Moondog

This was the first of Moondog’s albums on Columbia — produced in a style that took him a lot more seriously than other albums on labels like Brunswick or Prestige, and handled in a way that slots it nicely between the label’s experiments in modern music with artists like Terry Riley or Harry Partch. The tracks still have all the naive charm of Moondog’s earlier work, but they’re performed by a top-shelf orchestra that includes classical and jazz players, including Ron Carter, Hubert Laws, Buddy Morrow, and Phil Bodner. Moondog himself handles the bass — and tracks include “Mini-sym #1”, “Stamping Ground”, “Symphonique #6”, and “Witch Of Endor”.