erik_1099
03-10-2009, 01:29 PM
Patrick talks about the "new" album Change of Space, upcoming gigs, his thoughts on seeing Howe/Squire/White play recently and has some brief recollections about his time with Yes, specifically regarding his contributions to Awaken.
Interview by David Westbay <david.westbay@verizon.net> and posted to the Moraz news email group on Yahoo. To subscribe to the Patrick Moraz fans discussion group, send an e-mail to: MorazFans-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
1. DW: I know that a lot of fans are excited to hear that you have a new CD just out, your first new release since "ESP" in 2003. Tell us about "Change of Space"; I understand that there are a lot of great musicians playing with you on it. Who are some of them?
PM: "CHANGE OF SPACE" or "COS", as I call it, (as in "Cosmic Origins Spectography, as NASA would put it), is a collection of songs and instrumental pieces of never released material which I worked on, composing, recording, mixing and "polishing" over a period of about 14 years. These pieces reflect very much some of the music I have composed and developed over the years and recorded on my own as well as with other remarkable musicians and engineers.
In the late 80's and beginning of the 90's I used to have my own recording studio in Hollywood, California, on the corner of Vine and Santa Monica Blvd. which I had named "TimeCode Studios". Since work was slow in 89 with the "Moodies," I decided to do some sessions for films and commercials and compose also the music for the 700th Anniversary of my country of origin, Switzerland. I had been appointed by the Government Delegate to develop my own project which I chose to entitle "The Symphony of the 700's/ Star Peace" which was going to be the crowning multi-media extravaganza of all the celebrations of the 700th Anniversary. I worked very hard on creating and developing the official planning of the festivities. I was doing a lot of international traveling, taking meetings, doing lots of research etc. for this project but for reasons totally independent of my own will, specifically because of the 1st Gulf War which affected the funding of the whole project to a great extent, the show was never fully realized the way I had imagined and I was put in the position to have to pull out.
However, I decided to carry-on composing, recording and producing out of "TimeCode Studios".
There was always a lot of cultural and ethnic activities on the premises, with all kinds of local and international musicians who were encompassing different styles of music. At one point Bunny Brunel, bass player extraordinaire, Kazumi Watanabe, the famous guitarist from Japan, John Wackerman, from the Wackerman family of drummers associated with Frank Zappa's various groups, Alex Ligertwood, former lead singer with Santana in the 80's, and Alex Acuna, premier percussionist of Joe Zawinul's group "Weather Report" were in the studio recording a project with Wayne Shorter for the album "Kilowatt", a Kazumi Watanabe project produced by Akira Yada. It was then that the decision was made to have all of them, with the exception of Wayne Shorter, record some of the pieces that would eventually become part of the "Change of Space" Album.
In regards to the songs, I decided to choose only 3 of the collection of songs which I wrote mainly with the collaboration of a very gifted English singer/songwriter, Don Adey, who was originally with an English group called "The Jamme".
See: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=44167326
After the "Change of Space" album was recorded I was invited by Bunny to play on his solo album "Momentum".
I already knew these extraordinary musicians, having previously jammed with them in various situations. Bunny Brunel and I actually had met some years before in Geneva Switzerland. I'm happy to say, that, some time later and while in London, I played a major part in his career, by introducing and recommending him to Chick Corea. This is a very interesting story in itself, which I will reserve for my book. : ) See: www.myspace.com/Bunnybrunel (http://www.myspace.com/Bunnybrunel)
2. DW: When and where were the sessions recorded?
PM: Some of the pieces, as mentioned earlier were recorded in Los Angeles, i.e. "Peace in Africa", "Change of Space", "The Power of Emotion" and "Stellar Rivers & Streams of Lucid Dreams."
"Cum Spiritu" had been recorded originally in London and I had already composed and played all my parts by the time I asked Bunny Brunel to add his own brand of fretless bass playing on it, which he did at "TimeCode Studios".
These pieces were recorded by my own fantastic sound-engineer Barry Radman and the extraordinary Lee Bales, with whom I worked later in relation to the "Windows of Time" CD, my first solo piano album, which was released in 1994.
