Gazeuse!
Encyclopedia
Gazeuse! is an album by Pierre Moerlen's Gong
, issued in 1976. In the U.S., it was called Expresso.
The album is jazz fusion
and has little to do with the psychedelic
space rock
of Daevid Allen
's Gong, even though the bands share a common history. Although the album was issued under the name of Gong (due to contract obligations with Virgin Records), and the name "Pierre Moerlen's Gong" would not be adopted for a couple of years, the lineup involved and the nature of the music are that of the Moerlen-led band. Writing credits are about half-divided between Holdsworth and Moerlen, except the final track, which is by early Magma
bassist Francis Moze
(credited on fretless, gong and piano).
"Shadows Of" is a reworking of Allan Holdsworth's "Velvet Darkness
" from his 1976 album of the same name.
Pierre Moerlen's Gong
Pierre Moerlen's Gong is a jazz fusion outfit which is very different from the first incarnation of Gong, the psychedelic space-rock act led by Daevid Allen...
, issued in 1976. In the U.S., it was called Expresso.
The album is jazz fusion
Jazz fusion
Jazz fusion is a musical fusion genre that developed from mixing funk and R&B rhythms and the amplification and electronic effects of rock, complex time signatures derived from non-Western music and extended, typically instrumental compositions with a jazz approach to lengthy group improvisations,...
and has little to do with the psychedelic
Psychedelic music
Psychedelic music covers a range of popular music styles and genres, which are inspired by or influenced by psychedelic culture and which attempt to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues-rock bands in the...
space rock
Space rock
Space rock is a subgenre of rock music; the term originally referred to a group of early, mostly British, 1970s progressive and psychedelic rock bands such as Hawkwind and Pink Floyd, characterised by slow, lengthy instrumental passages dominated by electric organs, synthesizers, experimental...
of Daevid Allen
Daevid Allen
Daevid Allen , sometimes credited as Divided Alien, an Australian poet, guitarist, singer, composer and performance artist is co-founder of psychedelic rock groups Soft Machine and Gong .-Biography:In 1960, inspired by the Beat Generation writers he had discovered...
's Gong, even though the bands share a common history. Although the album was issued under the name of Gong (due to contract obligations with Virgin Records), and the name "Pierre Moerlen's Gong" would not be adopted for a couple of years, the lineup involved and the nature of the music are that of the Moerlen-led band. Writing credits are about half-divided between Holdsworth and Moerlen, except the final track, which is by early Magma
Magma (band)
Magma is a French progressive rock band founded in Paris in 1969 by classically trained drummer Christian Vander, who claimed as his inspiration a "vision of humanity's spiritual and ecological future" that profoundly disturbed him. In the course of their first album, the band tells the story of a...
bassist Francis Moze
Francis Moze
Francis Moze is a French bass player, best known for his work in Magma, Gong and Pierre Moerlen's Gong.Moze played in an early line-up with Magma. When he left the group, Giorgio Gomelsky introduced him to Gong. He played on the album Flying Teapot...
(credited on fretless, gong and piano).
Side one
- "Expresso" (Pierre MoerlenPierre MoerlenPierre Moerlen was a French drummer and percussionist, best known for his work with Gong and Mike Oldfield.-Biography:...
) – 5:58 - "Night Illusion" (Allan HoldsworthAllan HoldsworthAllan Holdsworth is an English guitarist and composer. He has released twelve studio albums as a solo artist and played many different styles of music over a period of four decades, but first drew attention for his work in jazz fusion...
) – 3:42 - "Percolations (Part I & II)" (Moerlen) – 10:00
Side two
- "Shadows Of" (Holdsworth) – 7:48
- "Esnuria" (Moerlen) – 8:00
- "Mireille" (Francis MozeFrancis MozeFrancis Moze is a French bass player, best known for his work in Magma, Gong and Pierre Moerlen's Gong.Moze played in an early line-up with Magma. When he left the group, Giorgio Gomelsky introduced him to Gong. He played on the album Flying Teapot...
