Moondog – born Louis Thomas Hardin in Marysville, Kansas on May 26, 1916 – was a
unique and iconic figure in music. More of a renaissance man, Moondog was a
musician, composer, theoretician, poet, and inventor of musical instruments who
ended up becoming an inspiration to jazz, classical, and avant-garde musicians.
Although he was born in Kansas and already interested in music and percussion,
when his family moved to Wyoming, he played tom-tom at an Arapaho Sun Dance.
This experience had a profound effect on him and influenced a lot of the future
rhythmic patterns in his music. I...