In regards to the other pieces, I recorded them much later, in the late 90's and beginning of the New Century, in a Studio-Museum dedicated principally to keyboards and synthesizers of all kinds, "Audio Playground" in Orlando Fl., where I was residing at that time. We are talking about "One Day in June" which I had composed and sketched prior to the one session I recorded with the excellent drummer and friend Ronnie Ciago on a brand new ethnic set of "Remo Drums" which that Company had put at his disposal for the recording. At a later stage and without editing or re-arranging the "backbone" of the best "one take" of the 3 takes we had recorded together that "One Day in June" (it was in 1998), I then spent 7 weeks on my own, before the final mixing sessions, playing all the other parts, themes, instrumentations and orchestrations which can be heard on the entire piece.
The other pieces, the suite entitled "Sonique Prinz" in 3 movements and the very last piece of the album "Alien Spaces" I recorded completely on my own, playing all the instruments at "Audio Playground" as well. In regards to the technical, sound engineering and mixing aspect of those recordings, I was helped during different sessions by the very-skilled- in-all-things- technical Joseph Rivers, the co-owner of the studio at the time and Eric "Woody" Wood, a brilliant "Full Sail" University graduate. Though the studio itself, "Audio-Playground" doesn't physically exist any more, (unfortunately) , one can still find more info about it and some of the synthesizers that were available on the premises, as well as the recording gear and the mixing equipment, on the Internet.
3. DW: Are the pieces on the album all composed by you, or did you collaborate with anyone? Are they all new for this CD, or are there any "covers" of previously released songs or compositions?
PM: I composed all of the music for the album. Of course, the songs with lyrics were co-written and co-composed mainly by Don Adey and myself as previously mentioned. I composed all the other pieces.
As a matter of fact, I had composed more music than needed for just one album. I always have pieces in reserve and I put a lot of ideas, sketches and compositional structures and textures aside, especially since the computer technology got exponentially expanded over the years. However, the more one has at one's disposal, the longer it takes sometimes to make the right decisions about the arrangement and the electronic orchestrations, let alone of course, the compositional aspect of the songs and the music in general.
The "Change of Space" album has also the particularity to be the exact opposite of the 2 volumes of my "Future Memories 1" and "Future Memories 2", which were both composed and recorded instantaneously in front of live TV cameras.
All the songs and the instrumental pieces from the "COS" CD have been meticulously composed, planned, arranged, orchestrated and performed, even if at different times and during various recording sessions.
In regards to "Peace in Africa, Don Adey sang the lead vocals., and I sang on the chants with the other backing vocalists.
For the next song, "COS", Alex Ligertwood sang the lead vocals.
For "The Power of Emotion" I wrote the music and Alex Ligertwood who also sang lead vocals on it co-wrote the lyrics with Don Adey. Needless to say, all these pieces took quite some time to come to fruition!
I would like to offer some further information about the way I composed the complete structure of the "Change of Space" music "backbone" of the entire song, from the beginning to the end: What I did was that I performed it directly on my vast and complete rig of electronic keyboards and synthesizers at the time, being fed directly to my computers acting as the recording console via "MIDI" (Musical Instrument Digital Interface).
I actually wrote, arranged, orchestrated, rehearsed and planned the whole piece in its entirety over a three day period and I recorded it in one take, without interruption, and without edits!
The only additional keyboards I recorded as an "overdub" session, were the moog solo and some of the lines doubling the bass towards the end of the piece, notably at the end, after the final chorus, which is played in unison by the bass guitar and the keyboards and which was a line that Bunny Brunel wrote as a contribution to the piece upon my request.
There is also a 5 and 1/2 second Hammond organ run which appears from 4 minutes 33 and 1/2 seconds to 4minutes and 39 seconds, which was played, upon my suggestion, by one of the several observers/musicians who were allowed in the studio from time to time.
And another special mention is the fact that we had, as backing vocalists, and in some instances as solo vocalists some fabulous female singers, all of them lead singers and solo vocalists in their own right. As listed in the CD booklet, we find : Janis Liebhart, Nicol Mecerova, Wendy McKenzie, Naomi Starr and Jill Meschke, who also played some additional keyboards on "The Power of Emotion" and who, at the time, was part of my team of special assistants on my "Starpeace" project,. These ladies are elegant and wonderful and I'd like to take this opportunity to acknowledge their talent and Thank them for their sheer musical brilliance!
