Benoît Moerlen

This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. Find sources:  –  ·  ·  · scholar · JSTOR (October 2011) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Benoît Moerlen (born 6 February 1956)^[1] 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 brother Pierre Moerlen had also studied percussion.

Moerlen first played with Gong on 1974's You, 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's touring band, and he appears on the resultant live album Exposed (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 (1987).

Moerlen was then a founding member of Gongzilla, playing vibraphone and marimba, with bassist Hansford Rowe and guitarist , with whom he had played in Pierre Moerlen's Gong. They released Suffer (1995) and Thrive (1996, with guests David Torn and Gary Husband).

Moerlen also plays solo marimba concerts in France, Belgium and Germany, and works in a duo called Akimbo with the German vibraphone player . 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

This article on a percussionist is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by .

• v
• t