The Wow of Now; Word Jazz with Pictures
December 13, 2009 11:27 PM   Subscribe

 
Bonus:

Nordine voiced Levi's commercials from the 1970s
DACRON POLYESTER
Li'l Trademark
Exciting Pants
posted by louche mustachio at 11:57 PM on December 13, 2009 [2 favorites]


I had forgotten all about Ken Nordine's word jazz. What a pleasant
surprise. He's just what I need at this late hour.
posted by quazichimp at 12:11 AM on December 14, 2009 [1 favorite]


It's extremely great to see these here, thank you, I really love Mr. Nordines creations! I have been enjoying the huge amount of work he put into bringing these animations to us, in conjunction with the always beautiful stuff Mr. Nordine is doing over there on his channel. (his own personal channel.)
It is very evidently personal for him, and he takes time to say hello to the friendly people of youtube.

There are a lot of his early things he did out there too...(I am hoping that one of the amazing people here will come bearing some massive database of all the oldest advertisements I so often hear he did so many years ago (but am unable to discover with my inferior googling skills)... here's wishing someone would get him to be the voice of a new marketing campaign, or better, tap him to do a trailer voice-over... but that's all just lead-up to my dream that one day he will do the voice-over to the amazing movie that plays in my head every-time I hear his voice, and poems, and stories of intrigue; his register, shared by few (ok, pretty much only Mr. Cohen), can capture a sense of mystery, or excitement to a level rarely seen (ok, auditory aurally experience.)
My tape of word jazz that is only about 3 years old is already starting to warp from number of plays.
posted by infinite intimation at 12:44 AM on December 14, 2009



whaleastronaut (1 year ago) Show Hide
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do you animate these yourself? if so what program do you use?
kennordine (1 year ago) Show Hide
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yes, I do it...
using several software programs created by UISOFTWARE...
namely ArtMatic and VTrack...also with Protools LE...and Photoshop.
ken


mkarmam (8 months ago) Show Hide
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it's funny you guys actually think that you are leaving comments for ken nordine himself. he turns 89 years old tomorrow. i think he has better things to do with his time than fool around on youtube. but anyways, thanks to the uploader. love nordine.

kennordine (8 months ago) Show Hide
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funny you should say that, mkarmam...cuz it's my birthday eve.
And you're right, the 13th puts me 11 years closer to a 100.
ken

This post; were you reading my mind?
posted by infinite intimation at 1:00 AM on December 14, 2009 [1 favorite]


Oddly enough, the word "jazz" is one of the most sought-after word origins in modern American English.
posted by twoleftfeet at 2:10 AM on December 14, 2009 [1 favorite]


I had forgotten all about Ken Nordine's word jazz. What a pleasant
surprise. He's just what I need at this late hour.


Now it's early late, and it's still working. Wow.
posted by humannaire at 2:58 AM on December 14, 2009


The word "jazz" goes back a lot further than the 1950's.

Glad to see twoleftfeet's link as I hang out with the American Dialect Society crowd and it's true: they've been working hard on antedating the word.
posted by rmmcclay at 4:16 AM on December 14, 2009


The word "jazz" goes back a lot further than the 1950's.

That was my reaction on first read. But it turns out we're talking about "word jazz" here.
posted by beagle at 4:36 AM on December 14, 2009


WBEZ streams old word jazz programs for an hour Mondays at 12 a.m. Chicago time.
posted by DarkForest at 5:28 AM on December 14, 2009


Ken was just featured on this week's edition of NPR's American Routes. Good show, at least the bits of it I caught in the car. Even my sweetie, who isn't much of a Nordine fan, was listening intently to the interview!
posted by kuppajava at 8:19 AM on December 14, 2009


For those still confused...Ken Nordine does not claim to have invented the word jazz. Nordine was a pioneer of the genre "word jazz." I am not sure he would make the claim that he invented the genre, but those of us who grew up in Chicago in the 60s could not go more than about 15 minutes without hearing Nordine's mellifluous tones over the airwaves.

I cut my teeth listening to "Colors"--Nordine's trip through the rainbow of colors. The epicenter of free form radio in Chicago in the late 60s early 70s--Triad, Third Ear Radio--used to play a little Nordine almost every day.

I'm going to send this link to my son in Korea. He hates Nordine's music with a white hot passion. My fault I guess. I love it, loved the link. Thanks so much for this FPP.
posted by beelzbubba at 8:20 AM on December 14, 2009


Kuppajava, thanks for linking that. My sister sent me that link last night (she said she felt like the world was a much cooler place having heard it.) She sent me into a spin of Nordine love, not that it hasn't always been present - various public radio stations in places I have lived have played Word Jazz. There is something about it that is simultaneously ominous and soothing, which is a perfect combination for the wee hours. Ken Nordine has the voice of midnight.

This 2006 FPP links to his podcast, if you would like more.
posted by louche mustachio at 10:09 AM on December 14, 2009


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