4. DW: Is the new album a collection of various pieces, or is there a theme behind it?
PM: You could say that this new album is made of a collection of various pieces, but some of the pieces are in 3 or even 4 movements, i.e. "Sonique Prinz" in 3 movements and "Stellar Rivers and Streams of Lucid Dreams" which is in 4 movements.
Talking about "Sonique Prinz", I wanted to explore on my own, with sounds and textures, as well as give, especially in the 2nd movement, a very strong musical statement about the way I play a spontaneously improvised keyboard-solo on a portable "Clavitar-like" controller instrument, which in this instance was actually a Roland "Axis" with midi-capabilities, hence the multiple sonic variations and differences in the choice of timbres, dynamics, superpositions of various additions of synthesizers in unison or duo-phonic mode and so forth.
As far as "Stellar Rivers and Streams of Lucid Dreams" is concerned, although listed differently on the "tray" and in the booklet, one can't help but notice that on the CD itself, the first 3 movements of "Stellar Rivers and Streams of Lucid Dreams" are respectively 6:37 minutes long and the 4th movement "Adagio Cantabile" is 5:31 minutes long before merging into the last piece on the album "Alien Spaces". So it gives the pieces more equilibrium, as if they were almost balanced in time, this for "discographic" and Radio airplay reasons only.
If these pieces were played live, I would evidently arrange them like they are on the record and they would evidently last as long, probably even longer due to some of the improvisations imparted to the various players involved.
In regards to the theme of the music itself, my music generally always has to do with some "causes" pertaining generally to Freedom, in all its facets, and to Change, change for a better world, change for a better situation, Awareness, Spirituality and the Cosmos!
But it's done in all humility and I don't want anyone to think that I'm "grandiloquent" in saying this. It's my way of expressing some of my own ideologies..
However, I can say that all this music has been conceived with these kinds of ideas in mind.
I have to point out that I'm particularly happy to see this album released in this "time of change"!
5. DW: Will "Change of Space" be available via download such as through iTunes or other such outlets?
PM: Yes of course, it will be, as are most of my other CD's which have been released recently by Voiceprint. I believe that there are well over 150 pieces available now on I-Tunes!
Just put "Moraz" and it will get you there from the Apple I-Tunes store site!
It will be soon also on the Voiceprint direct download address. (Please note that "Change of Space" will be under the letter P (for Patrick)! :
http://www.voiceprint.dloadshop.com/VoiceprintCatalogue.asp?artistid=149&ar=P
http://www.voiceprint.dloadshop.com/VoiceprintCatalogue.asp?artistid=150&ar=P
http://www.voiceprint.dloadshop.com/VoiceprintCatalogue.asp?artistid=96&ar=M (http://www.voiceprint.dloadshop.com/VoiceprintCatalogue.asp?artistid=96&ar=M)
http://www.voiceprint.dloadshop.com/VoiceprintCatalogue.asp?artistid=86&ar=M
http://www.voiceprint.dloadshop.com/VoiceprintCatalogue.asp?artistid=108&ar=R
6. DW: Are there any plans for promotional activities in conjunction with the new CD, such as personal appearances, radio or media interviews, etc.?
PM: Yes of course! Well, right now I'm doing several interviews in conjunction with this one. That takes a lot of energy especially as I do them in different languages, which are not in my original language, French. But I like doing interviews and answering as meticulously as possible. I really think reporters, interviewers and fans alike deserve the best, we, artists, can give them in terms of responses and also to let them know our feelings.
On the other hand(s), I'm going to do concerts, starting with just solo piano and eventually some electronic instruments as well. Hopefully, this new album will allow me to bring out a group, or a band composed of at least some of the musicians and singers who appeared on "Change of Space". And maybe even more percussionists and musicians of all kinds of ethnic backgrounds, which would be a treat, to say the least!
7. DW: How have things been going with the back catalog re-releases? I hear they have been quite popular.
PM: Well, first and foremost I have to praise Voiceprint for their excellent job of releasing all these albums, not only mine, but a whole generation of albums and projects from hundreds of artists, composers and musicians around the world. This is really a fantastic endeavor and I also want to thank them for their excellent distribution and their efforts to promote our products!
I feel honored to have been asked to take part in such a mammoth task and I feel very positive about the whole thing.
