An Absolutely Unique Artist – But You’ve Heard Him Before by Saxguy  (Thu Oct 5 '00)

The cover refers to this music as “Word Jazz”, a somewhat new medium. But what is it? Yes, there are words. Stories, musings, probably more like beatnik poetry more than anything else. There’s jazz. The stories have musical backgrounds, generally by a small jazz band (woodwinds, piano, guitar, bass, drums), playing intriguing, semi-improvised, semi-jazz music as a background for the stories.

But the first thing notable about this music is the VOICE. Ken Nordine, the author/poet/composer, has had a long and successful career on radio and commercials as a commercial voice, dating back to the 1940s. He’s not heard on commercials so much anymore, but some of his more famous commercials were an animated Levi’s commercial in the 70’s (the mysterious stranger – a remake of the cut on this CD, Flibberty Jib. Those of you who live in Chicago, might remember the steely (sic) voice saying “The Chicago Blackhawks – Cold Steel on Ice”. Too bad the Blackhawks didn’t live up for the voice. But, I digress.

Ken’s voice is deep, broad and expressive. A great storytelling voice. A great radio voice. However, the best thing about the voice on this CD is how it is used. You might remember listening to storytellers as a youth. People who could make a story come to life. Well, Ken Nordine is that kind of person.

So word jazz, is a story told. Strange, sometimes bizarre, sometimes ironic but always interesting stories with a twist, told with musical background enhancing them. I don’t agree with the cd cover, because this was a new medium. It had not been done before.

He issued several obscure LPs between 1957 and 1960 on Dot records. This CD includes the best of those cuts. He later issued an album entitled Colors, consisting of musings about colors. Word jazz further evolved into 300 radio shows on NPR, a live recording from Chicago in 1993 and a studio recording, both of the latter on Grateful Dead records and available through their web site.

Since there are cuts from four different albums, there are four different supporting casts of musicians. They’re all well-regarded local Chicago musicians; the most famous was Paul Horn on woodwinds on 6 of the cuts. He shares the composer credits with the bandleaders for the various cuts.

I first heard this in high school and I was struck by the voice and the strange, compelling stories. Naturally, I had no problem with great small-group jazz playing in the background. So, I’ve been a fan for years.

I got to meet him a few years ago. My band was playing the jazz stage for a community fair. One of my former accounting students, with whom I remained friendly, walked up to me to introduce her neighbor, a kindly old gentleman and his wife. She introduced him as her neighbor, Ken Nordine. I said:

“Ken Nordine?.. KEN NORDINE? I’m a BIG fan.”

My friend was amazed. She knew Ken did commercial work, but she had no idea about the word jazz. He and I had a very nice conversation and a few months later, he signed my LP covers upon request.

I’d recommend this CD to people who like jazz, like stream-of-consciousness poetry, like radio storytelling. As is the case with some of the other obscure music that I’ve reviewed, I suggest that you listen to sample cuts from the online web sites. It's in print and readily available. I like this CD completely, without reservation. It made my Ten Favorite Jazz Albums Of All Time, one of my earlier epinions.

So, do you remember the Levis commercial about the mysterious stranger? It ends, “…By the way, How are things in YOUR town?”

by Sean Carruthers

Nordine is far better known for his voiceover work than for his albums, but those who do know the albums know the Word Jazz series best. This 1990 compilation gathers together a good selection of the earlier material, recorded between 1957 and 1960. It has a beatnik sensibility, with rhythmic poetic lines underpinned by hip cool jazz backing. It would be a fruitless pairing if it wasn't for two key things: First, Nordine's voice is amazing, polished by years of professional work behind the microphone. Secondly, Nordine's storytelling is solid, and you find yourself being pulled into his world despite the offbeat nature of the material. When you are offered a tour of his brain, as in the CD-only "Looks Like It's Going to Rain," you're glad for the chance to go. A great overview of the crucial formative years.

When you hear his voice, chances are you'll recognize it, but you probably won't be able to pin down where; Ken Nordine has done literally thousands-possibly millions-of professional voiceovers for commercials, radio spots, documentaries and the like. The question then arises: What does a well-groomed bespectacled man who, throughout the `50s, `60s, `70s and `80s, was the voice of products like Miller Beer, Taster's Choice and Chevrolet, do in his spare time? When Ken Nordine's beatnik sense of poetry and absurdity collides with bebop and beyond, the results are simply word jazz. Backed by scatty jazz from an assortment of cool `50s session boppers (apocryphal fact: Richard Marx's dad played on several of these sessions), Nordine recites-or rather, performs-his word jazz pieces, odd fragmentary anecdotes of howling hipsterisms and suave beat philosophy. Culled from several much-sought-after LPs from the late `50s, at his most way-out, Nordine's talents are well on the far side of genius, as "My Baby," "Looks Like It's Going To Rain," "Bury It Yourself Time Capsules," "Faces In The Jazzamatazz, "The Sound Museum," "Flibberty Jib," "Hunger Is From" and "Adult Kindergarten" attest. Don't be a square-check out this recording. Word up.

