Songs and Symphoniques: The Music of Moondog
1. Theme
2. Be a Hobo (feat. Rufus Wainwright)
3. High on a Rocky Ledge (feat. Marissa Nadler)
4. Caribea
5. Why Spend a Dark Night With You? (feat. Joan As Police Woman)
6. Enough About Human Rights (feat. Karen Mantler)
7. I’m This, I’m That (feat. Jarvis Cocker)
8. Speak of Heaven
9. The Viking of 6th Avenue
10. Down is Up (feat. Petra Haden)
11. Coffee Beans (feat. Karen Mantler and Brian Carpenter)
12. Behold (feat. Sam Amidon and Aoife O’Donovan)
13. Choo Choo Lullaby (feat. Brian Carpenter)
14. Fog on the Hudson
15. See the Mighty Tree (feat. Petra Haden)
16. Bumbo
17. All is Loneliness (feat. Joan As Police Woman)
Songs and Symphoniques: The Music of Moondog is the fifth album from Ghost Train Orchestra, this time in collaboration with the trailblazing Kronos Quartet, now in their 5th decade. The album features brilliant new re-imaginings of the music of Louis Hardin aka Moondog, the blind composer who lived on the streets of Manhattan and became a fixture on 6th Avenue, dressed in striking Viking attire while selling his records and reciting poetry. His beautiful and haunting madrigals, songs, and symphoniques inspired the minimalists Philip Glass and Steve Reich, who called Moondog “the godfather of minimalism”. Featuring a diverse cast of special guests, Songs and Symphoniques showcases the work of five arrangers from Ghost Train Orchestra revisiting Moondog’s vital and uplifting music for a new generation.
German Record Critics’ Award (PdSK) Annual Award 2024
“The Ghost Train Orchestra and Kronos Quartet present seventeen new, vibrant arrangements of Moondog’s music by musical director Brian Carpenter and members of the Brooklyn-based ensemble. It is a captivating rediscovery of this artist…and we are amazed by its timeless beauty, the abysses and the humour.” – For the annual committee, Petra Rieß
https://www.schallplattenkritik.de/en/annual-awards
The Guardian
“His work seems endless”: Music stars pay tribute to the incredible life of Moondog
“The new tribute album surveys the full range of Moondog’s music, from madrigals to symphonic pieces to songs like All Is Loneliness.” The project was initiated by the Brooklyn-based jazz-chamber ensemble Ghost Train Orchestra in collaboration with the Kronos Quartet, and also features vocal performances from stars such as Rufus Wainwright, Jarvis Cocker and Joan as Policewoman. “Over the years, I’ve become a kind of evangelist for Moondog,” said Ghost Train Orchestra’s leader, Brian Carpenter. “I want more people to know about the joy and wonder of his music. And, luckily, there’s so much of it.” – Jim Farber for The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/sep/26/moondog-eccentric-musician-songs-and-symphoniques
Strings Magazine
Ghost Train Orchestra and Kronos Quartet Team Up on ‘Songs and Symphoniques: The Music of Moondog’
”The most stirring new chamber works I heard in the past year—the elegiac “Speak of Heaven” and the sublime “All Is Loneliness,” featuring singer and violinist Joan As Police Woman—were penned by a blind, bearded, helmeted, unhoused man who wandered the streets of Manhattan clad as a Viking.” – Greg Cahill, from the March 2024 issue of Strings Magazine
PANM360
Ghost Train Orchestra / Kronos Quartet – Songs and Symphoniques: The Music of Moondog
“Listen to this joyful album. An indispensable album played with finesse and recorded with great quality, perhaps heralding the long-awaited advent of official recognition.” – Frederic Cardin
GHOST TRAIN ORCHESTRA
Brian Carpenter - trumpet, arranger
Curtis Hasselbring - trombone, arranger
Ron Caswell - tuba
Andy Laster - alto saxophone, flute, arranger
Matt Bauder - tenor saxophone, bass clarinet, arranger
Colin Stetson - bass saxophone
Dennis Lichtman - clarinet
Sara Schoenbeck - bassoon
Brandon Seabrook - guitar
Chris Lightcap - double bass, bass guitar
Rob Garcia - drums, percussion
David Cossin - marimba, percussion
Maxim Moston - violin, arranger
KRONOS QUARTET:
David Harrington - violin
John Sherba - violin
Hank Dutt - viola
Sunny Yang - cello
VOCALISTS:
Sam Amidon
Brian Carpenter
Jarvis Cocker
Petra Haden
Joan As Police Woman
Karen Mantler
Marissa Nadler
Aoife O’Donovan
Rufus Wainwright
Produced by Brian Carpenter
Engineered by Zach Miley, Aaron Nevezie, and Marc Urselli
Mixed by John Kilgore and Brian Montgomery
Mastered by Bob Ludwig
Lure Design - design and layout
Cantaloupe Music 2023