Benoît Moerlen (born 6 February 1956)
/ref> is a French percussionist, best known for his work in

Gong A gongFrom Indonesian language, Indonesian and ; ; zh, c=鑼, p=luó; ; ; ; ; is a percussion instrument originating from Southeast Asia, and used widely in Southeast Asian and East Asian musical traditions. Gongs are made of metal and ...

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 Canterbury scene band Gong founded and led by Daevid Allen. It was notable for the prominent use of mallet p ...

and a later offshoot Gongzilla.

History

Moerlen studied the

vibraphone The vibraphone (also called the vibraharp) is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using Percussion mallet, mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone ...

at the Strasbourg Conservatory, where his elder brother

Pierre Moerlen Pierre Moerlen (23 October 1952, Colmar, Haut-Rhin – 3 May 2005, Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines, near Strasbourg) was a French drummer and percussionist, best known for his work with Gong and Mike Oldfield and as Pierre Moerlen's Gong. Biography Pie ...

had also studied percussion. Moerlen first played with Gong on 1974's ''

You In Modern English, the word "''you''" is the second-person pronoun. It is grammatically plural, and was historically used only for the dative case, but in most modern dialects is used for all cases and numbers. History ''You'' comes from ...

'', Pierre already being a member. He joined more permanently for ''Gazeuse!'' (1976) and ''Expresso II'' (1978) when the band had come under Pierre's leadership. The latter was released under the Gong name in the UK, but as by Pierre Moerlen's Gong in North America. The band toured Europe in support. Benoît remained with the band for ''Downwind'' (1979) and ''Live'' (released 1980). Having left in 1979, Benoît joined Pierre in

Mike Oldfield Michael Gordon Oldfield (born 15 May 1953) is an English retired musician, songwriter and producer best known for his debut studio album ''Tubular Bells'' (1973), which became an unexpected critical and commercial success. Though primarily a gu ...

's touring band, and he appears on the resultant live album ''

Exposed Expose, exposé, or exposed may refer to: News sources * Exposé (journalism), a form of investigative journalism * '' The Exposé'', a British conspiracist website * '' Exeposé'', a student-run newspaper of the University of Exeter Film and TV ...

'' (1979). He re-joined Pierre Moerlen's Gong in the late 1980s for ''Second Wind'' and ''Full Circle Live '88'', also playing additional keyboards. He also appeared with Pierre on Oldfield's ''

Islands This is a list of the lists of islands in the world grouped by country, by continent, by body of water, and by other classifications. For rank-order lists, see the #Other lists of islands, other lists of islands below. Lists of islands by count ...

'' (1987). Moerlen was then a founding member of Gongzilla, playing vibraphone and

marimba The marimba ( ) is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars that are struck by mallets. Below each bar is a resonator pipe that amplifies particular harmonics of its sound. Compared to the xylophone, the mari ...

, with bassist Hansford Rowe and guitarist

Bon Lozaga Bon or Bön (), also known as Yungdrung Bon (, ), is the indigenous Tibetan religion which shares many similarities and influences with Tibetan Buddhism.Samuel 2012, pp. 220–221. It initially developed in the tenth and eleventh centuries but ...

, with whom he had played in Pierre Moerlen's Gong. They released ''Suffer'' (1995) and ''Thrive'' (1996, with guests

David Torn David M. Torn (born May 26, 1953) is an American guitarist, composer, and producer. He is known for combining electronic and acoustic instruments and for his use of looping. Background Torn has contributed to recordings by artists as diverse ...

and

Gary Husband Gary Husband (born 14 June 1960) is an English jazz and rock drummer, pianist, keyboard player and bandleader. He is also a composer, arranger, producer and educator. Husband was a member for 16 years of John McLaughlin's group The 4th Dimen ...

). Moerlen also plays solo marimba concerts in France, Belgium and Germany, and works in a duo called Akimbo with the German vibraphone player Stefan Traub. In 2005, Benoît was rehearsing with Pierre for a new line-up of Pierre Moerlen's Gong when Pierre died in his sleep.

Filmography

* 2015: '' Romantic Warriors III: Canterbury Tales'' (DVD)

References

External links

LoLo Records page
Canterbury scene French percussionists 1956 births Living people Gong (band) members {{percussionist-stub