{"id":8602,"date":"2015-10-06T05:30:03","date_gmt":"2015-10-06T09:30:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=8602"},"modified":"2015-10-18T22:27:24","modified_gmt":"2015-10-18T22:27:24","slug":"patrick-moraz-mapping-out-the-future-part-two","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2015\/10\/06\/patrick-moraz-mapping-out-the-future-part-two\/","title":{"rendered":"Patrick Moraz: MAPping Out the Future, Part Two"},"content":{"rendered":"

Continued from Part One<\/a>…<\/em><\/p>\n

Bill Kopp:<\/strong> Speaking of Moog, the K2000 dates from the period when Dr. R.A. (Bob) Moog<\/strong> was doing work for Kurzweil; he actually created many of the sounds for the K2000.<\/span><\/p>\n

Patrick Moraz:<\/strong> Even farther back \u2013 in 1975, forty years ago! \u2013 I had recorded the backing tracks for The Story of I<\/em> in Brazil. Sixteen percussionists recorded on twenty-four track tape. Bob was in Buffalo and had developed the Polymoog. And he came with it to me and to Keith<\/strong> [Emerson<\/strong><\/a>]. And in the first three weeks of [that] September, I was able to invite Bob and his [first] wife [Shirleigh] to the villa where I was staying in Geneva. So he was with me for the first three weeks of the recording sessions for I<\/em>. Some of the sounds you hear were very, very enhanced by his genius tweaking, so to speak. Bless his memory; he was a very, very good friend.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/center>I remember [Bob Moog’s work on the K2000] very well! Because at the time \u2013 and even in 1985, before Bob Moog came to Kurzweil \u2013 I was one of their very first endorsers. At the 1985 NAMM show in Anaheim, I was representing Kurzweil. At that time I played Mozart<\/strong>‘s \u201cConcerto #13 in G\u201d [whistles melody], and I recorded all of the sequences note by note, just exactly. And I had learned the flute part by heart. I played it at the big party for Kurzweil. Ray Kurzweil<\/strong> and I have remained friends ever since.<\/p>\n

I love Kurzweil keyboards; I still have three of them, including a K2500, and the new PC3. And I have the my old sounds saved. What I like about Kurzweil is the touch of their keyboards. For me, it feels very good, because it has a lot of possibilities and dynamics: pre-touch, touch, and aftertouch.<\/p>\n

And on this album with Greg Alban<\/strong> [MAP: Moraz Alban Project<\/em>], I was able to include some licks exactly the way they were played, not edited afterward or anything like that. I was born in Switzerland, a country known for its precision, for making the trains arrive to the minute when they were supposed to arrive. And the precision of the watches. So I grew up in that very precise environment.<\/p>\n

When I was thirteen, I broke my right arm. And six weeks later when I was getting the cast removed, I was offered a pair of roller skates! So of course my friends came with two bicycles and a rope, and they said, \u201cOkay, try your roller skates!\u201d And I did, and I broke the four fingers of my right hand. My hand still shows the architecture of that accident. I was told by some of my teachers \u2013 I was preparing to be a competitor in a classical music competition \u2013 \u201cYou will never<\/em> play classical music.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

But not only was I able to train my left hand, to learn \u201cConcerto for the Left Hand\u201d by Maurice Ravel<\/strong>, I was able to compose more and more of my own music. Which I was unable to play!<\/p>\n

BK:<\/strong> We’ve touched upon this a bit already. One of the things that I find appealing about the Moraz Alban Project<\/em> album is that while the music is rooted in fusion\/progressive styles, there’s a strong emphasis on memorable melodies. That’s something that’s often lost in ambitious music of the progressive type. When you’re composing, is the idea of a \u201chook\u201d central to your goals?<\/span><\/p>\n

PM:<\/strong> Absolutely. It’s such a natural process. I was fortunate \u2013 I thank God all the time…or whomever’s up there or out there in the universe \u2013 when I started choosing the sort of life I was going to lead. I was fortunate to play with some very good jazz musicians; some very famous ones, and some less-famous ones. And then as I progressed \u2013 I had a trio at the time \u2013 the two agents that worked on my behalf helped me learn about the strength of melody. Learning to play standards \u2013 \u201cAutumn Leaves,\u201d \u201c’Round Midnight,\u201d \u201cBlue Moon\u201d and so on \u2013 really helped me. The agents told me, \u201cPatrick, if you want to succeed in your music \u2013 whether you’re playing, or composing for another band who will play your music \u2013 always make sure that there is a very strong and memorable melody.\u201d It should be based on between three, four, seven notes. But it must be memorable. And then you can do whatever you want with it after that; it doesn’t matter, because the melody is what the people remember.<\/p>\n