As you can imagine, it's been quite a massive undertaking to have all these albums and projects, CDs and DVDs, mastered and respectively re-mastered. A lot of research has gone into embarking on this whole adventure and now most of the releases have been taken care of and distributed.
I give you here the direct link to my CDs on Voiceprint :
http://www.voiceprint.co.uk/web/Catalogue/Artists/Patrick%20Moraz/
http://www.voiceprint.co.uk/web/Catalogue/Artists/Patrick%20Moraz__ SLASH__Refugee/ (http://www.voiceprint.co.uk/web/Catalogue/Artists/Patrick%20Moraz__%20SLASH__Refugee/)
http://www.voiceprint.co.uk/web/Catalogue/Artists/Patrick%20Moraz__ SLASH__Mainhorse/ (http://www.voiceprint.co.uk/web/Catalogue/Artists/Patrick%20Moraz__%20SLASH__Mainhorse/)
8. DW: Are there any other recordings "in the can" or in the works that we can look forward to?
PM: Yes, there are quite a lot of recordings and works which have never been released, and there are also some new productions, recent works, in the "classical" section and also in the "prog-rock and avant-jazz fusion" section. Of course, I have quite a lot of projects already "earmarked", so-to-speak, for the coming years.
I'm looking forward to see those releases come to fruition and I can tell everyone to "Please rejoice"! : )
9. DW: Do you have any firm plans for live gigs in the not too distant future? Solo or with other musicians?
Yes, as mentioned before, I have already announced some solo concerts, i.e. a couple of dates in a very nice jazz club "Bake's Place" in Isaaquah, WA:
http://www.bakesplace.org/event_ detail.php?id=327 (http://www.bakesplace.org/event_%20detail.php?id=327)
And some other dates are in the works in the States and also hopefully in Europe and Switzerland.
10. DW: On a side note: I understand that you went to see "Howe - Squire - White of Yes" on their recent tour. How did you like the show?
PM: Yes, I really enjoyed the concert as did the people who were with us that evening. The venue, "Ruth Eckerd Hall" was not too big, so the sound was quite loud and clear as we were not too far from the front of the stage. After the show, I also had the pleasure of visiting with Alan and Chris, and meeting for the first time Benoit David with whom I spoke to in French of course, and Oliver Wakeman. It was a wonderful evening and I enjoyed listening to the music once again, and seeing the show. I thought Alan and Chris played their "a…..s off", as well as Steve. I was really impressed by Benoit David's vocal abilities and his emotional outpour on some of the songs. His range and technique are obviously fabulous and he has an excellent stage presence. Oliver did a great job playing the parts and his solos were very good too!
All in all it was a great concert I would go and see again! I know my friends would too and it's fantastic to see that the music of YES continues to be played live and is being appreciated by the fans all over the world!
11. DW: As a last question for this interview, Patrick, and this is kind of "out of the blue" but I heard that you had contributed to the song "Awaken" from the Album "Going for the One," is this true?
PM: Well, yes, that's absolutely true! However, my contribution to the song never became part of the final rendition of that piece!
If you are interested to hear some of it, you can listen to what I had composed for it in the piece entitled "Time for a Change" (* ) on my "Out in the Sun" album which I recorded subsequently from my departure from Yes early 1977!
That piece which (would have been at the beginning of "Awaken") is actually its first movement and I called it later "Time to fly". And for this I had commissioned at the time, to be built to my own specifications, a wonderful instrument, an 8 voice, 16 oscillators polyphonic synthesizer from Oberheim, when still on Tour with Yes in the summer of 76 in the States. On "Time for a Change" it can be heard very clearly!
I have to say that I feel very fortunate and honored to have been chosen by YES to be a fully-fledged member of this fabulous group during some of its most glorious years from 1974 to the end of 1976.
Well, David, once again, Thank you for your questions and also I would like to take this opportunity to tell you how much I appreciate your efforts in maintaining and moderating this "Patrick Moraz Newsgroup".
A heartfelt gratitude as well and all my very best wishes to my friends, fans and listeners of my music.
Hope to see you soon on the road!
