Patrick Moraz
Encyclopedia
Patrick Philippe Moraz in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
) is a progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
keyboard player. He is best known as the keyboardist for the progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
band Yes
Yes (band)
Yes are an English rock band who achieved worldwide success with their progressive, art, and symphonic style of rock music. Regarded as one of the pioneers of the progressive genre, Yes are known for their lengthy songs, mystical lyrics, elaborate album art, and live stage sets...
, from 1974 to 1976, and the Moody Blues
The Moody Blues
The Moody Blues are an English rock band. Among their innovations was a fusion with classical music, most notably in their 1967 album Days of Future Passed....
from 1978 to 1991. He was classically trained at the Conservatory of Lausanne, but played jazz primarily before entering progressive rock and has been highly acclaimed for his virtuosity.
Career
He first toured as a solo performer opening for major jazz artists throughout Europe in the mid-1960s. He then formed the group Mainhorse with Jean Ristori in 1968, which released a self-titled album on Polydor. He then moved to England and in 1973 formed Refugee with Lee JacksonLee Jackson (bassist)
Lee Jackson is a British bass player and singer, best known for his work in The Nice.-Biography:...
and Brian Davison
Brian Davison (drummer)
Brian Davison , nicknamed "Blinky", was a British drummer, best known for his work in The Nice. He was born in Leicester and died in Horns Cross, Devon....
. Davison and Jackson had previously teamed with rock keyboardist Keith Emerson
Keith Emerson
Keith Noel Emerson is an English keyboard player and composer. Formerly a member of the Keith Emerson Trio, John Brown's Bodies, The T-Bones, V.I.P.s, P.P. Arnold's backing band, and The Nice , he was a founder of Emerson, Lake & Palmer , one of the early supergroups, in 1970...
(famous for his work in Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Emerson, Lake & Palmer, also known as ELP, are an English progressive rock supergroup. They found success in the 1970s and sold over forty million albums and headlined large stadium concerts. The band consists of Keith Emerson , Greg Lake and Carl Palmer...
) in the group The Nice
The Nice
The Nice were an English progressive rock band from the 1960s, known for their blend of rock, jazz and classical music. Their debut album, The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack was released in 1967 to immediate acclaim. It is often considered the first progressive rock album...
.
Moraz rose to prominence in 1974 when he replaced Rick Wakeman
Rick Wakeman
Richard Christopher Wakeman is an English keyboard player, composer and songwriter best known for being the former keyboardist in the progressive rock band Yes...
in Yes, playing on their album Relayer
Relayer
-Personnel:*Jon Anderson – lead vocals*Steve Howe – acoustic and electric guitars, vocals*Patrick Moraz – keyboards*Chris Squire – bass guitar and vocals*Alan White – drums, percussion-Production:*Produced By Yes & Eddie Offord...
and world tour. Moraz also played with the group "Refugee" on the self titled album in 1974. Although Vangelis
Vangelis
Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou is a Greek composer of electronic, progressive, ambient, jazz, pop rock and orchestral music, under the artist name Vangelis...
was the first candidate to join the band, he was finally discarded in favour of Moraz, because of legal issues related to work permits in the United Kingdom. On the Relayer album, Moraz brought in a more jazz/fusion sound that was a departure from Yes' more classical approach. In 1976, all then-members of Yes released solo albums, and the Moraz album, titled Story of I
Story of I
Story Of i is the title of a 1976 album by former Yes keyboard player Patrick Moraz. After the success of Relayer, the band made a decision that next, each member would make a solo album. Story Of i is the first solo album by Moraz, and by the time it was released he was no longer a member of Yes,...
, received acclaim from musicians. In the interim, Moraz had moved to Brazil, and incorporated Brazilian rhythms and performers on the album, making it an important staple of world music
World music
World music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...
. He would then leave Yes in 1976 prior to the formal start of recording on Going For The One
Going for the One
Going for the One is the eighth studio album from the English progressive rock band Yes, released in 1977 on Atlantic Records. It was produced after an extended break for solo activity from the group, and marks the return of keyboardist Rick Wakeman, who had departed in 1974 after the Tales from...
. He then recorded another album, Out in the Sun.
Moraz began touring with The Moody Blues
The Moody Blues
The Moody Blues are an English rock band. Among their innovations was a fusion with classical music, most notably in their 1967 album Days of Future Passed....
on their Octave
Octave (album)
Octave is the ninth album by The Moody Blues, and their first release after a substantial hiatus following the success of the best-selling Seventh Sojourn in 1972. The album proved to be the last for the group with keyboardist Mike Pinder, who departed during the album's sessions, and declined an...
tour in 1978, replacing their former keyboardist Mike Pinder
Mike Pinder
Michael Thomas "Mike" Pinder is an English rock musician, and is a founding member or the British rock group, the Moody Blues. He left the group following the recording of the band's album, Octave, in 1978...
