Song of the Viking, Dept.

Moondog - Music - New York Times

The above link is to an article in last Sunday's NYT about Moondog, the composer who, to most eyes, lived on the street in midtown Manhattan from the '40s to the '70s from which venue he sold his poetry and music. While attired in a Viking helmet and cloak. And he was blind. Truly the stuff of legend.

Irwin Chusid, who knows a thing or two about unorthodox musicians, features a flock of Moondog music (which, incidentally, is an indescribable and delicious blend of jazz and classical and Moondog, like what'd glide off the bandstand at an unearthly nightclub where cigarettes are good for you and liquor makes you smarter) on two episodes of his excellent WFMU radio show: one here and one here. The music, to which I came as an interested neophyte, is well worth a listen. And there are interviews with Moondog biographer Robert Scotto, who is quoted throughout the Times piece, on both shows.

Good and good for you. So, dig in!