Musically Yours
Patrick Moraz
Additional links :
http://www.Patrickmoraz.com
http://www.Patrickmoraz.net
http://www.myspace.com/patrickmoraz
(*)Another myspace link (With original version of "Time for a Change/Time to Fly"
http://www.myspace.com/patrickmoraz7784
Radio interview on Voiceprint Radio
http://www.voiceprintwebradio.com/</david.westbay@verizon.net>
Interview by David Westbay <david.westbay@verizon.net> and posted to the Moraz news email group on Yahoo. To subscribe to the Patrick Moraz fans discussion group, send an e-mail to: MorazFans-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
1. DW: I know that a lot of fans are excited to hear that you have a new CD just out, your first new release since "ESP" in 2003. Tell us about "Change of Space"; I understand that there are a lot of great musicians playing with you on it. Who are some of them?
PM: "CHANGE OF SPACE" or "COS", as I call it, (as in "Cosmic Origins Spectography, as NASA would put it), is a collection of songs and instrumental pieces of never released material which I worked on, composing, recording, mixing and "polishing" over a period of about 14 years. These pieces reflect very much some of the music I have composed and developed over the years and recorded on my own as well as with other remarkable musicians and engineers.
In the late 80's and beginning of the 90's I used to have my own recording studio in Hollywood, California, on the corner of Vine and Santa Monica Blvd. which I had named "TimeCode Studios". Since work was slow in 89 with the "Moodies," I decided to do some sessions for films and commercials and compose also the music for the 700th Anniversary of my country of origin, Switzerland. I had been appointed by the Government Delegate to develop my own project which I chose to entitle "The Symphony of the 700's/ Star Peace" which was going to be the crowning multi-media extravaganza of all the celebrations of the 700th Anniversary. I worked very hard on creating and developing the official planning of the festivities. I was doing a lot of international traveling, taking meetings, doing lots of research etc. for this project but for reasons totally independent of my own will, specifically because of the 1st Gulf War which affected the funding of the whole project to a great extent, the show was never fully realized the way I had imagined and I was put in the position to have to pull out.
However, I decided to carry-on composing, recording and producing out of "TimeCode Studios".
There was always a lot of cultural and ethnic activities on the premises, with all kinds of local and international musicians who were encompassing different styles of music. At one point Bunny Brunel, bass player extraordinaire, Kazumi Watanabe, the famous guitarist from Japan, John Wackerman, from the Wackerman family of drummers associated with Frank Zappa's various groups, Alex Ligertwood, former lead singer with Santana in the 80's, and Alex Acuna, premier percussionist of Joe Zawinul's group "Weather Report" were in the studio recording a project with Wayne Shorter for the album "Kilowatt", a Kazumi Watanabe project produced by Akira Yada. It was then that the decision was made to have all of them, with the exception of Wayne Shorter, record some of the pieces that would eventually become part of the "Change of Space" Album.
In regards to the songs, I decided to choose only 3 of the collection of songs which I wrote mainly with the collaboration of a very gifted English singer/songwriter, Don Adey, who was originally with an English group called "The Jamme".
See: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=44167326
After the "Change of Space" album was recorded I was invited by Bunny to play on his solo album "Momentum".
I already knew these extraordinary musicians, having previously jammed with them in various situations. Bunny Brunel and I actually had met some years before in Geneva Switzerland. I'm happy to say, that, some time later and while in London, I played a major part in his career, by introducing and recommending him to Chick Corea. This is a very interesting story in itself, which I will reserve for my book. : ) See: www.myspace.com/Bunnybrunel (http://www.myspace.com/Bunnybrunel)
2. DW: When and where were the sessions recorded?
PM: Some of the pieces, as mentioned earlier were recorded in Los Angeles, i.e. "Peace in Africa", "Change of Space", "The Power of Emotion" and "Stellar Rivers & Streams of Lucid Dreams."
"Cum Spiritu" had been recorded originally in London and I had already composed and played all my parts by the time I asked Bunny Brunel to add his own brand of fretless bass playing on it, which he did at "TimeCode Studios".
These pieces were recorded by my own fantastic sound-engineer Barry Radman and the extraordinary Lee Bales, with whom I worked later in relation to the "Windows of Time" CD, my first solo piano album, which was released in 1994.
