Moondog on the streets

New York, winter of 1949: strange sounds emanate for the first time from a porch alongside the Avenue of the Americas (51 st Street) or from 2 W 46th Street. Later on, on 425 W 57th Street, these unusual rhythms, drawn from improbable instruments, would accompany the sirens of ships moored on a misty Hudson. At other times, they would mark a pause between two conversations held at the corner of 51st Street and 6th Avenue between onlookers and the creator of these rhythms: Moondog. For nearly twenty-five years, the man who was quickly nicknamed the Viking of 6th Avenue – due to his personal connection to Manhattan and his extravagant look – accompanied the daily life of New Yorkers by playing his music in the streets on percussive instruments of his own making.