) – 4:10
"Shadows Of" is a reworking of Allan Holdsworth's "Velvet Darkness
Velvet Darkness
Velvet Darkness is the first studio album by guitarist Allan Holdsworth, released in 1976 through CTI Records; a remastered edition was reissued in 2002. According to Holdsworth, the tracks were originally recorded during a rehearsal session, after which the tapes were released by CTI without his...
" from his 1976 album of the same name.
Personnel
- Pierre MoerlenPierre MoerlenPierre Moerlen was a French drummer and percussionist, best known for his work with Gong and Mike Oldfield.-Biography:...
– drumDrumThe drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
s, Drum kitDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, vibraphoneVibraphoneThe vibraphone, sometimes called the vibraharp or simply the vibes, is a musical instrument in the struck idiophone subfamily of the percussion family....
, marimbaMarimbaThe marimba is a musical instrument in the percussion family. It consists of a set of wooden keys or bars with resonators. The bars are struck with mallets to produce musical tones. The keys are arranged as those of a piano, with the accidentals raised vertically and overlapping the natural keys ...
, timpaniTimpaniTimpani, or kettledrums, are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum, they consist of a skin called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally made of copper. They are played by striking the head with a specialized drum stick called a timpani stick or timpani mallet...
, glockenspielGlockenspielA glockenspiel is a percussion instrument composed of a set of tuned keys arranged in the fashion of the keyboard of a piano. In this way, it is similar to the xylophone; however, the xylophone's bars are made of wood, while the glockenspiel's are metal plates or tubes, and making it a metallophone... - Allan HoldsworthAllan HoldsworthAllan Holdsworth is an English guitarist and composer. He has released twelve studio albums as a solo artist and played many different styles of music over a period of four decades, but first drew attention for his work in jazz fusion...
– guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
s, violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
, pedal steelPedal steel guitarThe pedal steel guitar is a type of electric guitar that uses a metal bar to "fret" or shorten the length of the strings, rather than fingers on strings as with a conventional guitar. Unlike other types of steel guitar, it also uses pedals and knee levers to affect the pitch, hence the name "pedal"... - Mireille BauerMireille BauerMireille Bauer is a French percussionist and former member of Gong.Through her then boyfriend Pierre Moerlen, she first worked with Gong in a session capacity on Angel's Egg and You before joining the band fully for albums including Expresso II...
– vibraphone, marimba, glockenspiel, tomsTom-tom drumA tom-tom drum is a cylindrical drum with no snare.Although "tom-tom" is the British term for a child's toy drum, the name came originally from the Anglo-Indian and Sinhala; the tom-tom itself comes from Asian or Native American cultures... - Benoît MoerlenBenoît MoerlenBenoît Moerlen is a French percussionist, best known for his work in Gong, Pierre Moerlen's Gong and a later off-shoot Gongzilla.-History:...
– vibraphone - Didier MalherbeDidier MalherbeDidier Antonin Malherbe is a saxophonist and flautist. He was one of the founders of the Canterbury sound band Gong....
– tenor saxTenor saxophoneThe tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
, fluteFluteThe flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening... - Francis MozeFrancis MozeFrancis Moze is a French bass player, best known for his work in Magma, Gong and Pierre Moerlen's Gong.Moze played in an early line-up with Magma. When he left the group, Giorgio Gomelsky introduced him to Gong. He played on the album Flying Teapot...
– bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, gongGongA gong is an East and South East Asian musical percussion instrument that takes the form of a flat metal disc which is hit with a mallet....
, pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal... - Mino CineluMino CineluMino Cinelu is a French musician. He plays multiple instruments. He is a composer, programmer and producer; and is most often associated primarily for his work as a jazz percussionist.-Biography:Cinelu was born in Saint-Cloud, Hauts-de-Seine...
– percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...