, is Mouzon's classic recording that is often hailed as "Spectrum II." The common thread, besides the aggressive drumming, is guitarist Tommy Bolin. Where Cobham used Bolin's aggressive playing as a counterpoint to Jan Hammer, Mouzon features the guitarist as the primary attraction. The tunes themselves may not be as memorable as, say, "Red Baron" or "Stratus," but the playing is no less inspired. Mouzon and Bolin are a natural fit and push themselves to levels of creativity and skill that few can attain. Raw and powerful, the music herein is what made fusion such a viable musical style. This recording has never been as popular as Spectrum, but was finally released on CD in 1993 with the addition of the 15-minute jam session "The Real Thing." Easily one of the best fusion recordings of all time. http://harukimurakami.livejournal.com/ 

Recorded 4th (#2,5,7), 5th (#6), 6th (#3,8) and 9th & 10th (#1,3) December, 1974
At Wally Heider Sound Studio III, Los Angeles, California 

Blue Note, BN-LA398-G, 1975
Capitol Records, 7243 8183652 1, 2003 

Musicians:
Alphonse Mouzon - Drums, Vocals, ARP 2600 Synth, Fender Rhodes, Farfisa Organ
Jerry Peters - Fender Rhodes Piano, Organ [Hammond B-3]
Jay Graydon - Guitar, ARP 2600 Synthesizer Programming
Tommy Bolin - Guitar
Lee Ritenour - Guitar
Henry Davis – Bass 

Tracks:
A1. Mind Transplant (4:05)
Soloist: Alphonse Mouzon - Synthesizer, Drums
A2. Snow Bound (3:06)
A3. Carbon Dioxide (4:39)
Soloists: Tommy Bolin - Guitar; Jerry Peters - Organ
A4. Ascorbic Acid (3:27)
Soloists: Jay Graydon, Lee Ritenour
B1. Happiness Is Loving You (4:09)
Soloist: Lee Ritenour
B2. Some Of The Things People Do (3:41)
Soloist: Lee Ritenour
B3. Golden Rainbows (6:56)
Soloist: Tommy Bolin
B4. Nitroglycerin (3:05)
Soloist: Tommy Bolin 

Composed by Elvena Mouzon 

Credits:
Producer - Skip Drinkwater
Co-producer, Arranger, Conductor - Alphonse Mouzon
Executive-Producer - George Butler
Engineer - Gabby Garcia
Assistant Engineer - Brian Ingalls, Gary Lubow
Remix & Mastering Engineer - Fred Catero
Mastering Engineer - George Horn
Art Direction - Lloyd Ziff, Bob Cato
Photography - Doug Metzler
Design - Ria Lewerke