Refugee was the band formed by Patrick Moraz, Lee Jackson and Brian Davison in 1973. The band was quickly established in the UK and Europe no doubt helped in part due to the fact that both Jackson and Davison had previously been founder members of the hugely influential and  successful British progressive rock band The Nice. Refugee however also had a resident keyboard virtuoso in Swiss born Patrick Moraz. Patrick had previously been in the band Mainhorse when he was approached by the two former Nice members to form what would become Refugee. The band soon attracted the attention of Charisma Records who had previously signed The Nice.  Sadly Refugee recorded just one studio album which was released to unanimously positive reviews in early 1974. The band looked set to go on to bigger and better things until Patrick Moraz received an offer that he couldn’t refuse to join Yes. Patrick’s departure from Refugee meant the end of the band with just the solitary studio album to their name. This album was reissued in remastered form on CD in 2006

 More recently a live cassdette was found containing a performance of the band  That tape became the basis for the new live album Refugee Live In NewcastleRefugee which is now available to purchase for the first time on CD. Previous bootleg releases are of a lower quality and this release has been cleaned up and remastered for release with the full co-operation of the members of the band and the story behind the discovery of the tape and the successful restoration of this tape is outlined in the sleeve notes written by  Martin Hanson who has written the definitive biography of the Nice entitled Hang On To A Dream.

Tracks include Ritt Mickley, Papillon, Grand Canyon Suite and Someday all of which featured on Refugee’s debut studio album. Other tracks include the previously unreleased Refugee Jam and the Nice classic The Diamond Hard Blue Apples Of The Moon.

With the recent re mastered Patrick Moraz solo catalogue receiving positive critical and commercial success along with a positive move towards progressive rock in general this live album will certainly be highly anticipated by the large and dedicated Patrick Moraz and progressive rock fan base.