Pierre Moerlen (23 October 1952,
Colmar
Colmar (, ; Alsatian: ' ; German during 1871–1918 and 1940–1945: ') is a city and commune in the Haut-Rhin department and Grand Est region of north-eastern France. The third-largest commune in Alsace (after Strasbourg and Mulhouse), it is ...
, Haut-Rhin – 3 May 2005, Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines, near
Strasbourg
Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...
) was a French drummer and percussionist, best known for his work with
Gong and
Mike Oldfield and as
Pierre Moerlen's Gong
Pierre Moerlen's Gong was an instrumental jazz fusion band led by French drummer Pierre Moerlen which developed as an offshoot of the psychedelic progressive rock band Gong founded and led by Daevid Allen. It was notable for the prominent use ...
.
Biography
Pierre Moerlen was born in
Colmar
Colmar (, ; Alsatian: ' ; German during 1871–1918 and 1940–1945: ') is a city and commune in the Haut-Rhin department and Grand Est region of north-eastern France. The third-largest commune in Alsace (after Strasbourg and Mulhouse), it is ...
(
Haut-Rhin) on 23 October 1952, third of five children. His father was an organist and his mother was a music teacher. All five siblings learned music with their parents and all became musicians. Pierre's younger brother,
Benoît Moerlen
Benoît Moerlen (born 6 February 1956) is a French percussionist, best known for his work in Gong, Pierre Moerlen's Gong and a later offshoot Gongzilla.
History
Moerlen studied the vibraphone at the Strasbourg Conservatory, where his elder broth ...
, is also a percussionist (he also worked with Gong and
Mike Oldfield).
Pierre left Colmar for Strasbourg to learn percussion with Jean Batigne, founder of
Les Percussions de Strasbourg. He was also a member of two rock and rock-jazz bands, including Hasm Congélateur (with included future
Magma guitarist
Gabriel Federow), whose most notable performance was the opening slot at the Seloncourt Festival in September 1972, headlined by
Ange,
Genesis
Genesis may refer to:
Bible
* Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind
* Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book o ...
and
Robert Wyatt
Robert Wyatt (born Robert Wyatt-Ellidge, 28 January 1945) is a retired English musician. A founding member of the influential Canterbury scene bands Soft Machine and Matching Mole, he was initially a kit drummer and singer before becoming para ...
's
Matching Mole.
In January 1973, Moerlen joined
Daevid Allen's
Gong, debuting on the ''
Angel's Egg
is a Japanese art film original video animation (OVA) written and directed by Mamoru Oshii. Released by Tokuma Shoten on 15 December 1985, the film was a collaboration between artist Yoshitaka Amano and Oshii. It features very little spoken di ...
'' (1973) album. In June 1973 he was asked by
Virgin Records's boss
Richard Branson
Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is a British billionaire, entrepreneur, and business magnate. In the 1970s he founded the Virgin Group, which today controls more than 400 companies in various fields.
Branson expressed ...
to play percussion with
Mike Oldfield for the premiere of ''
Tubular Bells'' (1973), to replace the incapacitated
Robert Wyatt
Robert Wyatt (born Robert Wyatt-Ellidge, 28 January 1945) is a retired English musician. A founding member of the influential Canterbury scene bands Soft Machine and Matching Mole, he was initially a kit drummer and singer before becoming para ...
.
Steve Hillage
Stephen Simpson Hillage (born 2 August 1951) is an English musician, best known as a guitarist. He is associated with the Canterbury scene and has worked in experimental domains since the late 1960s. Besides his solo sound recording and reprodu ...
, guitar player of Gong, also took part. Between 1975-87, beginning with ''
Ommadawn'' (1975), Moerlen would be Oldfield's percussionist of choice for his albums and his tours.
Moerlen left and returned to Gong several times to tour with
Les Percussions de Strasbourg (he created with them ''
Musik im Bauch
' (Music in the Belly) is a piece of scenic music for six percussionists and music boxes composed by Karlheinz Stockhausen in 1975, and is Number 41 in his catalog of works. The world premiere was presented on 28 March 1975 as part of the Royan ...
'' by
Karlheinz Stockhausen and ''Hiérophonie V'' by
Yoshihisa Taïra
was a Japanese-born French composer.
Biography
Yoshihisa Taïra was born in Tokyo in 1937. Initially, he studied at the Tokyo University of the Arts. He arrived in France in 1966 where he then studied at the Conservatoire de Paris. Among hi ...
at Festival international d'art contemporain de Royan, 1975), and although he recorded ''
You'' (1974) he left just before the tour promoting that album began.
