Ken Nordine
Encyclopedia
Ken Nordine is an American
voiceover
and recording artist best known for his series of Word Jazz albums. His deep, resonant voice has also been featured in many commercial advertisement
s and movie trailers. One critic wrote that "you may not know Ken Nordine by name or face, but you'll almost certainly recognize his voice."
The son of Theresia and Nore S. Nordine, a contractor, Ken Nordine was born in Cherokee, Iowa
. The family later moved to Chicago
, where he attended Lane Technical College Prep High School
and the University of Chicago
. He has three sons with his wife Beryl whom he married in 1945. During the 1940s, he was heard on The World's Great Novels
and other radio programs broadcast from Chicago. He attracted wider attention when he recorded the aural vignettes on Word Jazz (Dot, 1957). Word Jazz, Son of Word Jazz (Dot, 1958) and his other albums in this vein feature Nordine's narration over cool jazz
by the Chico Hamilton
jazz group, recording under the alias of Fred Katz, who was then the cellist with Hamilton's quintet.
Nordine began performing and recording such albums at the peak of the beat
era and was associated with the poetry-and-jazz movement. However, some of Nordine's "writings are more akin to Franz Kafka
or Edgar Allan Poe
" than to the beats. Many of his word jazz tracks feature critiques of societal norms. Some are lightweight and humorous, while others reveal dark, paranoid
undercurrents and bizarre, dream-like scenarios.
'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," "Frank's Wild Years" and "What's He Building in There?"
On television, Nordine did a series of readings on a show titled Faces in the Window, and Fred Astaire danced to Nordine's "My Baby" on a TV special. Nordine's past radio series were Now Nordine and Word Jazz. He currently hosts a weekly radio program and maintains residences in Chicago, Illinois, and Spread Eagle, Wisconsin
.
Nordine's DVD, The Eye Is Never Filled, (2005) provides a flow of abstract visuals to accompany the audio tracks.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
voiceover
VoiceOver
VoiceOver is a screen reader built into Apple Inc.'s Mac OS X, iOS and iPod operating systems. By using VoiceOver, the user can access their Macintosh or iOS device based on spoken descriptions and, in the case of the Mac, the keyboard. The feature is designed to increase accessibility for blind...
and recording artist best known for his series of Word Jazz albums. His deep, resonant voice has also been featured in many commercial advertisement
Advertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
s and movie trailers. One critic wrote that "you may not know Ken Nordine by name or face, but you'll almost certainly recognize his voice."
The son of Theresia and Nore S. Nordine, a contractor, Ken Nordine was born in Cherokee, Iowa
Cherokee, Iowa
Cherokee is a city in Cherokee County, Iowa, United States. The population was 5,932 at the 2010 Census, up from 5,369 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Cherokee County. Cherokee is also the home of the Cherokee Mental Health Institute, under the Iowa Department of Human Services...
. The family later moved to Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, where he attended Lane Technical College Prep High School
Lane Technical College Prep High School
Albert G. Lane Technical College Preparatory High School , is a public, four-year, magnet high school located on the north side of Chicago...
and the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
. He has three sons with his wife Beryl whom he married in 1945. During the 1940s, he was heard on The World's Great Novels
The World's Great Novels
The World's Great Novels was a radio series, directed by Homer Heck, which presented adaptations of classic novels. Broadcast on WMAQ, Chicago, and NBC from 1944 to 1948, it was initially heard Saturdays at 7pm during the first 1944-45 season and then moved to Fridays at 11:30pm...
and other radio programs broadcast from Chicago. He attracted wider attention when he recorded the aural vignettes on Word Jazz (Dot, 1957). Word Jazz, Son of Word Jazz (Dot, 1958) and his other albums in this vein feature Nordine's narration over cool jazz
Cool jazz
Cool is a style of modern jazz music that arose following the Second World War. It is characterized by its relaxed tempos and lighter tone, in contrast to the bebop style that preceded it...
by the Chico Hamilton
Chico Hamilton
Chico Hamilton , is an American jazz drummer and bandleader.-Early life through 1960s:Hamilton was born in Los Angeles, California. He had a fast-track musical education in a band with Charles Mingus, Illinois Jacquet, Ernie Royal, Dexter Gordon, Buddy Collette and Jack Kelso...
jazz group, recording under the alias of Fred Katz, who was then the cellist with Hamilton's quintet.
Nordine began performing and recording such albums at the peak of the beat
Beat generation
The Beat Generation refers to a group of American post-WWII writers who came to prominence in the 1950s, as well as the cultural phenomena that they both documented and inspired...
era and was associated with the poetry-and-jazz movement. However, some of Nordine's "writings are more akin to Franz Kafka
Franz Kafka
Franz Kafka was a culturally influential German-language author of short stories and novels. Contemporary critics and academics, including Vladimir Nabokov, regard Kafka as one of the best writers of the 20th century...
or Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective...
