Patrick Moraz
“Idiscovered Patrick Moraz through Yes’ Relayer, which is my big album. I was in my late teens when I discovered Yes, and I worked through their albums in chronological order, but Relayer lived on
my turntable forever; Moraz’s musical DNA is all over it. He was only in the band for that one album, but he left an indelible mark on the history of Yes and on the history of progressive rock.
“He had massive boots to fill when he replaced Rick Wakeman, but he just walked in, kicked Wakeman’s empty boots out of the way and proceeded to stamp his own sound on the band. He was doing more of a jazz rock thing, whereas Wakeman was doing more of a classical thing. On stage he didn’t try and emulate Wakeman, not even on the Hammond solo on Close To The Edge, he just plays a Patrick Moraz solo, which sounds absolutely fantastic.
“Wakeman was such an integral part of the Yes sound, so for Moraz to come along and do that, he certainly held his own. If you watch him on Yes: Live – 1975 At Q.P.R, he does this little piano solo, and he dances in and out of about four or five genres in two minutes; one minute he’s Liberace, the next he’s doing a bit of honky-tonk blues, and then he brings out the big guns and does this classical piece, just hammers it. His hands are moving so fast they’re just a blur and he doesn’t put a note out of place. That’s the guy you want on the keys in Yes.
“The [self-titled] Refugee album he did in the same year as Relayer is amazing too, and you can hear his sound all over that as well. [Solo debut] The Story Of I was next-level bonkers.
“Patrick Moraz was the keyboard player in my favourite band on my favourite album. I think he was the perfect wingman for Steve Howe, and Relayer is possibly my favourite Yes line-up as well.
“I think he brought out the best in all his bandmates; he brought out the experimental virtuoso in
Steve Howe, Chris Squire and Alan White. They’d never played like that before Relayer, and they certainly never played like that afterwards. It was dangerous, edgy and Yes’ creative peak – one that Moraz sat quite proudly on top of.”