Jazz drummer Alphonse Mouzon has died at age 69 after a short battle with cancer.
Mouzon was diagnosed with Neuroendocrine Carcinoma, a rare cancer, just months ago in September.
The death of Alphonse Mouzon is a major blow to the jazz community. Mouzon’s career dates back to the late 60s. In spent a year as a member of Weather Report in 1971/72 and played on their ‘Weather Report’ album.
Alphonse then signed a solo deal with Blue Note. His third album ‘Mind Transplant’ featured guitarists Tommy Bolin and Lee Ritenour.
Alphonse Mouzon has appeared on albums by Les McCann, Herbie Hancock, Donald Byrd, Wayne Shorter, Miles Davis, Roberta Flack and Patrick Moraz.
In 1993 Alphone Mouzon founded jazz label Tenacious Records. The label was the home to his own recordings for the past 20 years.
Weather Report paid tribute to their one-time drummer on their Facebook page.
After discovering the cancer in September, Mouzon started a GoFundMe campaign to raise funds for medical expenses.
On September 7, 2016, I was diagnosed with Stage 3-4 Neuroendocrine Carcinoma, an incredibly rare cancer. On October 10, 2016, I went to Kaiser Permanente for a scheduled appointment with my Oncologist – but I was immediately admitted into the hospital because my lab test results revealed that my kidneys were failing. I was told by my Nephrologist that if I went back home, I would die. I was hospitalized for 13 days straight and was finally released from Kaiser Permanente on October 23, 2016. While I was hospitalized, my surgeons tried to place stents in my left and right kidneys but were unsuccessful because of size of my malignant pelvis mass. They instead performed a nephrostomy on my left kidney on October 11th and on my right kidney on October 18th. I currently have catheters coming out of my back to drain the urine from my kidneys into two external bags. On top of this, I was told that I suffer from Anemia (you couldn’t tell from my drumming), borderline diabetes, and that my 2006 Prostate Cancer has returned. Well, I’ve known about the prostate cancer since March because my PSA rose up to 63. I’ve been taking injections every three months to bring down my PSA level, and luckily it has gone down to 6. As for my Neuroendocrine Carcinoma cancer, my Oncologist and Nephrologist aren’t giving me a chance to survive, but my faith in God is strong and I know that anything is possible through Him! My kidneys are too weak for the doctors to perform chemotherapy, but I know that through God’s grace, I will beat my rare cancer and I will soon beat my drums again. The renown C.H.I.P.S.A. Gerson Therapy Hospital in Mexico specializes in natural cancer treatments and boasts a 95% cancer treatment successful rate, but I must raise enough money ($32,000) for these natural treatments. With the financial support of strangers, fans, family and friends, I know that I can overcome this battle. I want to be around for my beautiful children, grandchildren, family, friends and fans! I’ve started a GoFundMe campaign at to raise money for my rare Neuroendocrine Carcinoma cancer treatments.