" than to the beats. Many of his word jazz tracks feature critiques of societal norms. Some are lightweight and humorous, while others reveal dark, paranoid
Paranoia
Paranoia [] is a thought process believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety or fear, often to the point of irrationality and delusion. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs, or beliefs of conspiracy concerning a perceived threat towards oneself...
undercurrents and bizarre, dream-like scenarios.
Films and television
Nordine was Linda BlairLinda Blair
Linda Denise Blair is an American actress. Blair is best known for her role as the possessed child, Regan, in the 1973 film The Exorcist, for which she was nominated for an Academy Award and two Golden Globes, winning one. She reprised her role in 1977's Exorcist II: The Heretic.-Biography:Blair...
's vocal coach for her role in The Exorcist
The Exorcist (film)
The Exorcist is a 1973 American horror film directed by William Friedkin, adapted from the 1971 novel of the same name by William Peter Blatty and based on the exorcism case of Robbie Mannheim, dealing with the demonic possession of a young girl and her mother’s desperate attempts to win back her...
, and Word Jazz inspired Tom Waits
Tom Waits
Thomas Alan "Tom" Waits is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car."...
' spooky, spoken word
Spoken word
Spoken word is a form of poetry that often uses alliterated prose or verse and occasionally uses metered verse to express social commentary. Traditionally it is in the first person, is from the poet’s point of view and is themed in current events....
-type pieces, such as "9th and Hennepin," "Frank's Wild Years" and "What's He Building in There?"
On television, Nordine did a series of readings on a show titled Faces in the Window, and Fred Astaire danced to Nordine's "My Baby" on a TV special. Nordine's past radio series were Now Nordine and Word Jazz. He currently hosts a weekly radio program and maintains residences in Chicago, Illinois, and Spread Eagle, Wisconsin
Spread Eagle, Wisconsin
Spread Eagle is an unincorporated community in Florence County, in the town of Florence, in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is part of the Iron Mountain, MI–WI Micropolitan Statistical Area.-Transporation:...
.
Nordine's DVD, The Eye Is Never Filled, (2005) provides a flow of abstract visuals to accompany the audio tracks.
Partial discography
- 1955 - Passion in the Desert (FM) / 1963 (FM)
- 1957 - Word Jazz (Dot) / 1967 (Dot) / 1983 (MCA)
- 1958 - Son of Word Jazz (Dot)
- 1958 - Love Words (Dot) / 1959 (Dot)
- 1959 - My Baby (Dot)
- 1959 - Next! (Dot)
- 1959 - The Voice of Love (Hamilton)
- 1960 - Word Jazz Vol. 2 (Dot)
- 1967 - Colors (Philips) / 1995 (AsphodelAsphodelAsphodelus ramosus, also known as Branched asphodel, is a perennial herb in the Asparagales order. Similar in appearance to Asphodelus albus and particularly Asphodelus cerasiferus, it may be distinguished by its highly branched stem and smaller fruits.In addition, at least on the Catalan coast...
) - 1967 - Ken Nordine Does Robert Shure's Twink (Philips)
- 1968 - The Classic Collection: The Best of Word Jazz Vol. 3 (Dot)
- 1971 - How Are Things in Your Town? (Blue Thumb)
- 1972 - Ken Nordine (Blue Thumb)
- 1979 - Stare with Your Ears (Snail) / 1988 (Snail)
- 1984 - Triple Talk (Snail)
- 1986 - Grandson of Word Jazz (Snail)
- 1990 - Best of Word Jazz (Rhino)
- 1991 - Devout Catalyst (Grateful Dead)
- 1993 - Upper Limbo (Grateful Dead)
- 2001 - Transparent Mask (Asphodel)
- 2002 - Wink (re-release of Ken Nordine Does Robert Shure's Twink) (Asphodel)
- 2005 - The Eye Is Never Filled (DVD, Snail)
Guest appearances
- 1955 - The Shifting Whispering Sands - Billy Vaughn (Dot)(credited as Ken Nordene on this release)
- 1957 - Concert in the Sky - Teddy Phillips and His Orchestra (Decca)
- 1958 - Sounds in Space (RCA Victor SP-33-13)
- 1961 - Radio Rebus (US Army)
- 1968 - H. P. Lovecraft IIH. P. Lovecraft IIH. P. Lovecraft II is the second album by the American psychedelic rock band H. P. Lovecraft and was released in September 1968 on Philips Records. As with their debut LP, the album again saw the band blending psychedelic and folk rock influences, albeit with a greater emphasis on psychedelia than...
- H. P. LovecraftH. P. Lovecraft (band)H. P. Lovecraft was an American psychedelic rock band, formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1967 and named after horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. Much of the band's music was possessed of a haunting, eerie ambience, and consisted of material that was inspired by the macabre writings of the author whose...
(Philips) - "Nothing's Boy" - 1997 - Fun for the Whole Family - Lord Runningclam (Bottom Heavy) / 1998 (Moonshine Music) - "Faces in the Night" and "Flibberty Jib"
- 1998 - Sound MuseumSound MuseumSound Museum is the second solo album from Japanese electronic musician Towa Tei, released in 1998.Similar to his debut album Future Listening!, Sound Museum incorporates a variety of musical genres, including electronic, hip-hop and jazz. Also included is a bossa nova cover version of Daryl Hall...
