Actors - Ken Nordine

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	Actors - Ken Nordine

Ken Nordine is an American voiceover and recording artist.

Born in Chicago, Illinois on January 19, 1920, Ken Nordine was the son of an architect. He attended Lane Technical College Prep High School (Chicago) and the University of Chicago. He has three sons with his wife Beryl whom he married in 1946.

Nordine's deep, resonant voice has been featured on many commercial advertisements. One critic wrote that "you may not know Ken Nordine by name or face, but you'll almost certainly recognize his voice."

Audio career

He initially attracted attention when he recorded the aural vignettes on Word Jazz on Dot in 1957. Word Jazz, Son of Word Jazz (Dot, 1958) and his other albums in this vein feature Nordine's narration over a cool jazz background. He began performing and recording such albums at the peak of the beat movement and was associated with the poetry-and-jazz movement. Regarded by some as an original hipster, Nordine's "writings are more akin to Franz Kafka or Edgar Allan Poe" than to other beats. Many of his word jazz tracks feature critiques of societal norms, while some reveal dark, paranoid undercurrents and bizarre, dream-like scenarios.

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" and "Frank's Wild Years" and "What's He Building in There?"

Nordine hosts a weekly radio program and maintains residences in Chicago, Illinois and Spread Eagle, Wisconsin

Listen to

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)
1966 - 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)

Guest Appearances

1955 - The Shifting Whispering Sands - Billy Vaughn (Dot)
1957 - Concert in the Sky - Teddy Phillips and His Orchestra (Decca)
1958 - Sounds In Space (RCA Victor)
1961 - Radio Rebus (US Army)
1968 - H.P. Lovecraft II - H.P. Lovercraft (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"

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 Corp.) - "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" w/Billy Vaughn
1989 - 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"

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