Ghost Train Orchestra and Kronos Quartet: Songs and Symphoniques

Songs and Symphoniques: The Music of Moondog offers brilliant new interpretations of the music of Louis Hardin, aka Moondog, the blind composer who lived on the streets of Manhattan and became known as "the Viking of Sixth Avenue" in the 1960s due to his striking appearance. His beautiful and haunting music was an inspiration to Philip Glass and Steve Reich, who described him as "the godfather of minimalism". The project was conceived as a collaboration between the Brooklyn-based Ghost Train Orchestra and the legendary Kronos Quartet, and quickly expanded to include numerous guest vocalists - including Marissa Nadler, Joan Wasser (aka Joan As Police Woman), Pulp's Jarvis Cocker, acclaimed singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright and vocalist Petra Haden, known for her impressive a cappella work. Altogether, it's a stunning and talented line-up that digs deep to revive Moondog's uplifting message for a new generation. Music of the maverick Moondog with a star-studded cast spanning genres "Songs and Symphoniques" contains brilliant new interpretations of the music of Louis Thomas Hardin, better known as Moondog. The blind musician, poet and composer lived on the streets of Manhattan from the 1950s to the 1970s as the "Viking of Sixth Avenue" before disappearing without a trace and reappearing in the distant Ruhr area at the end of the 1970s. His insistently rhythmic, strictly contrapuntal music inspired Philip Glass and Steve Reich. The album was conceived as a collaboration between the Brooklyn-based Ghost Train Orchestra and the legendary Kronos Quartet and quickly expanded to include numerous exquisite pop and jazz voices, such as Marissa Nadler, Joan Wasser (Joan As Police Woman), Jarvis Cocker (Pulp), Rufus Wainwright and Petra Haden.