Moondog – The Viking Of Sixth Avenue (2004, 2xLP, Usa)

Compilation of early Moondog EPs and 10"s.

Moondog - Moondog 2 (1971, LP, Usa)

Tracklist:
A1 Bells Are Ringing 1:19
A2 Voices Of Spring 1:47
A3 What's The Most Exciting Thing? 2:31
A4 All Is Loneliness 1:16
A5 My Tiny Butterfly 1:12
A6 Why Spend A Dark Night With Me? 1:09
A7 Coffee Beans 2:10
A8 Down Is Up 1:07
A9 Be A Hobo 1:09
A10 Remember 1:52
A11 I Love You 1:08
A12 Nero's Expedition 1:52
A13 No, The Wheel Was Never Invented 1:20
B1 With My Wealth 1:35
B2 This Student Of Life 1:24
B3 Some Trust All 1:28
B4 Wine, Woman And Song 2:23
B5 Sadness 1:22
B6 Maybe 2:03
B7 Each Today Is Yesterday's Tomorrow 1:37
B8 Imagine 2:16
B9 You The Vandal 2:08
B10 Trees Against The Sky 1:18
B11 Behold 1:27
B12 Sparrow 1:37
B13 Pastoral 2:42

Musicians:

Harp [Troubadour Harp] – Gillian Stephens

Percussion [Various Percussion Parts] – June, Mary, Specs Powel

Performer [Schom] – Stephen Silverstein

Viol [Viola Da Gamba] – Judith Davidoff

Virginal, Recorder, Piano, Harpsichord, Organ [Ancient Organ] – Kay Jaffee

Vocals, Percussion – June Hardin, Louis Hardin

Written-By – L. Hardin

Moondog 2 sees the return of the eccentric and visionary artist, who started his musical career as an idiosyncratic street musician in New York City.
On this album the focus does not lie on neo-classical experimentation alternating with jazz pieces. The style could rather be best described as modern Madrigals, renaissance avant-garde or simply…Moondog-music.
Repetitive and interlaced vocal lines are accompanied by Moondog’s typical and unique percussion patterns, as well as something that sounds like a harpsichord and occasional flutes.
Despite all of the pieces being quite short, in the long run, the musical maze becomes rather uniform with little change. The album thus feels almost like one musical idea stretched over plenty of short tunes. (RYM)

Moondog ‎– Moondog In Europe (1977, LP, Usa)

Face A
01. Viking I (3:00)
02. Chaconne In G (4:50)
03. Heimdall Fanfare (3:10)
04. Romance In G (5:20)
05. In Vienna (2:10)
Face B
06. Chaconne C (2:57)
07. Lögründr III (1:15)
08. Lögründr XII (2:23)
09. Lögründr XIII (2:12)
10. Lögründr IV (5:00)
11. Lögründr VII (2:05)
12. Lögründr XIX (8:22)

Musicians
Celesta – Louis Hardin
Cello – Bertalan Ikrenyi
Viola – Klaus König
Violin [1. Violin] – Gabor Gui
Violin [2. Violin] – Ludovik Sandrik
Bugle [Waldhorn] – Guy Carmichael
Celesta – Malte Heygster
Organ – Fritz Storfinger
Percussion, Celesta – Moondog


Originally released by Kopf in 1977, and reissued in 1999, Moondog In Europe was visionary composer Louis Thomas Hardin's aka Moondog first release after moving to Germany. Perhaps reflecting the historicity of his new environment, this album is more structured and formal than most of his previous releases; however, his layered song-cycles are just as circular and experimental, and still backed by a fair amount of tribal percussion. There are moments of whimsy, as on "In Vienna," with its bouncing, music-box like celesta, or on "Viking I," also reflected with a snappy celesta melody, but there are also moments of parlor-room somberness, as on the string arrangements for "Romance In G" or the last 20+ minutes of the album, which is comprised exclusively of extremely heavy pipe-organ suites. Moondog In Europe, though less playful than other of his albums, displays Moondog's virtuosity as a classical composer, with elegantly stylized pieces that see Moondog embracing a grandiosity he hadn't approached previously. Highly Recommended!

Moondog ‎– Moondog (1969, LP, Usa)

Tracklist:

A1. Theme (2:35)

A2. Stamping Ground (2:36)

A3. Symphonique #3 (Ode To Venus) (5:51)

A4. Symphonique #6 (Good For Goodie) (2:45)

B1. Minsym #1 (5:45)

      I Allegro

      II Andante Allegro

      III Vivace

B2. Lament I, "Bird's Lament" (1:42)

B3. Witch Of Endor (6:29)

      I Dance

      IIa Trio - Adagio (The Prophesy)

      IIb Trio - Andante (The Battle)

      IIc Trio - Agitato (Saul's Death)

      III Dance (Reprise)

B4. Symphonique #1 (Portrait Of A Monarch) (2:36)

Musicians:

Baritone Saxophone – Wally Kane

Bass – Alfred Brown, George Duvivier, Louis Hardin, Ron Carter

Bass Clarinet – Ernie Bright

Bass Trombone – Paul Faulise

Bassoon – Don Macourt, George Berg, Jack Knitzer, Joyce Kelly, Ryohei Nakagawa, Wally Kane

Cello – Charles McCracken, George Ricci

Clarinet – George Silfies, Jimmy Abato, Phil Bodner

Contrabass [Contrabass Cello] – Joe Tekula

English Horn – Henry Shuman, Irving Horowitz

Flugelhorn – Joe Wilder

Flute – Andrew Lolya, Harold Bennett

French Horn – Brooks Tillotson, James Buffington, Ray Alonge, Richard Berg

Percussion – Bob Rosengarden, Dave Carey, Elayne Jones, Jack Jennings

Piccolo Flute – Harold Jones, Hubert Laws

Trombone [Tenor Trombone] – Buddy Morrow, Charles Small, Tony Studd

Trumpet – Alan Dean, Joe Wilder, Mel Broiles, Teddy Weiss

Trumpet [Bass Trumpet] – Danny Repole

Tuba – Bill Stanley, Don Butterfield

Tuba [Tenor Tuba] – Bill Elton, Bill Stanley, John Swallow, Phil Giardina

Viola – David Schwartz, Emanuel Vardi, Eugene Becker, Raoul Poliakin

Viola [Tenore] – Eugene Becker, Raoul Poliakin

Violin – Aaron Rosand, Paul Gershman

Composed By – Louis Hardin, Also Known As Moondog

Moondog was the ultimate outsider of 20th century music. Championed by an assortment of stars including Frank Zappa, Igor Stravinsky, Charlie Parker, Arturo Toscanini, Benny Goodman, Philip Glass, Lester Young and Woody Herman, he chose to work as a street busker for most of his life, and his five decades as a recording artist were mainly spent on tiny independent labels. Born Louis Thomas Hardin in Kansas in 1916, he was blinded in a farm accident aged 16 and was largely self-taught as a musician. He adopted the name Moondog and his Viking dress style after moving to New York in 1943. Moondog’s life in music was sparked by the Native American dance ceremonies which his father took him to as a child, and echoes of Native American drumming are often heard in his recordings. Sometimes called the founder of minimalism, Moondog rejected all labels and said he just played “Moondog music.”