As The New York Times reports, veteran jazz and funk drummer Alphonse Mouzon died on Sunday at his Los Angeles home at the age of 68. The cause of death was cardiac arrest. Mouzon was diagnosed with cancer—neuroendocrine carcinoma—earlier this year.
Mouzon is best known for his contributions to 1970s and 80s album by jazz-fusion pioneers Weather Report, Herbie Hancock, and Larry Coryell/Eleventh House. He also collaborated on numerous albums by innovative pianist and longtime Coltrane sideman McCoy Tyner. He performed and toured with acts like Carlos Santana, Eric Clapton, Chubby Chucker, and Betty Davis. Robert Plant and John Bonham separately acknowledged his playing as an influence on their work.
Mouzon had an active solo career as well, on which he also played keyboard and sang. In the late ’70s, he founded the disco/boogie group Poussez, and made some club records, including “Come On and Do It” and “Boogie With Me.”
Read a tribute from Questlove below.
