Ken Nordine - Complete Dot Word Jazz (inc. unissued material)

[Teasing the Korean]

...Nordine's stuff is more clever than your typical jazz vocalist's, but contains just about as little of the soul of real jazz IMHO...

Containing the "soul of real jazz" is not a pre-requisite of worthiness. Who cares?

[chitownjazz]

Containing the "soul of real jazz" is not a pre-requisite of worthiness. Who cares?

I do! That's ultimately why I listen to the music, and why I have a dim view of so many "jazz" vocalists and the little bit of Ken Nordine's work I've heard. As I said, if I want schlock I can just listen to A Prairie Home Companion.

[Nate Dorward]

Incidentally Michiel Braam has recorded a fine album in tribute to Nordine's also called Colors. No direct relation between the albums except the track titles. (Apparently Braam had the poet/vocalist Jaap Blonk do the vocals on the original project, but the CD is just a piano trio.)

[Teasing the Korean]

Ken Nordine once said something to the effect of - and I'm paraphrasing - that he is poking fun at the man in the grey flannel suit while at the same time being the man in the grey flannel suit.

I know one of the musicians who played on his Dot albums, and he assured me that Nordine was a very bohemian character decades before “bohemian” became a niche market.

As for "jazz," I'm more concerned with whether stuff is good than whether it's jazz. I love pizza, but I can't eat it 3 times a day, 7 days a week.