How can one avoid the great compositions by Moondog, as done by British sax player Kenny Graham with the top English Jazz musicians, and then top it off, Joe Meek was the engineer for these recording sessions. Moondog, a 20-century genius composer, an eccentric figure in Manhattan during the 1950s and 1960s, and even was a roommate of Philip Glass. Graham must be one of the few who went out of his way to record Moondog's compositions. The album is a delight, but if you are a Moondog fanatic, you may find these recordings not as wonderful as the original versions done by Moondog. Still, Kenny Graham brings these works into a very 'British' cool manner that I find intriguing. The playing and arrangements are top-notch. The second-side is all Kenny Graham compositions that are influenced by Moondog. More exotic, popish, and it does have that mid-century design of sound polish. I have two other Kenny Graham albums, and they are different in style and temperament. I suspect the more one gets into Kenny Graham, the more gems one would find. But it seems he only has a handful of recordings. There must be more out there in the world?
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