Ken Nordine was an American voice artist and poet, best known for his series of Word Jazz albums. Born on April 13, 1920, in Cherokee, Iowa, he had a deep, resonant voice that became his trademark in his work as a voice-over and recording artist. Nordine's career began to flourish in the 1950s when he created his unique brand of "word jazz," which combined his rich, resonant voice with cool jazz music, and often included improvisational, whimsical, and thought-provoking monologues.

Nordine released his first Word Jazz album in 1957, which set the course for a series of follow-ups including "Son of Word Jazz," "Word Jazz Vol. II," and "Next!". His work was both groundbreaking and influential in the realm of spoken-word performance, and it earned him a dedicated following. He continued to be an active and creative force well into the later years of his life with releases like "Transparent Mask" and "Stare With Your Ears" that continued to enchant new generations of listeners. His album "Colors," released in 1966, demonstrated his flair for marrying abstract concepts with engrossing narrative, as each track muses on a different color. Ken Nordine passed away on February 16, 2019, but left behind a legacy as one of the most distinctive voices in the fusion of jazz and spoken word.