In regards to the other pieces, I recorded them much later, in the late 90's and beginning of the New Century, in a Studio-Museum dedicated principally to keyboards and synthesizers of all kinds, "Audio Playground" in Orlando Fl., where I was residing at that time. We are talking about "One Day in June" which I had composed and sketched prior to the one session I recorded with the excellent drummer and friend Ronnie Ciago on a brand new ethnic set of "Remo Drums" which that Company had put at his disposal for the recording. At a later stage and without editing or re-arranging the "backbone" of the best "one take" of the 3 takes we had recorded together that "One Day in June" (it was in 1998), I then spent 7 weeks on my own, before the final mixing sessions, playing all the other parts, themes, instrumentations and orchestrations which can be heard on the entire piece.
The other pieces, the suite entitled "Sonique Prinz" in 3 movements and the very last piece of the album "Alien Spaces" I recorded completely on my own, playing all the instruments at "Audio Playground" as well. In regards to the technical, sound engineering and mixing aspect of those recordings, I was helped during different sessions by the very-skilled- in-all-things- technical Joseph Rivers, the co-owner of the studio at the time and Eric "Woody" Wood, a brilliant "Full Sail" University graduate. Though the studio itself, "Audio-Playground" doesn't physically exist any more, (unfortunately) , one can still find more info about it and some of the synthesizers that were available on the premises, as well as the recording gear and the mixing equipment, on the Internet.
3. DW: Are the pieces on the album all composed by you, or did you collaborate with anyone? Are they all new for this CD, or are there any "covers" of previously released songs or compositions?
PM: I composed all of the music for the album. Of course, the songs with lyrics were co-written and co-composed mainly by Don Adey and myself as previously mentioned. I composed all the other pieces.
As a matter of fact, I had composed more music than needed for just one album. I always have pieces in reserve and I put a lot of ideas, sketches and compositional structures and textures aside, especially since the computer technology got exponentially expanded over the years. However, the more one has at one's disposal, the longer it takes sometimes to make the right decisions about the arrangement and the electronic orchestrations, let alone of course, the compositional aspect of the songs and the music in general.
The "Change of Space" album has also the particularity to be the exact opposite of the 2 volumes of my "Future Memories 1" and "Future Memories 2", which were both composed and recorded instantaneously in front of live TV cameras.
All the songs and the instrumental pieces from the "COS" CD have been meticulously composed, planned, arranged, orchestrated and performed, even if at different times and during various recording sessions.
In regards to "Peace in Africa, Don Adey sang the lead vocals., and I sang on the chants with the other backing vocalists.
For the next song, "COS", Alex Ligertwood sang the lead vocals.
For "The Power of Emotion" I wrote the music and Alex Ligertwood who also sang lead vocals on it co-wrote the lyrics with Don Adey. Needless to say, all these pieces took quite some time to come to fruition!
I would like to offer some further information about the way I composed the complete structure of the "Change of Space" music "backbone" of the entire song, from the beginning to the end: What I did was that I performed it directly on my vast and complete rig of electronic keyboards and synthesizers at the time, being fed directly to my computers acting as the recording console via "MIDI" (Musical Instrument Digital Interface).
I actually wrote, arranged, orchestrated, rehearsed and planned the whole piece in its entirety over a three day period and I recorded it in one take, without interruption, and without edits!
The only additional keyboards I recorded as an "overdub" session, were the moog solo and some of the lines doubling the bass towards the end of the piece, notably at the end, after the final chorus, which is played in unison by the bass guitar and the keyboards and which was a line that Bunny Brunel wrote as a contribution to the piece upon my request.
There is also a 5 and 1/2 second Hammond organ run which appears from 4 minutes 33 and 1/2 seconds to 4minutes and 39 seconds, which was played, upon my suggestion, by one of the several observers/musicians who were allowed in the studio from time to time.
And another special mention is the fact that we had, as backing vocalists, and in some instances as solo vocalists some fabulous female singers, all of them lead singers and solo vocalists in their own right. As listed in the CD booklet, we find : Janis Liebhart, Nicol Mecerova, Wendy McKenzie, Naomi Starr and Jill Meschke, who also played some additional keyboards on "The Power of Emotion" and who, at the time, was part of my team of special assistants on my "Starpeace" project,. These ladies are elegant and wonderful and I'd like to take this opportunity to acknowledge their talent and Thank them for their sheer musical brilliance!
4. DW: Is the new album a collection of various pieces, or is there a theme behind it?
PM: You could say that this new album is made of a collection of various pieces, but some of the pieces are in 3 or even 4 movements, i.e. "Sonique Prinz" in 3 movements and "Stellar Rivers and Streams of Lucid Dreams" which is in 4 movements.
