Although he rubbed shoulders with a remarkably varied group of 20th century cultural figures, including Janis Joplin, Mr. Scruff, Charlie Parker, Philip Glass, Igor Stravinsky, Bob Dylan, Artur Rodzinski, Mouse on Mars, William S. Burroughs, Lenny Bruce, Alan Freed, etc., etc.... Louis "Moondog" Hardin — the composer-busker -percussionist-philosopher himself — remains a largely misunderstood and sadly under-recorded musical genius.
Rare Material is actually the second double CD set of this blind, Viking-garbed, counterpoint-obsessed composer's "rare material" released by the German ROOF Music label, which thankfully seems dedicated to documenting Moondog's musical legacy — albeit in a rather scatter-shot manner.
The German Years (1977-1999) has fancier but flimsy packaging, with one of its discs compiling some extremely hard to find recordings from Moondog's time in Europe along with several selections from the widely available (though apparently now out of print?) Sax Pax for a Sax Atlantic album. The second German Years CD is a revelatory, previously unreleased recording of his final live performance in France (not Germany...) with pianist Dominique Ponty on August 1, 1999.
This new Rare Material ROOF collection has less luxurious but sturdier packaging and an almost identical cover image. It mines much of the same territory and unearths even more riches, although the decision to include several long tracks from the far-from-"rare" Prestige albums Moondog and More Moondog is as regrettable as the extensive sampling of Sax Pax for a Sax on the earlier collection.
The first CD resurrects the rare and out-of-print 1995 Big Band album in its entirety (one track was also included on The German Years.) Like Sax Pax, Big Band also highlights John Harle's London Saxophonic and even includes some of the same compositions.
These performances, however, feature... well, a "bigger band," augmenting the saxophones, clarinets, and occasional vocal choruses with a brass ensemble and more percussion. This results in a fresh, striking sound even on familiar pieces like "Paris" and especially "Shakespeare City," which has an amazing extended second half not performed on the Sax Pax album. Every other tune is a winner too, from the exuberantly jazzy "Blast Off" to the stately processional "Torisa" to the maddening and/or compelling "Invocation" — a ten minute "16-part canon on one tone." Yep, one tone. Literally.
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1 - Connie Phillips
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