© 1978-1999 College Media, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Jazz art from one of advertising's most familiar voices, August 1, 2000 Reviewer: scholiast@hotmail.com from Earth, USA

To those just finding Nordine's 50s recordings, his incredible voice will be surprisingly familiar. His work as a voice-over announcer over the past several decades has made his resonant baritone a fixture on TV and radio. What's really amazing is that the quirky presentation he uses in his commercials - the inflections and pacing - is equally, if not more, effective in this poetry/spoken word context. Backed by the Fred Katz combo, Nordine tells spellbinding stories and recites beat-era oddities in a style that is unduplicatable. Whether it's the outsider tale of "Flibberty-Jib" (which was reused years later as the soundtrack to a groundbreaking animated commercial for Levi's), the social commentary of "The Vidiot," the Twilight Zone tale of "What Time is it?," or just the 'wonder wanderings' of "Adult Kindergarten" or "The Sound Museum," Nordine always has something interesting to offer. Katz recorded a few very hard-to-find LPs of his own, as well as appearing (in the band) the film "Sweet Smell of Success." His combo backs Nordine with light jazz that supplements the 50s beatnik/downtown atmosphere. This collection cherry-picks tracks from several volumes of Word Jazz recordings, all of which are tough finds on the collector's market. These are truly one-of-a-kind recordings that capture an artist's singular vision of spoken-word art.

Let me tell you a funny story I made up...", July 26, 2000
Reviewer: vnggh from the observation deck at the top of my skull

It's much, much more than just The Voice -- Ken Nordine turns the moments of our lives on their heads in a manner as close to Ray Bradbury or Harlan Ellison as it is to the beatniks (with whom he is forever lumped), and much, much funnier than either. Sesame Street as produced by Rod Serling, perhaps. Cheerily subversive art which somehow maintains no umbilicus to any specific counterculture -- try pulling that off today, kids! At least as relevant in the year 2000 as when it came out in the 1950s. Hope the "Volume 1" up there indicates a Volume 2 someday soon.

Word Jazz Is A Mind-Trip Without Chemicals!, May 14, 1999
Reviewer: A music fan from Los Angeles, CA

Mind-expanding without drugs. Relax and listen. A definite CD to own and share with those you love!

Wonder Wanderings, April 14, 2000
Reviewer: Wolphy from California

I first discovered the eccentric "Wonder Wanderings" of Ken Nordine when I came across my dad's LP "Word Jazz" burried in the hall closet. I carried it to my room, blew off the dust, placed it on my stero and sat entranced. . . I was lost in the world of Ken's museings. Many years later I accidently found this gem, "The Best Of Word Jazz, Vol. 1". I stood there, amazed... Nordine was still in print! I grabbed the CD (the only one on the shelf) and purchased it. They were all there: The Mysterious Stranger of "Flibberty Jib"; the Be-Bopping Baby of "My Baby"; the TV addict of "The Vidiot"; and MORE. Some I had never heard "Down The Drain" (sitting showers that take you to the Caribbean); "Reaching Into In" (how DO you GET INTO In? ). I was, and still am, in heaven, If Black Gold could talk it would have a Voice such as Ken Nordine's. I Wonder Wandered with him and haven't returned...

Astral Projection Without Trying!, February 5, 2000
Reviewer: Jim Nayder from United States

Listening to Ken Nordine is an experience similar to that sleep stage when you can't really tell if you're dreaming, or actually visiting a mysterious fantasy land. Ken takes words where you don't expect them to travel -and you wonder if you're hearing music, a short story, an angel lamenting, or colors you can actually see. All via a CD. I first heard Word Jazz years ago, and yet it sounds like a new born baby every time I give it another listen. I shut off the lights, put on some head-phones, sit back, and listen. It's a jazz concert though a mind's eye I never knew I had . . . all through the literally hypnotic voice of our ol' pal, Ken Nordine.

A mind bomb, waiting to explode in your thoughts., June 11, 1998
Reviewer: Gabriel Eriksen g_eriksen@hotmail.com from USA

This album is an adventure from boyhood to regulardom. A wonderful piece of work that makes you laugh and think. Ken Nordine is a master of expression with his voice, and I highly recommend this album.

some of the best of "spoken jazz", April 1, 1999
Reviewer: jtsheld@verona.k-12.mo.us from Verona, MO US

The "counter-culture" kids of the fifties were hard pressed to do much more than wear tight jeans and roll a cigarette pack into the sleeve of a t shirt or to wear tight jeans, a black turtle neck sweater and maybe a beret. Most had "heard" about "beatnicks" and a lot had seen the really awful SUBTERRANEANS film. Most got to see movies like THE HUSTLER, I WANT TO LIVE, or surprisingly: THE BLOB??!!( it had a rather good quasi rock and jazz score that really surprised the average Saturday night film-going kid that was expecting something to while away the time between popcorn fights). However, WORD JAZZ by Ken Nordine, allowed the "true believer" that had somehow picked up those (oh horrors) black covered paperbacks of Kerouac or maybe Ferlengetti,(they were USUALLY kept below the shelf with (shhh, PLAYBOY). Any teacher that saw you reading "that" stuff just knew you were also carrying a bomb in your gym bag(who carries a gym bag nowadays?). However, Ken Nordine let us actually HEAR jazz the way we, at least, THOUGHT it was spoken. For the first time to actually HEAR someone speak sentences that had words of DOUBLE MEANING, to slide along on the surprising riffs of phraseology, the feeling of positively being dropped on your head when, at the end of (I won't tell you which cut), he orders MILK!! Get this recording and HEAR the words you READ in books reprinted from the bygone, and rather innocent, era of beatnicks and cool jazz. If I had my druthers I would "druther" hear a beat, cool, poem any day rather than a rap belittling women.