On Monday night, an eclectic mix of musicians celebrated the life of electric music pioneer Robert Moog at New York’s annual Moogfest. The event, which traditionally takes place a few blocks north at the nearby B.B. King Blues Cub, was held at the Manhattan Center’s Grand Ballroom, a general admission room located above the Hammerstein Ballroom. Though he worked on a number of musical instruments throughout his life, Moog is best known as the creator of the Moog synthesizer. He died in 2005 at the age of 71.

In addition to speeches from members of the Moog Foundation, the evening featured short sets by a number of musicians who frequently utilize Moog’s instruments: Pink Floyd tribute band The Machine, the Eric McFadden Trio featuring Bernie Worrell, and Umphrey’s McGee. The evening also included the debut performance of the spacey, all-improvisational group Prison Shank, a jam-centric supergroup featuring keyboardists Aron Magner (Disco Biscuits) and Jamie Shields (New Deal), drummer Joe Russo (The Duo), bassist Ryan Stasik (Umphrey’s McGee) and guitarist Jake Cinninger (Umphrey’s McGee). Throughout the night, Cinninger honored the evening’s namesake by performing on the new, limited-edition Moog guitar.

As expected, a few musicians also collaborated. During the Eric McFadden Trio’s set, Late Show keyboardist Paul Schaffer presented Worrell with the annual Moog Award and later sat in for a jam. Umphrey’s McGee closed out the evening by inviting Shields out for a duel-keyboard jam during an extended version of  “Abacab.”

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