Talking about "Sonique Prinz", I wanted to explore on my own, with sounds and textures, as well as give, especially in the 2nd movement, a very strong musical statement about the way I play a spontaneously improvised keyboard-solo on a portable "Clavitar-like" controller instrument, which in this instance was actually a Roland "Axis" with midi-capabilities, hence the multiple sonic variations and differences in the choice of timbres, dynamics, superpositions of various additions of synthesizers in unison or duo-phonic mode and so forth.
As far as "Stellar Rivers and Streams of Lucid Dreams" is concerned, although listed differently on the "tray" and in the booklet, one can't help but notice that on the CD itself, the first 3 movements of "Stellar Rivers and Streams of Lucid Dreams" are respectively 6:37 minutes long and the 4th movement "Adagio Cantabile" is 5:31 minutes long before merging into the last piece on the album "Alien Spaces". So it gives the pieces more equilibrium, as if they were almost balanced in time, this for "discographic" and Radio airplay reasons only.
If these pieces were played live, I would evidently arrange them like they are on the record and they would evidently last as long, probably even longer due to some of the improvisations imparted to the various players involved.
In regards to the theme of the music itself, my music generally always has to do with some "causes" pertaining generally to Freedom, in all its facets, and to Change, change for a better world, change for a better situation, Awareness, Spirituality and the Cosmos!
But it's done in all humility and I don't want anyone to think that I'm "grandiloquent" in saying this. It's my way of expressing some of my own ideologies..
However, I can say that all this music has been conceived with these kinds of ideas in mind.
I have to point out that I'm particularly happy to see this album released in this "time of change"!
5. DW: Will "Change of Space" be available via download such as through iTunes or other such outlets?
PM: Yes of course, it will be, as are most of my other CD's which have been released recently by Voiceprint. I believe that there are well over 150 pieces available now on I-Tunes!
Just put "Moraz" and it will get you there from the Apple I-Tunes store site!
It will be soon also on the Voiceprint direct download address. (Please note that "Change of Space" will be under the letter P (for Patrick)! :
http://www.voiceprint.dloadshop.com/VoiceprintCatalogue.asp?artistid=149&ar=P
http://www.voiceprint.dloadshop.com/VoiceprintCatalogue.asp?artistid=150&ar=P
http://www.voiceprint.dloadshop.com/VoiceprintCatalogue.asp?artistid=96&ar=M (http://www.voiceprint.dloadshop.com/VoiceprintCatalogue.asp?artistid=96&ar=M)
http://www.voiceprint.dloadshop.com/VoiceprintCatalogue.asp?artistid=86&ar=M
http://www.voiceprint.dloadshop.com/VoiceprintCatalogue.asp?artistid=108&ar=R
6. DW: Are there any plans for promotional activities in conjunction with the new CD, such as personal appearances, radio or media interviews, etc.?
PM: Yes of course! Well, right now I'm doing several interviews in conjunction with this one. That takes a lot of energy especially as I do them in different languages, which are not in my original language, French. But I like doing interviews and answering as meticulously as possible. I really think reporters, interviewers and fans alike deserve the best, we, artists, can give them in terms of responses and also to let them know our feelings.
On the other hand(s), I'm going to do concerts, starting with just solo piano and eventually some electronic instruments as well. Hopefully, this new album will allow me to bring out a group, or a band composed of at least some of the musicians and singers who appeared on "Change of Space". And maybe even more percussionists and musicians of all kinds of ethnic backgrounds, which would be a treat, to say the least!
7. DW: How have things been going with the back catalog re-releases? I hear they have been quite popular.
PM: Well, first and foremost I have to praise Voiceprint for their excellent job of releasing all these albums, not only mine, but a whole generation of albums and projects from hundreds of artists, composers and musicians around the world. This is really a fantastic endeavor and I also want to thank them for their excellent distribution and their efforts to promote our products!
I feel honored to have been asked to take part in such a mammoth task and I feel very positive about the whole thing.
As you can imagine, it's been quite a massive undertaking to have all these albums and projects, CDs and DVDs, mastered and respectively re-mastered. A lot of research has gone into embarking on this whole adventure and now most of the releases have been taken care of and distributed.
