Kenny Graham and his Satellites: Moondog And Suncat Suites
Author: Edwin Pouncey
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Musicians: |
Kenny Graham (ts, perc, whistle) |
Label: |
Trunk |
Magazine Review Date: |
June/2010 |
Catalogue Number: |
JBH036CD |
RecordDate: |
1956 |
The haunting music of New York street musician Moondog (aka Louis Hardin) has recently enjoyed a deserved renaissance, mostly through the reissues of his recordings that have been released by London-based label Honest Jon's. In the late-1950s, however, few outside of New York had ever heard of Moondog and his music remained a mystery to many. London jazz musician Kenny Graham was one of those who knew of Moondog's music and liked what he heard – so much so that he recorded this album of Moondog covers, together with a personalised tribute that he called ‘Suncat Suite’. The album quickly disappeared into obscurity, but thanks to the ever-inquisitive Trunk label Graham's masterpiece has been restored to CD, and is a welcome addition to the Moondog catalogue. What makes Moondog And Suncat Suites doubly interesting is that the engineer for the sessions was a young Joe Meek, the visionary producer of such hits as The Honeycombs’ ‘Have The Right?’ and ‘Telstar’ by The Tornados. Meek's involvement gives a subliminal outer space effect to the recording that pushes the overall vibe of Graham's group into Sun Ra territory at times, while still retaining the rhythmic qualities of Moondog's original musical vision.

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