Ah, the pan flute: the thinking man’s kazoo. Not to belittle the artistry behind Syrinx’ muse, but there’s a reason young boys and girls aren’t chapping their lips late at night practicing the pan flute. Patrick Moraz’ spacey synthesizers and Syrinx’ antiquated instrument make strange bedfellows on Coexistence, although some of the time they also make beautiful music together. On the first side, the music might be too beautiful for some tastes, like “Boonoonoonoos” (which, I kid you not, would have worked well on Sesame Street) and the new age/muzak sounds of “Mind Your Body.” The side-long “Coexistence” suite is a better match for Moraz, allowing his advanced arsenal of synthetic sounds to shine, with Syrinx eschewing his delicate touch for an aggressive, jazzier tone. Other electronic keyboardists, Vangelis among them, have made the mistake of pairing raw and primitive sounds with electronics, perhaps overestimating the expressiveness of their own instruments. Usually, too wide a chasm exists between the two, and the primitive components come off sounding hokey, the futuristic components bloodless. That said, the “Coexistence” suite does arrive at an organic union, and Moraz fans will appreciate the idea and the effort. As for the first side of music, it may appeal only to the Yanni- and the Tesh-less. Unless you thought the Jon Anderson/Vangelis ventures were a good idea (and some did), save your money for something less flutey, like Story of I.
Original LP Version
A1. Mind Your Body (Patrick Moraz)
A2. Boonoonoonoos (Patrick Moraz)
A3. Soundrise (Patrick moraz)
A4. Adagio For A Hostage (Patrick Moraz)
A5. Freedom To… (Syrinx/Partick Moraz)
B1. Coexistence (4 Movements)
1. Black Gold (Patrick Moraz/Syrinx)
2. Moments of Love (Patrick Moraz/Syrinx)
3. Chain Reaction (Patrick Moraz/Syrinx)
4. Peace On The Hills (Patrick Moraz)
The Players
Patrick Moraz (keyboards and electronic synthetizers, vocoder, piano, electronic percussions and additional acoustic percussions, synth. Basses), Syrinx (pan pipe flutes – flutes de pan), Richie Morales (drums and tympanis, gongs), John Wooloff (guitars, mando-guitars, Roland synth. guitar & Ovation) with Eric Albiez (additional perc. bongos, Westminster chimes, Cevennes tropicaloo, fibra slap, etc.), Djalma Correa & the percussionists of Rio (Brasilian percussion). Produced by Patrick Moraz; engineered by Prof. Jean Ristori. Executive production and licence management by Jean-Claude Vial.
The Pictures
Illustrations by Aliocha, Phildius.
The Plastic
Released on elpee and cassette in 1980 in France (Carrere, 67499), the UK (Carrere, CAL 117), the US (PVC, PVC/PVCC 8923) and Yugoslavia (RTB, 2221446) with inner sleeve.
