Joanna MacGregor - Sidewalk Dances (Fourteen Moondog Pieces) (2015)

The cult figure Moondog, who performed on the streets of New York for over 30 years, meshed jazz, classical, Native American rhythms and poetry. With a lifelong fascination for the strict rules of canon-writing, and dubbed the father of minimalism, he composed more than eighty symphonies, three hundred rounds, countless percussion, organ and piano pieces, scores for brass bands and string orchestras, and five books called The Art of the Canon.

Joanna MacGregor's stunning new arrangements of fourteen of Moondog's most famous pieces are re-imaginings for larger forces, with a spectacular line-up of some of today's most cutting-edge jazz musicians, along with the brilliant Britten Sinfonia. Radically rewritten, each track retains Moondog's irresistible trademarks - short and snappy, of the street, melodic and joyful, and characterized by a pounding beat.

The recording features leading musicians from the worlds of jazz and classical music: Joanna McGregor, Britten Sinfonia, Andy Sheppard, Seb Rochford and Kuljit Bhamra

Personnel: Joanna MacGregor - (conductor, piano, harpsichord), Britten Sinfonia, Andy Sheppard - (soprano and tenor saxes), Kuljit Bhamra - (tabla, percussion), Neville Malcolm - (bass, upright bass), Seb Rochford - (drums, percussion), Shri Sriram - (Indian flute)

Review
(4 stars) A triumph: the varied forces give Moondog's obsessive riffs atmospheric lift; these dances are intoxicating. -- The Times, (Neil Fisher), March 2, 2007

(4 stars) MacGregor's arrangements are exhilarating and Sheppard and the Britten Sinfonia play with feeling. -- BBC Music Magazine, (Barry Witherden), April 2007

A real treat from one of the most original musicians at work in this country. -- The Observer, (Anthony Holden), February 25, 2007

Tracklist:
01. Joanna MacGregor - Single Foot (2:23)
02. Joanna MacGregor - Bumbo (3:57)
03. Joanna MacGregor - Sextet (2:19)
04. Joanna MacGregor - Dog Trot (4:09)
05. Joanna MacGregor - All Is Loneliness (1:24)
06. Joanna MacGregor - Voices of Spring (2:54)
07. Joanna MacGregor - Rabbit Hop (2:56)
08. Joanna MacGregor - Invocation (5:28)
09. Joanna MacGregor - Reedroy (1:46)
10. Joanna MacGregor - Double Bass Duo (2:38)
11. Joanna MacGregor - Good for Goodie (2:34)
12. Joanna MacGregor - Bird's Lament (3:54)
13. Joanna MacGregor - Theme and Variations (3:30)
14. Joanna MacGregor - Heath on the Heather (4:08)