R.I.P. word jazz innovator Ken Nordine, 1920-2019

Sadly, pioneering word jazz stylist and voiceover ace Ken Nordine has passed away. He'll be greatly missed. 

LINKS
Chicago Tribune: Ken Nordine, creator of word jazz, dies at 98
Chicago Sun-Times: Ken Nordine dies at 98

Selling Beer with Ken Nordine

When an ad company needed a creepy voice for an Green Belt beer spot, they called Ken Nordine. 

Happy Birthday Ken Nordine!

Cheers to word jazz pioneer Ken Nordine on his 95th birthday! Enjoy his spooky Edgar Allan Poe reading below. 

Happy Birthday Ken Nordine!

"Ken Nordine, yea I know that guy, I heard his voice 1000 times, he's the guy in the bus station that says "go ahead I'll keep an eye on your stuff for you," and you see him the next day walking around town wearing your clothes. He broadcasts from the boiler room of the Wilmont Hotel with 50,000 watts of power. I know that voice, he's the guy with the pitchfork in your head saying go ahead and jump, and he's the ambulance driver who tells you you're going to pull thru. He's the guy in the control tower who talked you down in a storm with a hole in your fuselage and both engines on fire. I heard him barking thru the Rose Alley Carnival strobe as samurai firemen were pulling hose. Yea he's the dispatcher with the heart of gold, the only guy up this late on the suicide hotline. Ken Nordine is the real angel sitting on the wire in the tangled matrix of cobwebs that holds the whole attic together. Yea Ken Nordine, he's the switchboard operator at the Taft Hotel, the only place in town you can get a drink at this hour. You know Ken Nordine, he's the lite in the icebox, he's the blacksmith on the anvil in your ear." – Tom Waits