Release date: 1981
Label: Arista
Produced by: Pierre Moerlen
Length: 38:15
Genre: jazz rock fusion/progressive rock
Rating: 7.5/10
With “Leave It Open,” French drum virtuoso Pierre Moerlen carried on with the jazz rock fusion vision he’d started building way back in 1976 with the Gong classic “Shamal.” In this phase of Moerlen’s Gong, the band was built around a varied arsenal of percussion, led by vibraphone and gongs, with a focus on mallet-style drumsticks. Moerlen’s old buddy Hansford Rowe rounded out the mighty rhythm section with melodic bass lines. Guitar variations from the excellent guitarist Bon Lozaga also played an important part, and he was often the only true rock element amid Moerlen’s jazz-fusion-meets-ambient expanses.
“Leave It Open” was the only Moerlen’s Gong album to feature a guest on the title-track masterpiece: American jazz saxophonist Charlie Mariano, best known for his work with Charles Mingus, who also collaborated with Dutch prog rock obscurities Supersister.
The epic title track takes the central spot on “Leave It Open,” packing in loads of eclectic elements of melodic jazz rock fusion, prog rock and ambient music. It’s by far the most interesting piece on the whole album and completely overshadows the rest of the compositions, which is the main problem with this otherwise perfectly decent effort. In many places you can pick up various sonic influences of Mike Oldfield, with whom Moerlen was collaborating a lot at the time as a member of Oldfield’s live band.
The percussion romp “How Much Better It Has Become,” layered with synthetic textures, doesn’t leave much of a deeper impression, other than making it plain to hear that the band had a blast experimenting with synth bass, polymoog and vibraphone. “I Woke Up This Morning Felt Like Playing Guitar,” steeped in colorful sax arrangements and eclectic guitar variations, comes off more interesting. It stands out mostly because it carries a bit of the woodwind charm of classic Gong, since Mariano had a saxophone approach similar to Didier Malherbe’s.
“It’s About Time” opens with a colorful bass guitar solo from Rowe, before funky rhythms and mischievous sax arrangements take over. On “Stok Stok Stok Sto-Gak,” ambient music for a Hawaiian getaway, Lozaga’s impressive guitar solo takes center stage. “Adrien,” dedicated to Pierre’s son Adrien, is a closing vibraphone requiem with vivid sounds of assorted percussion, done in a classic, ethereal-tinged ambient style.
“Leave It Open” wasn’t the most groundbreaking moment in the story of Moerlen’s Gong, but mostly thanks to its title-track masterpiece, it helped ensure that fans of Pierre’s musical legacy remember it fondly. After “Leave It Open,” Moerlen’s Gong took a long break before recording the album “Breakthrough” in 1986, which featured Swedish musicians from the band Tribute and is still considered somewhat controversial today, as it was inspired by Scientology despite being instrumental.
Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Track list:
1. Leave It Open (17:19)
2. How Much Better It Has Become (3:23)
3. I Woke Up That Morning Felt Like Playing Guitar (3:33)
4. It’s About Time (6:06)
5. Stok Stok Stok Sto-Gak (4:09)
6. Adrien (3:45)
Pierre Moerlen’s Gong:
Pierre Moerlen – drums, percussion, polymoog (1,2), keyboards (3-6), bass synthesizer & rhythm guitar (3), gong (6), producer
Bon Lozaga – guitar (1,3,5)
Hansford Rowe – bass guitar, rhythm guitar and vocals (4)
Francois Causse – drums and percussion
Guest musicians:
Brian Holloway – rhythm guitar (2)
Charlie Mariano – soprano saxophone (1,3,4)
Demelza Val Baker – congas (1)
