Aaron Copland is probably the best known American composer, but in my opinion Moondog is the least known and better of the two, and likely one of the greatest untold stories yet to be told to a mass audience. (although, online rumors say that Jeff Bridges is likely to play him in a film adapation)
In a nutshell, Moondog was born in the midwest, went blind when he was about 9 yrs old from a dynamite exploded in his face. Got into music from his dad who was a preacher for a church. He moved to NY alone and was basically homeless (he did rent a 9'x9' closet to sleep in) but spent his days building/inventing instruments and playing them on the corner of 6th ave. in NY --- dressed as a viking. Eventually discovered by producers and musicians, cleaned up and sent to Germany to record his compositions with an orchestra. An amazing person. born 1916-death 1999
here are 2 samples of his sound and the bottom footage is of him on 6th ave. that recently popped up on youtube.
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