WORDS AND MUSIC
BY HARRIET JOHNSON
NEW YORK POST
SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 1970

"FOUR MOOGS MAKE CARNEGIE DEBUT"

Four mountains of complexity and sound possibilities -- four Moogs -- were on-stage last night for the first time anywhere in concert, at Carnegie Hall. The stage was richer by about $25,000, and by the debut of a new, fascinating, mixed-media concert-happening.
You can see that the science and art of the Moog, an electronic marvel, doesn't come cheaply. But it earns its cost. It can suggest the timbre of any orchestral instrument, and initiate sounds of its own, as any devotee of TV commercials can verify. Inventor Robert Moog, PH.D., states that "it would take a million years to exhaust fully the possibilities."
The Moog is now about to be promoted as a concert attraction by no less an impresario than S. Hurok, who presented last night's event.
Through the accuracy of its bewildering but computer-like scientific instrument board, the Moog can give you a keyboard-controlled simulation of incredible range, from the bark of a dog to the song of a nightingale; from the tune-up of an airplane to the clarinet; to its unique swishes, moans and grunts that are really out of this world.
Gershon Kingsley, German-born Broadway musical director who has been experimenting with the Moog for some years, was in charge of the concert, in fact the program read: "Gershon Kingsley's First Moog Quartet."
Moog, who invented the instrument only a few years ago, was on hand to take a bow after having heard his four offspring perform for about two hours. They had as collaborators: four at the keyboards, six tambourine jinglers, a percussion battery, electric guitar; Negro virtuoso drummer Danny Barrajanos on Congo Drums; and four singers who performed songs and recited poetry, even from the Bible.
The projected a range of music and vision that included a 16th century "Ricercare" by Gabrielli, an arrangement for voices and Moogs of Handel's "Water Music;" to music by the Beatles, by Kingsley, himself, by Jimmy Giuffre; to rock 'n' roll. The poetry and songs ranged from atmospheric images to protest songs; the slides and movies from abstract images to baby cartoons.
Kingsley was the m.c.-conductor and played a tambourine. At the end he thanked the "god of electricity, for giving us clear circuits for two hours."
He had trained the musicians to play the Moogs. In the process they created while they re-created, including inventing a practical system of notation. Everything on-stage was professionally handled, and at times the result was exciting, as much for possibilities as for present realization.
He proved the skeptics wrong. TV performer, Walter Carlos, among others has said the Moog couldn't be performed live.

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JEFF (?)
VARIETY MAGAZINE
Wednesday, February 4, 1970

Sol Hurok presented the debut of Gershon Kingsley's First Moog Quartet last Friday evening (Jan. 30) at New York's Carnegie Hall. The tasteful multimedia show grossed approximately $11,000 with tickets scaled to $6. The one-show concert was recorded by Audio Fidelity Records.
The program, under the dramatic baton of Kingsley, included electronic performances of classical, pop, rock and jazz. Eight musicians, four of them operating Moogs, four powerful singers and the direction of Kingsley produced an orchestration of vocal, percussion and electronics that revealed the potential of an ingenious blending of engineering and emotion.
The concert attested to the Moog's versatility and acceptance as a performing instrument. Kenneth Bichel, Stan Free, Eric Knight and Howard Salat controlled the Moogs which all capable of duplicating almost all sounds.

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"FIRST MOOG QUARTET AT CARNEGIE HALL"
CASH BOX
February 21, 1970

CARNEGIE HALL, NYC -- The First Moog Quartet, four electronic synthesizers under the direction of Gershon Kingsley, made its Carnegie Hall debut in a concert that was inventive, sometimes disappointing, and, at times, quite rewarding.
We took our seats with a glance toward the big stage where the wired beasts loomed, looking confident and properly Kafkaesque. Once the concert began, however, they were surrounded -- by four vocalists, a quartet of instrumentalists and Kingsley himself, who was a veritable dervish of enthusiasm. On a screen there were film projections and, from time to time, a bare-chested bongo drummer stalked the premises. It was a 57th St. adventure.
The program was especially varied, presumably to show the range of the Moogs. There were nice helpings of Rossini, Bach, Paul Simon ,Handel, Jimmy Giuffre and Lennon-McCartney. The synthesizers were ready for all of them, though occasionally the human performers were not. At such times, the sounds which issued forth were more than a little disquieting, almost as if the electrified assurance of the Moogs were being mocked.
When a genuine rapport existed between men and machines, as in several of the more tightly arranged selections, most notably "Eleanor Rigby" and the Kingsley opus entitled "Popcorn," there was a genuine excitement in the hall. But attempts to fuse (sorry!) the sounds of the Moog with frenzied bongo-ing and pretentious poetry readings were disastrous.
Through it all the synthesizers gave testimony of their music ability. Their future looks promising.

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ROBIN LOGGIE
BILLBOARD MAGAZINE
February 14, 1970

The much heralded or vilified Moog Electronic Synthesizer ran the full gamut of its virtuosity in Sol Hurok's presentation of Gershon Kingsley's First Moog Quartet to a near-capacity Carnegie Hall, Jan. 30. Utilizing drums, piano, guitar, and a vocal quartet, Kingsley conducted his four-Moog ensemble against a varying background of slides and animation.
For musical purists and experimenters there were humorous frequencies and electronic dialogues reminiscent of science-fiction, and for those who have yet to acquire a taste for dissonance and atonality, the Moog provided an aurora borealis accompaniment to classical, pop and rock pieces.
Successful forays into these areas were the eerie "In The Beginning," Kingsley's vibrant "Popcorn," his pulsating "Save A Little Love For Yourself" and Handel's "Water Music."
Kingsley and his Moog artists, Kenneth Bichel, Stan Free, Eric W. Knight and Howard Salat, all of diverse musical background, will have this concert as their next release on Audio Fidelity Records.