Pierre Moerlen's Gong

Pierre Moerlen's Gong
Also known as	Gong (1976) Gong-Expresso (1976-1978)
Genres	Jazz fusion, progressive rock
Years active	1976–1988; 2002–2005
Associated acts	Gong
Past members	See "Personnel"

Pierre Moerlen's Gong was an instrumental jazz fusion outfit led by French drummer and percussionist Pierre Moerlen, which developed as an offshoot of the psychedelic progressive rock band Gong, founded and led by Daevid Allen. It was notable for the prominent use of mallet percussion, such as marimba, xylophone, and vibraphone, in a jazz-rock context.

Amid a flurry of line-up changes in the mid-1970s, including the departure of founding members Daevid Allen and Gilli Smyth, Gong drummer Pierre Moerlen found himself in charge of the band and with two albums remaining on their Virgin Records contract.

Moerlen formed a new line-up featuring his brother Benoit on mallet percussion, US-born bassist Hansford Rowe and a rotating cast of session guitarists, notably Allan Holdsworth, ex-Rolling Stone Mick Taylor, Mike Oldfield and Bon Lozaga.

They released two albums under the Gong moniker, Gazeuse! (called Expresso in North America) in 1976 and then Expresso II in 1978. Following the completion of the Virgin contract, Moerlen changed the name of the group to Pierre Moerlen's Gong. In early 1979, the group released Downwind, which was a more rock/pop flavoured album that featured occasional lead vocals by Moerlen himself and a cameo by Steve Winwood. Later in 1979 they released another album, Time is the Key, that took the band further into pop/rock territory. The live album "Pierre Moerlen's Gong Live" was released in 1980, followed later that year by another studio album Leave It Open. By this point, Pierre Moerlen's incarnation of Gong scaled back its activity greatly, not releasing another record until 1986's Scientology-inspired Breakthrough, featuring members of the Swedish band Tribute. Second Wind followed in 1988. The group quietly disbanded soon after.

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