Moondog – The German Years 1977-1999 (2004)

No, not the Dear Lord our Father Almighty, coming like a visitation to Avax to offer his poor lost souls comfort and shelter. It’s just Moondog.

But he does offer us comfort and shelter, Moondog does. If anything, the Grey Wizard of Munster, the Keeper of the Counterpoint, the Viking of Sixth Avenue, created music – funny music, rhythmic music -from which a deep love and understanding of all things living emanates, like light radiating from the sun.
That’s all I have to say about it. Yes, I could probably try to give a more intellectually satisfying account of the man’s explorations, and the fantastic booklet (with various beautiful photos) accompanying this release will show you our beloved eccentric was no mean musical scholar himself; but this is basically it, I think: if you’re sensible to it, you’ll feel the love of life pour out of his music’s every note.

I could have chosen to order for one of his earlier releases. Musically speaking, these might even be the better ones. As it is, this is a compilation of albums released when Moondog lived in Germany (cd1) and his last live concert at the Mimi Festival in Arles, France (cd2). This last concert contains a few tracks that hadn’t been released before; so this is a must for the fans.
And then the cover. How can anyone see it and not be impressed? I could not resist, I had to have it and bring it to you. For the promo I decided to take the front cover of the booklet, because it doesn’t have any letters to disturb this magnificent vision of our old hero. It’s a drawing, stylished, yes; but as you will discover in the booklet, it’s exactly how he looked like.

Tracks:

Cd1
01. Bird's Lament [0:02:02.67]
02. Pigmy Pig [0:03:16.29]
03. Viking I [0:02:57.04]
04. Dog Trot [0:02:24.17]
05. High On A Rocky Ledge [0:04:25.57]
06. Log In B [0:04:34.52]
07. Marimba Mondo 2 [0:05:47.05]
08. Paris [0:03:27.73]
09. In Vienna [0:02:11.22]
10. EEC Lied [0:02:53.54]
11. Fujiyama 2 [0:04:57.33]
12. Heimdall Fanfare [0:03:10.12]
13. Sea Horse [0:01:17.41]
14. Single Foot [0:01:55.32]
15. Do Your Thing [0:03:07.38]
16. Bumbo [0:03:08.03]
17. Dark Eyes [0:02:06.40]
18. Logrundr XII [0:02:33.24]
19. I'm This I'm That [0:03:47.68]
20. Frost Flower [0:01:45.30]
21. The Message [0:00:59.00]
22. Introduction & Overtone Continuum [0:02:22.23]

Cd2
01. Jazz Book: No. 2 [0:02:18.00]
02. Carnival [0:01:48.45]
03. Elf Dance [0:02:18.00]
04. from Jazz Book: No. 4 [0:01:22.38]
05. Fiesta [0:02:00.67]
06. from Jazz Book: No. 3 [0:01:57.45]
07. Chaconne In A Minor [0:02:28.60]
08. 3 Couplets [0:00:32.30]
09. Prelude And Fugue In An Minor [0:04:19.15]
10. from Art Of The Canon, Book I: No. 3 [0:00:46.15]
11. from Art Of The Canon, Book I: No. 6 [0:00:45.00]
12. from Art Of The Canon, Book I: No. 7 [0:00:46.60]
13. from Art Of The Canon, Book I: No. 8 [0:01:45.45]
14. from Art Of The Canon, Book I: No. 10 [0:00:40.15]
15. from Art Of The Canon, Book I: No. 13 [0:00:36.45]
16. from Art Of The Canon, Book I: No. 14 [0:00:45.45]
17. from Art Of The Canon, Book I: No. 16 [0:00:45.00]
18. from Art Of The Canon, Book I: No. 18 [0:01:14.30]
19. from Art Of The Canon, Book I: No. 20 [0:00:55.60]
20. from Art Of The Canon, Book I: No. 25 [0:01:08.53]
21. from Art Of The Canon, Book II: No. 6 [0:00:59.07]
22. from Art Of The Canon, Book II: No. 9 [0:00:45.00]
23. from Art Of The Canon, Book II: No. 22 [0:00:52.60]
24. from Art Of The Canon, Book II: No. 23 [0:01:44.30]
25. Sea Horse [0:01:31.55]
26. from Jazz Book: No. 1 [0:01:03.50]
27. from Jazz Book: No. 5 [0:01:16.15]
28. 3 Couplets [0:00:33.45]
29. from Art Of The Canon, Book V, No. 9 [0:05:13.15]
30. Mood Montreux: 1st Movement [0:02:54.00]
31. Mood Montreux: 2nd Movement [0:03:34.12]
32. Mood Montreux: 3rd Movement [0:02:29.33]
33. Santa Fé [0:02:28.15]
34. Barn Dance [0:02:11.30]

Performers:

Moondog and many others