Chicago saxophonist Dustin Laurenzi, a touring member of Justin Vernon’s Bon Iver and one-third of the inventive Chicago improvising collective Twin Talk, first encountered the music of Moondog a decade ago, while studying at Indiana University. “Initially, I liked the quirkiness of the music and the lore surrounding him,” he says. Until he relocated to Germany in 1974, Kansas-born Louis Hardin Jr. was a genuine New York City fixture—a tall and gangly blind man festooned in a homemade Viking hat and crude cloak, hawking books of poetry, sheet music, and recordings of his own creation on the streets of Manhattan. Moondog, as he was better known, was as sui generis as they come, and the quirky, nonchalantly original music he created during his career was no exception. Still, it has fired the
imagination of many musicians over the decades, whether Janis Joplin, Julie Andrews, Antony & the Johnsons, or Katia Labèque. Once an inveterate outsider, the peculiar genius of his homespun minimalism has now been properly recognized.
“I had always thought that there was potential for the music to be reimagined in a more improvised context, but it took a long time for that to actually happen,”explains Laurenzi. In fact, it wasn’t until a couple of years ago that he formed a versatile... more
credits
released March 29, 2019Chad McCullough -- Trumpet
Nick Mazzarella -- Alto Saxophone
Dustin Laurenzi -- Tenor Saxophone
Jason Stein -- Bass Clarinet
Dave Miller -- Guitar
Matt Ulery -- Bass
Quin Kirchner -- Drums/Percussion
Ryan Packard -- Drums/Percussion
All Compositions by Louis Hardin (A.K.A Moondog)
Arrangements by Dustin Laurenzi
Recorded by Nick Broste January 12, 2018 Live at the Hungry Brain (Chicago, IL)
Mixed by Nick Broste at Shape Shoppe (Chicago, IL)
Mastered by Mikey Young
Layout & Design by Jaime Zuverza.
Big Thanks to Chad, Nick, Jason, Dave, Matt, Quin & Ryan, Mike Reed, Everyone at the Hungry Brain, Quentin Coaxum, Nick Broste, Mikey Young, Nate at Astral Spirits, Ted and Byron at Feeding Tube Records, and Katie Ernest.