Ken Nordine

Ken Nordine (born April 13, 1920, died February 16, 2019) was an American voiceover and recording artist best known for his series of Word Jazz albums. His deep, resonant voice had also been featured in many commercial advertisements 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.

Films and television
Nordine was Linda Blair'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 hosted a weekly radio program and maintained 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.

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 (Asphodel)
 * 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 II - H. P. Lovecraft (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 Museum - Towa Tei (Elektra) - "The Sound Museum"
 * 2000 - A Dub Plate of Food Vol. 2 - DJ Food (Ninja Tune)
 * 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  - Yonderboi & DJ Palotai (intro)
 * 2002 - Cago - Dead Man Ray (Virgin) - "Blue Volkswagen 10:10 AM"
 * 2007 - Excellent Italian Greyhound - Shellac (Touch & Go) - "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 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"

Related recordings

 * 1951 - Incredible But True Radio (Columbia)

Personal life and death
With his wife, the former Beryl Vaughn, an actress whom he married in 1945, he had three sons. Beryl died April 26, 2016. Ken Nordine died February 16, 2019.

On June 25, 2019, The New York Times Magazinelisted Ken Nordine among hundreds of artists whose material was reportedly destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire.