Ken Nordine
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Ken Nordine – Secretary
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Biography
Born in Chicago, Illinois, Ken Nordine is the son of an architect. He attended Lane Technical College Prep High School (Chicago) and the University of Chicago. He has three sons with his wife Beryl whom he married in 1946.
Nordine’s deep, resonant voice has been featured on many commercial advertisements. One critic wrote that “you may not know Ken Nordine by name or face, but you’ll almost certainly recognize his voice.”
He initially attracted attention when he recorded the aural vignettes on Word Jazz on Dot in 1957. Word Jazz, Son of Word Jazz (Dot, 1958) and his other albums in this vein feature Nordine’s narration over a cool jazz background. He began performing and recording such albums at the peak of the beat movement and was associated with the poetry-and-jazz movement. Regarded by some as an original hipster, Nordine’s “writings are more akin to Franz Kafka or Edgar Allan Poe” than to other beats. Many of his word jazz tracks feature critiques of societal norms, while some reveal dark, paranoid undercurrents and bizarre, dream-like scenarios.
Nordine was Linda Blair’s vocal coach for her role in The Exorcist, and Word Jazz inspired Tom Waits’ spooky, spoken word-type pieces, such as “9th and Hennepin” and “Frank’s Wild Years” and “What’s He Building?”
Top Albums
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You’re Getting Better: The Word Jazz - Dot Masters
7 listeners45 tracks
New Release
Released:
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Colors
4,332 listeners34 tracks
Released:
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The Best of Word Jazz, Vol. 1
1,698 listeners18 tracks
Released:
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Word Jazz: The Complete 1950s Recordings
481 listeners29 tracks
Released:
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Yex
Wantcha to know that I love my baby, and my baby loves me
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igorgeneration
My Baby!
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LinusPojken
"Quite literally - on of the most important artists in my life" Yeah for me too!
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cat-dentures
Ken Nordine, please narrate my dreams.
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Sgarre1
Quite literally - on of the most important artists in my life
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hitbyambulance
i can't believe he's still alive!
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branchong
amazing poet
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johndarnielle
I highly approve of Ken Nordine
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smee85
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pillfeast
Aren't ya glad ya came?
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zambrang
WHAT A G
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Sanyore
fat fat fat as a burgundy cat
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BrightEyedAshes
I cannot get over how fantastic this is.
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a-polo
Does anyone know where I can find the lyrics for "Colors"? I'm not a native English speaker and reading the lyrics as I listen to the record helps me understand better what he's saying.
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betadron
Ken Nordine originally prepared over 40 colors, often he picked shades instead of the basic colors. For red i.e. he chose "crimson".
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gont
The only missing color on the album is RED. Why is that?
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otherone71
Put some tracks up, Ken! Please? We Love you.
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llllllxlllllll
Why are so many people worried about nothingness? There is so little of it.
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TippinMyStuff
ken nordine are amazing!!!
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stayouttahizbiz
you can't get sneeze off suede...
All 30 shouts
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