Before you read the words written below about the life and times and accomplishments of a man named Ken Nordine, who died Saturday at his North Side home at the age of 98, it would be a good idea ...

Ken Nordine in his home studio in the late 1970s. His free-form, stream-of-consciousness poems were a kind of spoken jazz, delivered in a resonant baritone.

KEN NORDINE: (Vocalizing) Wants to know that I love my baby, and my baby loves me. A short time ago, we went out together into a place called Far Out.

On this springlike Saturday afternoon, musician Howard Levy is telling “Word Jazz” creator Ken Nordine about a late-night encounter with the owner of a gas station and convenience store.

Ken Nordine had a voice that launched 1,000 radio shows, commercials, movie trailers and spoken-word records. The Edgewater resident, who died Saturday, was 98.

Ken Nordine has made his way through this world with his voice. He has made a good living by pitching paint, jeans, coffee and cars. And he has made a fascinating life with something he invented ...

Ken Nordine’s voice was tailor-made for late night radio. His unparalleled, smooth baritone guided WBEZ listeners through the show Word Jazz for more than 40 years.

Ken Nordine was an American voice artist, poet, and musician, best known for his work in the genre of "word jazz," a unique blend of spoken word, jazz, and experimental music. Born on April 29, 1920, ...

Sound artist and commentator Ken Nordine creates one of his trademark dialogues with himself about the choices of Homeland Security colors. He thinks there's a need for "in-between" colors ...

If you’re Ken Nordine and you’ve spent a lifetime producing iconic TV commercials, writing poetry, publishing books, creating art, inventing Word Jazz (broadcast Sundays at Midnight on WBEZ ...

CHICAGO (CBS)-- Ken Nordine was known internationally as a jazz poet, and now, preservationists are rushing to save his Edgewater mansion from the wrecking ball. Nordine's 7,300 square-foot ...

And it bothered him. It'd bother you, wouldn't it?" So begins the tale of a troubled man lost within his mind's abstractions. This tale is Word Jazz, a "somewhat new medium" conceived by Ken Nordine ...