Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Noodle Shop: Moon Dog Girl

Noodle Shop: Moon Dog Girl

By AAJ Staff
March 1, 2000
View read count

Out of the creative firestorm of avant-garde music in New York comes Noodle Shop, an impromptu quartet consisting of Elliott Sharp, John Kruth, Jonathan Segel, and Atilla Engin. Their debut recording, which was recorded shortly after the death of the idiosyncratic blind multi-instrumentalist Moondog, spans the range from funk to free jazz with many stops in between.

The idea here, as far as I can tell, is to leave no stone unturned in their musical journey. Swirling mists of free jazz clarify into deep grooves with an improvisatory edge. A generous helping of Middle Eastern and African influence leaps out of the mix (including an acknowledged debt to the master musicians of Jajouka). Though not without due attention to structure and form, Moon Dog Girl experiments quite creatively with style and instrumentation. Fresh is the operative word. For the open-minded, this recording is guaranteed to satisfy.

Track Listing

Leopold in Mali; Old World Kraftsmanship; Every Pregnant Woman's Worst Nightmare; Moondog's Blues; Medley: Distressed Passenger / Like Walkin' on Your Nose / Old World Kraftsmanship Part 2: Songs My Grandmother Taught Me; Medley: I Wasn't Aware That I Wasn't Awake / The Sonny Blount Side of the Street / Little Onions; Neon Noodle.

Personnel

Elliott Sharp: guitar, 12-string guitar, baritone guitar, Hawaiian guitar, 6-string bass, bass clarinet, alto sax; John Kruth: mandolin, steel body mandolin, 4-string electric mandolin, mandocello, flute, pennywhistle, lira, harmonica, sheng; Jonathan Segel: violin, guitar, piano, mandocello, dulcimer; Atilla Engin, percussion, ektara, voice.

Album information

Title: Moon Dog Girl | Year Released: 2000 | Record Label: Sparkling Beatnik Records

Tags

PREVIOUS / NEXT

Support All About Jazz

All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.