. He subsequently played on their 1981 album Long Distance Voyager
Long Distance Voyager
Long Distance Voyager is the tenth album by the British rock band The Moody Blues, first released in May 1981. on the group's Threshold record label...
, which reached #1 on the US charts. He continued touring and recording with the Moody Blues until 1991. During this time, Moraz was also credited as co-writer on the Moody Blues song "The Spirit", along with drummer Graeme Edge
Graeme Edge
Graeme Charles Edge is best known as the drummer and a songwriter for the Moody Blues, but has also led his own outfit, the Graeme Edge Band.-Biography:...
, and it appeared on their 1986 album The Other Side of Life
The Other Side of Life
The Other Side of Life is the twelfth album by the rock band The Moody Blues. It contains the major hit, "Your Wildest Dreams," which, like "Nights in White Satin" before it, was a top-10 hit in the United States. It is the third album of the Patrick Moraz era, and the first for flautist and...
.
Patrick Moraz's Aquarius Studios in Geneva, Switzerland with engineer Jean Ristori, was a creative magnetic for recording signed European progressive rock bands, including John McLaughlin and the Swiss progressive rock band, Flame Dream.
Even while with the Moody Blues, Moraz toured and recorded extensively. He toured with his group from Brazil, recorded with Chick Corea
Chick Corea
Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, and composer.Many of his compositions are considered jazz standards. As a member of Miles Davis' band in the 1960s, he participated in the birth of the electric jazz fusion movement. In the 1970s he formed Return to Forever...
and released two prominent albums of duets with drummer Bill Bruford
Bill Bruford
William Scott "Bill" Bruford is an English drummer, percussionist, composer, producer, and record label owner. He was the original drummer for the progressive rock group Yes, from 1968-1972. Bruford has performed for numerous popular acts since the early 1970s, including a stint as touring...
, another former member of Yes. His solo albums Future Memories I, Future Memories II and Windows of Time have been critically well-received.
In 1992, Moraz left the Moody Blues, and subsequently sued them for royalties he felt were owed to him as a member of the band for nearly 15 years. The Moody Blues denied that he was a member of the band, but rather a hired musician, despite the fact that his name was listed with the band members on the original record sleeves and booklets. The case went to court in California and was shown on Court TV
Court TV
truTV is an American cable television network owned by Turner Broadcasting, a subsidiary of Time Warner. The network launched as Court TV in 1991, changing to truTV in 2008...
. Although Moraz won a judgment, it was for a minor amount rather than the millions that the suit claimed.
Since then, Moraz has primarily concentrated on solo works, particularly solo piano. In 1995, Moraz performed throughout the USA on his C.H.A.T. tour (Coming Home to America). The tour was unusual in that Moraz booked everything himself, and for a flat fee of $800 would come to your home, club or other venue, and play a private or semi-private solo piano concert. All that had to be provided was a place to play, and a suitable piano. Moraz played for anywhere from 2 to 100 people at these shows, one of which was recorded and released as PM In Princeton, on both CD and video. Other solo piano recordings from this period include Windows of Time (1994) and ESP (2003), as well as a solo piano album titled Resonance (2000).
He now lives on the west coast of Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
with his wife.
Discography
Solo Albums- 1976 - Story of IStory of IStory Of i is the title of a 1976 album by former Yes keyboard player Patrick Moraz. After the success of Relayer, the band made a decision that next, each member would make a solo album. Story Of i is the first solo album by Moraz, and by the time it was released he was no longer a member of Yes,...
- 1977 - Out in the Sun
- 1978 - Patrick Moraz
- 1979 - Future Memories Live On TV
- 1980 - Coexistence
- 1983 - Music for Piano and Drums (with Bill Bruford)
- 1984 - Timecode
- 1984 - Future Memories II
- 1985 - Future Memories I & II
- 1985 - Flags (with Bill Bruford)
- 1987 - Human Interface
- 1987 - Les musiques de la Première
- 1989 - Libertate (re-issue of Coexistence)
- 1994 - Windows of Time
- 1995 - PM in Princeton
- 2000 - Resonance
- 2003 - ESP
- 2009 - Change of Space
- 2011 - PianissiMoraz
- 2012 - Away to Freedom