In the summer of 1975, by which time band founder, Daevid Allen, had left, he was asked to return to co-lead the band with
Didier Malherbe and Steve Hillage, who himself left shortly thereafter, only appearing on a couple of tracks on the next album ''
Shamal'' (1976). Another series of line-up changes resulted in the ''
Gazeuse!
Gazeuse! (French for 'Sparkling!', 'Fizzy!' or 'Effervescent!') is the seventh album released under the name Gong and the ''de facto'' debut album by Pierre Moerlen's Gong. It was released in late 1976. The title was changed to ''Expresso'' for ...
'' (1976) album (released as ''Expresso'' in the US) with
Allan Holdsworth
Allan Holdsworth (6 August 1946 – 15 April 2017) was a British jazz fusion and progressive rock guitarist and composer.
Holdsworth was known for his esoteric and idiosyncratic usage of advanced music theory concepts, especially with respe ...
on guitar, following which Malherbe left, leaving Moerlen as the only link with the "classic" Gong line-up. He retained the name for the next album, ''
Expresso II
''Expresso II'' is the eighth studio album released under the name Gong and the ''de facto'' second album by Pierre Moerlen's Gong. It released in February 1978.
Featuring an all-instrumental jazz-driven sound, notable for the prominent use of ...
'' (1978), but to avoid confusion the band's concerts were often announced as Gong-Expresso. Since this wasn't clear enough, the name Pierre Moerlen's Gong (PMG) was used from 1978 onwards.
At this point the band – which included American musicians
Bon Lozaga
''Bon'', also spelled Bön () and also known as Yungdrung Bon (, "eternal Bon"), is a Tibetan religious tradition with many similarities to Tibetan Buddhism and also many unique features.Samuel 2012, pp. 220-221. Bon initially developed in ...
(guitar) and
Hansford Rowe (bass) – were playing
jazz fusion
Jazz fusion (also known as fusion and progressive jazz) is a music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and jazz improvisation, improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars, ...
rather than the
Canterbury scene-influenced psychedelia of old. In 1978, PMG were released from the Virgin contract, and signed with Arista, releasing ''
Downwind'' (1979), ''
Time is the Key'' (1979), ''
Pierre Moerlen's Gong Live
Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...
'' (1980) and ''
Leave It Open'' (1980). During this period, Moerlen regularly toured internationally with Mike Oldfield.
PMG ceased operations in 1981 following tours of North America and Europe in late 1980. Later that year, Moerlen briefly joined
Magma as second drummer. Following Mike Oldfield's 10th Anniversary tour in 1983, he joined the Swedish progressive/symphonic band
Tribute (1985–87).
PMG reformed for two albums and tours in the late 1980s. After spending several years as orchestra pit musician for various musicals, he returned to active service in 1997 when he joined the British jazz-rock outfit
Brand X for international touring in 1997. Later that year, he was asked to rejoin Gong, and toured with the band until 1999. He then concentrated on putting together a new PMG line-up and repertoire, which resulted in the studio album ''
Pentanine'' (2004), recorded in Moscow in 2002.
Death
Pierre Moerlen died unexpectedly in his sleep of natural causes on 3 May 2005, aged 52. At the time of his death he was rehearsing with a new incarnation of
Pierre Moerlen's Gong
Pierre Moerlen's Gong was an instrumental jazz fusion band led by French drummer Pierre Moerlen which developed as an offshoot of the psychedelic progressive rock band Gong founded and led by Daevid Allen. It was notable for the prominent use ...
.
Discography
With Gong
* 1973: ''
Angel's Egg
is a Japanese art film original video animation (OVA) written and directed by Mamoru Oshii. Released by Tokuma Shoten on 15 December 1985, the film was a collaboration between artist Yoshitaka Amano and Oshii. It features very little spoken di ...
'' (Radio Gnome trilogy, part 2)
* 1974: ''
You'' (Radio Gnome trilogy, part 3)
* 1976: ''
Shamal''
* 1977: ''
Gong est Mort, Vive Gong
''Gong est Mort, Vive Gong'' (translated as "Gong Is Dead, Long Live Gong") is a double live album by the progressive rock group Gong, recorded on 28 May 1977 at the Hippodrome, Paris, France, and originally released in 1977 as a double LP by T ...
'' (French live album)
* 1977: ''
Gong Live Etc'' (UK live album)
With Pierre Moerlen's Gong
* 1976: ''
Gazeuse!
