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Product Description
CD Description
Legendary voice-over artist, narrator, and disc jockey Ken Nordine was born on January 19, 1920 in Chicago, Illinois. Blessed with an exquisitely deep, rich, soothing, and resonant baritone voice, Ken was heard on "The World's Great Novels" and other Chicago radio programs in the 1940s. Nordine achieved his greatest popularity in the 1950s at the peak of the beatnik jazz and poetry movement with his delightfully hip and creative free-form spoken-word aural vignettes on such albums as "Word Jazz," "Son of Word Jazz," and Next! . These albums, presented on this compilation in their entirety, showcase Ken's sublimely smooth and mellifluous narration over cool jazz music by the Chico Hamilton jazz group. His vignettes range from the lightweight and humorous to the more dark and paranoid to just plain odd and dream-like. High profile admirers of Nordine s include Jerry Garcia and Tom Waits, both of whom have recorded with him during more recent times, but it remains the recordings he made during the 1950s, as illustrated on this collection, that remain his most significant, powerful and enjoyable work.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Unlike other compilations around this one actually features all 3, 1950s Word Jazz albums [Word Jazz, Son Of Word Jazz and Next] in their entirety across two discs, all with crystal clear, beautifully re-mastered sound and tasteful packaging with a superb booklet and a nice slipcase to boot. At last someone has taken a little trouble to put out a genuinely deligtful version of these superb records - this one comes highly recommended. And if you're not familiar with this stuff, play a couple of samples below to hear what all the fuss is about and why, after years of virtual obscurity , Nordine is one of the coolest names to drop - albeit with a litle help from one Mr. Tom Waits.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
3 reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
A Wonderful Product of the '50s
12 Jan 2011
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
I first heard Ken Nordine in 1958, from a friend. I located a used record in NYC, "Son of Word Jazz" soon thereafter. I have listened to it over 100 times, perhaps way over 100. It contains such great poetry and sound skits, with incredible music backing Nordine's incomparable voice. I have looked for a "reissue" of these recordings every year since the '50s, without success. Finally, this November, here it is! I ordered at once, and it is just amazing how good the recordings are, and how Nordine's compositions and delivery are unlike anything I have ever heard. They are marvelous - too marvelous for words, so to speak. I don't know how today's folks will respond to these poems, spoken to music, but they are unsurpassed, in my opinion. The "Junkman" and "The Bullfighter" are special, even in this collection. I hope there is some way you can give them a listen.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Classic Ken Nordine
14 April 2011
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
I lost my vinyl versions of Ken Nordine's albums during a relocation some years back so I was delighted to find that some of his best work had been released on CD. The CD is called Word Jazz because behind Ken Nordine's deeply voiced, wry commentaries on the joys and woes of humanity is a complementary background provided by a small, very skilled jazz combo. Ken's work is sufficiently varied that everyone will find something to like on this compilation. I assure you that this is not a typical comedy album.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
What a painting sounds like
2 Jan 2011
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Imagine a teenager in bed with a boom box tuned into a local college station late at night. I was hearing a familiar voice I could not identify and nonsensical murmurs with a new age feel. I'm still trying to recapture that evening from the mid-80s. I don't know what recording I was hearing but I still am trying to track down more Nordine on a limited budget. My only complaint about this edition is that it seems to be older stuff when Ken was younger. Some of it is humorous and playful. I'm not an expert but I question how "complete" it really is. The dark and syrupy tones I am more comfortable with isn't quite seasoned yet. I found the Sounds of Space volume to be completely misleading as there didn't seem to be much Nordine on there. Anyway, he's not as distinguished on this but it's still great. It just sounds a little too much like the golden age of radio. Like the The Shadow or something from that era. This review is by no means definitive as I'm a casual fan who just wants to know more. I'm surprised that I'm first person to review this!
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