"Let me tell you a funny story I made up about the guy who wanted to reach into in, and he couldn't. And it bothered him. It'd bother you, wouldn't it?" So begins the tale of a troubled man lost ...

Ken Nordine, who improvised poetry in a silky voice to cool, vibrant musical accompaniment, creating a form of storytelling that he called “word jazz,” and that brought him renown on radio and led to ...