Gazeuse! (French for 'Sparkling!', 'Fizzy!' or 'Effervescent!') is the seventh album released under the name Gong and the ''de facto'' debut album by Pierre Moerlen's Gong. It was released in late 1976. The title was changed to ''Expresso'' for ...
'' (''Expresso'' in North America)
(issued as a "Gong" album)
* 1978: ''
Expresso II
''Expresso II'' is the eighth studio album released under the name Gong and the ''de facto'' second album by Pierre Moerlen's Gong. It released in February 1978.
Featuring an all-instrumental jazz-driven sound, notable for the prominent use of ...
''
(issued as a "Gong" album)
* 1979: ''
Downwind''
* 1979: ''
Time is the Key''
* 1980: ''Pierre Moerlen's Gong Live''
* 1981: ''
Leave It Open''
* 1986: ''Breakthrough''
* 1988: ''Second Wind''
* 1998: ''Full Circle Live '88''
* 2004: ''
Pentanine''
With Mike Oldfield
* 1975: ''
Ommadawn''
* 1978: ''
Incantations''
* 1979: ''
Exposed''
* 1979: ''
Platinum''
* 1983: ''
Crises''
* 1985: ''
The Complete Mike Oldfield''
* 1987: ''
Islands''
In November 1973, Moerlen participated in a live-in-the-studio performance of
Mike Oldfield's ''
Tubular Bells'' for the BBC.
ead linkIt is available on Oldfield's ''
Elements
Element or elements may refer to:
Science
* Chemical element, a pure substance of one type of atom
* Heating element, a device that generates heat by electrical resistance
* Orbital elements, parameters required to identify a specific orbit of ...
'' DVD.
With others
* 1975:
Steve Hillage
Stephen Simpson Hillage (born 2 August 1951) is an English musician, best known as a guitarist. He is associated with the Canterbury scene and has worked in experimental domains since the late 1960s. Besides his solo sound recording and reprodu ...
– ''
Fish Rising''
* 1975:
Slapp Happy – ''
Desperate Straights
''Desperate Straights'' is a collaborative studio album by United Kingdom, British avant-rock Musical ensemble, groups Slapp Happy and Henry Cow. It was recorded at Virgin Records' The Manor Studio, Manor Studio and Nova Sound Studios in Novembe ...
''
* 1977:
Pekka Pohjola
Jussi Pekka Pohjola (13 January 1952 – 27 November 2008) was a Finnish multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer. Best known as a bass player, Pohjola was also a classically trained pianist and violinist.
Pohjola rose to fame as the ba ...
– ''
Mathematician's Air Display''
* 1979:
Mick Taylor – ''
Mick Taylor''
* 1980:
Sally Oldfield – ''Celebration''
* 1982:
Philip Lynott
Philip Parris Lynott (, ; 20 August 1949 – 4 January 1986) was an Irish singer, bassist, and songwriter. His most commercially successful group was Thin Lizzy, of which he was a founding member, the principal songwriter, lead vocalist and b ...
– ''
The Philip Lynott Album
''The Philip Lynott Album'' is the second and final solo album by Irish rock singer Philip Lynott, released in 1982.
Not included on the album was the B-side to the "Together" single, "Somebody Else's Dream" and the B-side to the "Old Town" si ...
''
* 1983:
Sally Oldfield – ''Strange Day in Berlin''
* 1983:
Jean-Yves Lievaux Jean-Yves is a French masculine given name. Notable persons with that name include:
* Jean-Yves André (born 1977), Mauritian footballer
* Jean-Yves Anis (born 1980), French footballer
* Yves Jean-Bart (born 1947), Haitian football executive
* Je ...
– ''Transformances''
* 1985:
Tribute – ''Breaking Barriers''
* 1988:
Biréli Lagrène – ''Inferno''
* 1995:
Project Lo – ''Dabblings in the Darkness''
References
External links
Pierre Moerlen biographyat Calyx, the 'Canterbury Website'
at Calyx
Pierre Moerlen's Gong discography and album reviews, credits & releasesat
AllMusic.com
Pierre Moerlen's chronologic appearances & credits on different albumsat
Discogs.com
Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the l ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moerlen, Pierre
1952 births
2005 deaths
People from Colmar
Jazz fusion drummers
Canterbury scene
French jazz drummers
Male drummers
20th-century French musicians
20th-century drummers
Gong (band) members
20th-century French male musicians
Male jazz musicians
Brand X members