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Ken Nordine
Born:
Ken Nordine was an American voice artist, poet, and musician, best known for his work in the genre of "word jazz," a unique blend of spoken word, jazz, and experimental music. Born on April 29, 1920, and passing away on February 16, 2019, Nordine had a distinctive voice and style that made him a notable figure in the realms of avant-garde and spoken word performances.
His most famous work includes the album "Word Jazz," which showcases his ability to weave imaginative, poetic narratives over jazz instrumentals. Nordine's storytelling often involved surreal and abstract themes, and his work had a significant influence on both jazz and spoken word artists
Ken Nordine: The Architect of Word Jazz
by Kristine England
"Let me tell you a funny story I made up about the guy who wanted to reach into in, and he couldn't. And it bothered him. It'd bother you, wouldn't it?" So begins the tale of a troubled man lost within his mind's abstractions. This tale is Word Jazz, a “somewhat new medium" conceived by Ken ...
Ornette Coleman: New York Is Now & Love Call Revisited
by Mark Corroto
These sessions, the last two Ornette Coleman would record for Blue Note Records, in April and May of 1968, are generally remembered for the rhythm section. Was it Coleman or producer Francis Wolff that invited John Coltrane's former sidemen, bassist Jimmy Garrison and drummer Elvin Jones to record? Was this a scheme to draw the Coltrane ...
2020: The Year in Jazz
by Ken Franckling
The COVID-19 pandemic put the jazz world in a tailspin, just like the world at large, in 2020. And there is plenty of uncertainty going into the new year about what “new normal: might emerge from the darkness. International Jazz Day, like so many other things, became an online virtual event this time around. Pianist Keith ...
2020 and Me
by Skip Heller
As I type this, it is December 8, 2020, the fortieth anniversary of John Lennon's murder. I was then a newly-minted barband guitarist, fifteen years old and thinking how the world —via the election of Ronald Reagan —and music had just suffered the worst season that could ever be. 2020 has been an ongoing ...
Poetry and Jazz: A Chronology
by Duncan Heining
My intention here is to offer a detailed but inevitably incomplete chronology of poetry and jazz. The focus is solely on the combination of the two art forms in performance, not on poetry about jazz or jazz musicians or poetry inspired by jazz but not performed to music. My definition of 'poetry' is fairly broad and ...
Swingin' on a Riff . . . Hangin' by a Thread?
by Jack Bowers
Betty and I returned to Albuquerque on Memorial Day after attending Swingin' on a Riff, the latest in a series of marvelous semi-annual events presented by Ken Poston and the Los Angeles Jazz Institute for more than twenty years at venues in and around L.A. This one was held May 23-26 at the Los Angeles Marriott ...
Ken Nordine: 'Word Jazz'
This is another installment in my ongoing series on jazz humor of the late 1950s. Past posts have included columns on Shorty Petterstein, Stan Freeberg, George Crater and the Nutty Squirrels. Back in the '50s, Ken Nordine (pronounced Nor—DEEN) was a leading voiceover specialist whose rich baritone could be heard on hundreds of radio and TV ...
