Louis
"Moondog" Hardin Dies
We
were on the Amtrak train coming back from Manhattan with Sunday's
New York Times spread out and there was this stunning picture.
Moondog had died. I had his "Sax For Pax" cd on the
Refrigerator Millennium Hit Parade and even started the review
with "I can't believe Moondog is still with us." So
the idea of updating that review with his obit was very sad.
Moondog stood out on the street at 54th and 6th from the late
forties to the early seventies, dressed as a Viking, selling
copies of his sheet music and poetry. A friend of mine pointed
him out as we walked by him in the early seventies.
Moondog
was born in Kansas, the son of an Episcopal minister. He had
a blasting cap explode in his hands at 16 and was left him blind
so he composed in Braille and made a living as a street musician.
His music sounds like some old world primitive jazz folk classical
stew and he was acclaimed in Europe where he was invited to
perform in 1974. He stayed on in Germany and continued to record
into his eighties.
