Moondog, The Viking Of Sixth Avenue  


Born in 1916, Moondog was friends with Charlie Parker; Dylan, Philip Glass, Janis Joplin and Igor Stravinsky were fans. He was also blind, dressed as a kind of vagrant Viking and, despite a lengthy recording career was frequently to be found playing a street pitch. As a child he'd been enraptured by the percussion at an Arapaho Sun Dance and, later, he identified the similarity between the syncopation of Native American music, what he called "a heartbeat in two speeds," and swing-era jazz. The first compilation to span all his recordings (1945-95), this selection of 36 of his pieces for percussion, brass and the odd howling canine, and occasional, madrigal-like songs, is both ethereal and earthy, sounding old as the hills and utterly out of time. Sometimes it's almost jazz, mostly it's that rare thing in music: unique. Moondog was a creature of an entirely lost New York. Giuliani would no doubt have had him moved on.

1. Theme And Variations
2. Down Is Up
3. Bumbo
4. Big Cat
5. Oo Debut
6. Lament 1 'Bird's Lament'
7. Moondog's Symphony 1
8. Moondog's Symphony 2
9. Rabbit Hop
10. Rimshot
11. Snaketime Rhythm
12. Instrumental Round
13. Double Bass Duo
14. Why Spend The Dark Night With You?
15. All Is Loneliness
16. Snaketime Rhythm
17. Dragon's Teeth
18. Oboe Round
19. Be A Hobo
20. Dog Trot
21. Oasis
22. Avenue Of The AmericasMusic
23. 2 W 46th StreetMusic
24. Lullaby
25. Fog On The HudsonMusic
26. UtsuMusic
27. On And Off The Beat
28. Chant
29. From One To Nine
30. Improvisation In 4/4
31. Enough About Human Rights!
32. Viking
33. Rimshot
34. Chaconne In G Major
35. Oasis
36. Invocation