I give you here the direct link to my CDs on Voiceprint :
http://www.voiceprint.co.uk/web/Catalogue/Artists/Patrick%20Moraz/
http://www.voiceprint.co.uk/web/Catalogue/Artists/Patrick%20Moraz__ SLASH__Refugee/ (http://www.voiceprint.co.uk/web/Catalogue/Artists/Patrick%20Moraz__%20SLASH__Refugee/)
http://www.voiceprint.co.uk/web/Catalogue/Artists/Patrick%20Moraz__ SLASH__Mainhorse/ (http://www.voiceprint.co.uk/web/Catalogue/Artists/Patrick%20Moraz__%20SLASH__Mainhorse/)
8. DW: Are there any other recordings "in the can" or in the works that we can look forward to?
PM: Yes, there are quite a lot of recordings and works which have never been released, and there are also some new productions, recent works, in the "classical" section and also in the "prog-rock and avant-jazz fusion" section. Of course, I have quite a lot of projects already "earmarked", so-to-speak, for the coming years.
I'm looking forward to see those releases come to fruition and I can tell everyone to "Please rejoice"! : )
9. DW: Do you have any firm plans for live gigs in the not too distant future? Solo or with other musicians?
Yes, as mentioned before, I have already announced some solo concerts, i.e. a couple of dates in a very nice jazz club "Bake's Place" in Isaaquah, WA:
http://www.bakesplace.org/event_ detail.php?id=327 (http://www.bakesplace.org/event_%20detail.php?id=327)
And some other dates are in the works in the States and also hopefully in Europe and Switzerland.
10. DW: On a side note: I understand that you went to see "Howe - Squire - White of Yes" on their recent tour. How did you like the show?
PM: Yes, I really enjoyed the concert as did the people who were with us that evening. The venue, "Ruth Eckerd Hall" was not too big, so the sound was quite loud and clear as we were not too far from the front of the stage. After the show, I also had the pleasure of visiting with Alan and Chris, and meeting for the first time Benoit David with whom I spoke to in French of course, and Oliver Wakeman. It was a wonderful evening and I enjoyed listening to the music once again, and seeing the show. I thought Alan and Chris played their "a…..s off", as well as Steve. I was really impressed by Benoit David's vocal abilities and his emotional outpour on some of the songs. His range and technique are obviously fabulous and he has an excellent stage presence. Oliver did a great job playing the parts and his solos were very good too!
All in all it was a great concert I would go and see again! I know my friends would too and it's fantastic to see that the music of YES continues to be played live and is being appreciated by the fans all over the world!
11. DW: As a last question for this interview, Patrick, and this is kind of "out of the blue" but I heard that you had contributed to the song "Awaken" from the Album "Going for the One," is this true?
PM: Well, yes, that's absolutely true! However, my contribution to the song never became part of the final rendition of that piece!
If you are interested to hear some of it, you can listen to what I had composed for it in the piece entitled "Time for a Change" (* ) on my "Out in the Sun" album which I recorded subsequently from my departure from Yes early 1977!
That piece which (would have been at the beginning of "Awaken") is actually its first movement and I called it later "Time to fly". And for this I had commissioned at the time, to be built to my own specifications, a wonderful instrument, an 8 voice, 16 oscillators polyphonic synthesizer from Oberheim, when still on Tour with Yes in the summer of 76 in the States. On "Time for a Change" it can be heard very clearly!
I have to say that I feel very fortunate and honored to have been chosen by YES to be a fully-fledged member of this fabulous group during some of its most glorious years from 1974 to the end of 1976.
Well, David, once again, Thank you for your questions and also I would like to take this opportunity to tell you how much I appreciate your efforts in maintaining and moderating this "Patrick Moraz Newsgroup".
A heartfelt gratitude as well and all my very best wishes to my friends, fans and listeners of my music.
Hope to see you soon on the road!
Musically Yours
Patrick Moraz
Additional links :
http://www.Patrickmoraz.com
http://www.Patrickmoraz.net
http://www.myspace.com/patrickmoraz
(*)Another myspace link (With original version of "Time for a Change/Time to Fly"
http://www.myspace.com/patrickmoraz7784
Radio interview on Voiceprint Radio
http://www.voiceprintwebradio.com/</david.westbay@verizon.net>