Word Jazz

by Ken Nordine & The Fred Katz Group

Word Jazz cover art
  • Type: Album
  • Released: July 1957
  • Label: Dot
  • Country: United States
  • Length: 36:14
  • Community rating: 3.74/5 from 6 ratings

Album Notes & Community Reviews

Pioneering a completely unique auditory aesthetic, the famously deep-voiced radio announcer layers his surreal, highly rhythmic spoken-word narratives over sophisticated cool jazz orchestrations. The incredibly smooth, hypnotic vocal delivery explores bizarre, often humorous conceptual vignettes that perfectly capture the eccentric spirit of the Beat Generation. The eccentric project became a massive underground cult classic and profoundly influenced the future of spoken-word recordings.

Genres

Descriptors: rhythmic, food, about-music

Tracklist

  1. What Time Is It? (3:48)
  2. My Baby (2:34)
  3. The Sound Museum (7:08)
  4. The Vidiot (5:29)
  5. Roger (5:12)
  6. Hunger Is From (3:48)
  7. Looks Like It's Going To Rain (3:28)
  8. Flibberty Jib (4:43)

Credits

  • The Fred Katz Group - primary artist, backing band [underscored by]
  • Jimmy Bond - bass
  • Forest Horn - drums, bongos, timpani, gong
  • John Pisano - guitar
  • Dick Marx - piano
  • Paul Horn - piccolo flute, flute, clarinet
  • James Cunningham - tape
  • Hal Gaylor - double bass

More from Ken Nordine & The Fred Katz Group: full discography