- Towa TeiTowa Teiis a DJ, artist and record producer in Yokahoma, Japan.Tōwa debuted as a member of Deee-Lite, from the U.S. label Elektra Records in 1990, and shot to fame via their international hit single, "Groove Is In the Heart"...
(Elektra) - "The Sound Museum" - 2000 - A Dub Plate of Food Vol. 2 - DJ FoodDJ FoodOriginally produced by Coldcut on the Ninja Tune independent record label, the DJ Food project started in 1990 on the premise of providing metaphorical "food for DJs". DJ Food released the Jazz Brakes series, with Jazz Brakes Volume 3 being the most successful...
(Ninja TuneNinja TuneNinja Tune is a London-based independent record label started by DJs Matt Black and Jonathan More, better known as Coldcut and managed by Peter Quicke. The label has a strong leaning towards mostly Electronic Music...
) - 2000 - Kaleidoscope - DJ Food (Ninja Tune) - "The Ageing Young Rebel"
- 2000 - Xen Cuts - Various Artists - DJ Food (Ninja Tune) - "The Ageing Young Rebel"
- 2001 - Sound Sculptors - YonderboiYonderboiYonderboi is a Hungarian electronic music artist whose real name is László Fogarasi. He was born in Mernye, Somogy, Hungary in 1980.He experimented with music on his computer during high school. After his 16th birthday he sent a demo to "Juice Records". It was quickly followed by an EP called...
& DJ Palotai (intro) - 2002 - CagoCagoCago is the fourth studio album by the Belgian rock band Dead Man Ray, released in 2002. The album was produced by Steve Albini and recorded at his Electrical Audio studios in Chicago, Illinois. The album also derives its title from the name Chicago...
- Dead Man RayDead Man RayDead Man Ray is a Belgian cult rock band, originating from Berchem near Antwerp. Among its members are Daan Stuyven, Rudy Trouvé , Elko Blijweerdt, Wouter Van Belle and Herman Houbrechts, who was later replaced by drummer Karel De Backer. Their debut Berchem was released in 1998 including the...
(Virgin) - "Blue Volkswagen 10:10 AM" - 2007 - Excellent Italian GreyhoundExcellent Italian GreyhoundExcellent Italian Greyhound is the title of Shellac's fourth album. It was released on June 5, 2007. The album's title is a reference to drummer Todd Trainer's Italian Greyhound, Uffizi. The album was recorded at Electrical Audio and mastered at Abbey Road by Steve Rooke. The drawings for Excellent...
- ShellacShellac (band)Shellac is an American group composed of Steve Albini , Bob Weston and Todd Trainer...
(Touch & GoTouch and Go RecordsTouch and Go Records is an independent record label based in Chicago, Illinois, USA.After its genesis as a hand-made fanzine in 1979, it grew into one of the key record labels in the American 1980s alternative and underground rock scenes, Touch & Go carved out a reputation for releasing adventurous...
) - "Genuine Lulabelle" [uncredited]
Compilation tracks
- 1959 - Deejay's Choice: 25 Top Album Performances on Dot (Dot) - "My Baby"
- 1959 - Excerpts from the Original Soundtrack of Another Evening with Fred Astaire (Chrysler) - "My Baby"
- 1965 - A Child's Introduction to the Classics (Childcraft/Wing) - "Barber of Seville"
- 1973 - Original Early Top 40 Hits (Paramount) - "The Shifting Whispering Sands, Part 1" with Billy Vaughn
- 1988 - Stay Awake: Various Interpretations of Music from Vintage Disney FilmsStay Awake (album)Stay Awake: Various Interpretations of Music from Vintage Disney Films is a 1988 tribute album recorded by various artists performing songs from Disney films...
(A&M) - 1991 - Train of Thought: Stories, Music & Eclectic Audio Entertainment, Vol.1 (Com Audio) - "Mr. City"
- 1992 - The Beat Generation box set (Rhino) - "Reaching Into In" and "Hunger Is From"
- 1993 - A Chance Operation: The John Cage Tribute (Koch) - "A Cage Went in Search of a Bird"
- 1994 - Incredibly Strange Music, Vol. 2 (Asphodel) - "Flesh," "Green" and "Yellow"
- 1995 - All Day Thumbsucker Revisited (Blue Thumb/GRP) - "Roger"
- 1995 - Chop Suey Rock (Hot & Sour) - "Hot" as Ken Nordine and His Kinsmen
- 1995 - Monster Sounds and Boppin' Tracks (Marginal) - "Strollin' Spooks"
- 1997 - Closed on Account of Rabies: Poems and Tales of Edgar Allan Poe (Mercury) - "The Conqueror Worm"
- 1999 - The Annoying Music Show's The Annoying Music Show CD
- 2000 - The Annoying Music Show's The Annoying Music Show Holiday CD - "Ken Nordine Says Jim Nayder's Name"
- 2002 - The Best of the Beat Generation (Rhino) - "My Baby"