---

---

It wasn’t hard to find photos to illustrate this week’s choice of music. Pictures of refugees are never far from the news bulletins these days. Whether it’s Palestinians driven out of their homes by the Israelis, those fleeing the wars in Ukraine and Sudan, or families flooded out of their homes in the Far East, people are on the move the world over. So, in addition to the headline photo, I have put together a 4-minute slideshow¹ with 13 photos gleaned from a quick search of the Web.

---

The 3-piece band known as Refugee was an offshoot of The Nice. After Keith Emerson left to form Emerson, Lake and Palmer in 1970, Lee Jackson (bass) and Brian Davison (drums) formed their own bands: Jackson Heights and Every Which Way. Then, in 1973, Jackson and Davison teamed up with Patrick Moraz, a keyboard player with enough talent to rival the best in the business (including Keith Emerson and Rick Wakeman). As Refugee, they recorded one studio album before splitting up again less than a year later when Moraz replaced Wakeman in Yes.

That self-titled album was an absolute gem, as you can hear in this playlist.

Patrick Moraz was always a high-flyer. According to Wikipedia, although his place of birth is invariably recorded as Morges, Switzerland, he was born on an aeroplane². By the age of 16, he had his own jazz band and was winning awards. He went on to establish a highly successful career as a solo artist, but he is best known as a member of Yes and, later, the Moody Blues. That’s not to be sniffed at, but the Refugee album is as good as anything else he has done, in my opinion.

His bandmates deserve a mention, too. Lee Jackson contributed to the compositions, wrote the lyrics and provided some appropriately distinctive vocals. And Brian Davison is mightily impressive as he rattles and rumbles around his extensive drum kit.

If you ever feel the need to escape the horrors of war, the numbness of poverty, or just the drudgery of everyday life, you could do a lot worse than to spend some time with this Refugee.

Footnote

1. The music for the slideshow is Wanderer, from the Renaissance album. ↩︎
2. It doesn’t say whether the aircraft was in flight or safely back on land. ↩︎