For me, Ken Nordine's album 'Colors' will be one of the great musical finds of 1995.
It is a find in more than one sense of the word. Asphodel Records rediscovered this lost masterpeice, which was originally released on Philips in 1967. It is however, as fresh today as it was some thirty years ago.
In the USA Ken Nordine has been a well known vioce on many radio broadcasts and commercials. His rich, deep tones are perfect radio fodder. On this album he combines what he discribes as 'word jazz' with an eclectic mixture of musical arrangements provided by Dick Cambell and a small group of musicians. Each track has the title of a different color ( colour ) and evokes that colors essence by clever use of rhyme, rhythm and tone.
The original purpose of this music was to serve as a series of commercials for the Fullers Paint company. These commercial provoked such a response from the radio audience that it spurred Nordine on to record more colors and try and get the album released. At the time (1967) 'Colors' would have been a must for any hipsters record collection. The re-released 'Colors' is equally essential for any modern listener looking for something out of the ordinary. Nordine's songs/poems/raps are witty and appropriately colourful. He uses his voice like an instrument but the instrument is more percussive than melodic. His lyrics sometimes sound like spontaneous free associations and then crystallize into gems of thought.
Rather than try and describe the indescribable I have included two short .wav files which give the albums flavour very well.
The first of these is 'OLIVE' ; a perky, swinging concoction featuring some quirky harpsichord. This is followed up by 'Lavender'; moody and floating with Nordine pitching his voice low. The second of our sound bites is 'BURGUNDY' ; fat but soft. Each of the remaining thirty two tracks has something to say but you will have to buy the record to find out what that is.
by Ian Ritchie.
Copyright © 1996 The International Communique Ltd
Ken Nordine - Colors - Asphodel
Review originally appeared in
SOMA Magazine
This CD should be required listening for first year art students. Ken Nordine's voice is the primary instrument, and the cat doesn't sing. He talks, and talks, and talks. About colors. His comical poetry perfectly suits color shades, from Lavender to Magenta to Burgundy. A total of thirty-four of them, some of which you'll learn for the first time (Nutria, Russet, and Ecru?).
Is this really music? Well, it's different, like poetry with cartoon-like animated sounds which tell the story. The narrative is amusing, in the way that Nordine creates character personalities for each color, and weaves them into his narrative. Word jazz does its own thing, and the in musical spectrum it is ultraviolet.
- Jason Sneed
Ken Nordine, Colors (Asphodel)
Intriguing re-release of Nordine's 1967 free-form jazz word album mentioned in RE/Search's Strange Music, Vol. 2. Thirty-four cuts (twelve bonus from the original), each named for a color, each about 90 seconds long. While Nordine reads his jazz poems, the ensemble freewheels sounds as pure as jazz can be. Engaging to say the least, and each cut sounds distinctly different from the others, which is quite a challenge. The talent talks. Some of the standout cuts include "Flesh," "White," "Brown," `Chartreuse," `Grey," and "Coral' ("It's an absolute flip"). If you're into the likes of Lord Buckley or Del Close, you might be in for a treat.
-Robert Barry Francos
January 1996