Ken Nordine - A Transparent Mask (2001)

To anyone who grew up within earshot of a radio or TV set, Nordine's sonorous baritone is, of course, mighty familiar. As a pitchman, the Chicago-based broadcaster has spent the past half century helping to boost sales of everything from coffee to blue jeans. His is an irresistible voice, drawing you in like a hypnotist's rhythmic drone. According to fan Web sites - and there are many - his experimentation with word jazz began in 1957 and has since been embraced by artists as diverse as Fred Astaire and Jerry Garcia. On his current album, A Transparent Mask, recorded in the attic studio of his Chicago home, Nordine explores topics as wide-ranging as insects, numbers, dreams, love and loss.

Through it all, it's impossible not to be reminded of the once fashionable beat poets. To my admittedly untrained ears, it's like Kerouac set to an Esquivel beat. Word jazz is clearly an acquired taste, and I can't help but feel that I've been invited for drinks while everybody else is staying for dinner. Still, even I can appreciate the free-form finesse of various Nordine riffs. "Hole In the Ego" is, for instance, a delightful deflation of pretentious pricks, and "You Were So Crazy" cleverly suggests that we've all circled Ken Kesey's cuckoo's nest a time or two. A Transparent Mask won't transform me into a rabid Nordine disciple, but has taught me that there's more to my local jazz department than I've been willing to notice. Christopher Loudon

Ken Nordine's witty texts and deep baritone voice reached something of a cult status in the last decade, possibly due to the fact that he has been releasing some of his albums through the NY based avant label Asphodel, and possibly because the industry and the "scene" paved the way for the profusion of cult-like figures of all sorts. But still it is surprising that such "difficult music" as the one Nordine has been producing for the past three or four decades is becoming increasingly popular.

In "A Transparent Mask", Nordine again revisits the long-lost traditions of spoken word jazz, which were so vital for pre-punk American counterculture. Nordine is here backed by old friends who have played in some of his previous records (like Kristan Vaughan and Howard Levy) and is joined, among others, by Paul Wertico (who is mostly known for his contribution to the legendary "Sign of 4" album together with Derek Bailey, Pat Metheny, and Gregg Bendian). 

This is not, unlike some of the stuff you might have heard via Ginsberg, plink-plonk jazz kept in the background merely to simulate the ambiance of a smoky Village club. Rather, these accomplished musicians create themes that stand on their own and adjust to the thematic strands in Nordine's texts, diversifying the genres and "ambiances" accordingly but never subordinating the music to the text. The inclusion of electronic elements certainly adds to the scenic possibilities, and the band easily navigates between jazzy, dubby, and more abstract sounds.

The texts, of course, draw on a wide range of themes, and should perhaps be read as metaphors for more mundane and familiar issues. There are reflections on the nature of spiders, egos and clichés, fantasies on Spanish bullfighters and modern gurus, straightforward narratives about people obsessed with numbers, intriguing parables about cats and birds, etc. Nordine's humor is rampant, for sure, and just as intelligent as always. But this may be one of Nordine's darkest albums so far: there is a certain gloom and bitterness which is not so obvious in his previous recordings, a darkness which the band sometimes brilliantly manages to reproduce, thus making this a much less straight-forward and "fun" record than most others in Nordine's career. Howard Keel

01. As Of Now 

02. Hello

03. Cat & Bird Blues 

04. You Know The Story 

05. For The Birds 

06. A Good Year For Spiders 

07. You Don't Love Me Blues 

08. The Bullfighter 

09. The Guru 

10. The Akond Of Swat 

11. You Were So Crazy

12. Cliché Heaven

13. Truth Mute 

14. A Thousand Bingbangs 

15. Quark 

16. Fibonacci Numbers

17. Hole In The Ego 

18. Miniver Cheevy 

19. A Thousand Dreams

20. What's There To Do?

Jim Hines - drums 

Paul Wertico - drums

Kristan Vaughan - guitar, synthesizer  

Howard Levy - penny whistles, keyboards, harmonica 

Eric Hochberg - trumpet

Ken Nordine - vocals, texts

Check Ken Nordine's website and podcast here 

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Robert Ashley - Yellow Man With Heart With Wings (1990)

"A two-part composition with narration (part one in Spanish and part two in heavily altered English) commissioned by public radio station KUNM in Albuquerque, this music has a plain, serene beauty. Part one is a narration by Guillermo Grenier in dreamy, flatly inflected Spanish, backed by a four-note synthesizer track, and punctuated by mysterious, heavily processed vocalizations. Ashley throws in extensive sound washes and other electronic figures which flutter in and out of the mix. The text, "Ideas from The Church," will later show up in the 1994 opera, Foreign Experiences. It is included in the liner notes. In part two, the four-note synthesizer line returns, this time backing an ethereal, sustained chord, and the vocals sound "like a distant rendering of the earth's electromagnetic halo."
1990 CD issue of this 1978 piece for voice and electronics. The electronics (with additional Clavinet by "Blue" Gene Tyranny) start out shimmering and subtle, slowing building up in strange, menacing fashion. The first part is in Spanish (with Guillermo Grenier providing the voice); the second part is "in English" (heavily processed vocals by Ashley) and quite radical -- easy to imagine this one sitting very high in a United Dairies-like universe."
~ in Forced Exposure

"An inspired prose-poem in Spanish and English about agriculture, and other perspectives and feelings that occur to people in cities, and to those who live outside cities. Heart-lifting."
~ "Blue" Gene Tyranny, All Music Guide

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Robert Ashley studied with Ross Lee Finney, Roberto Gerhard, Leslie Bassett. Music degrees from Univ. of Michigan and Manhattan School of Music, worked in Speech Research Lab (psychoacoustics and cultural speech patterns) and was a Research Assistant in acoustics at the Architectural Research Lab. Co-founder legendary ONCE Group in the 1960s, co-director Center for Contemporary Music at Mills College in 1970s. Created new kind of opera (sometimes called the New Narrative opera) in works like That Morning Thing (1967), Combination Wedding and Funeral (1964), Perfect Lives an opera-for-TV (1980), e/L Aficionado (1991). Social behavior and and language illusion studies like The 4th of July for tape (1960), The Wolfman (1964), in memoriam ... Crazy Horse (symphony) (1963), The Trial of Anne Opie Wehrer and Unknown Accomplices for Crimes Against Humanity (1968).
+ info on Ashley HERE

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Robert Ashley : English voice and all instruments; except "Blue" Gene Tyranny, clavinet; Spanish voice : Guillermo Grenier

Track 1 : Spanish version running time: 26' 51''
Track 2 : English version running time: 26' 39''

Originally composed by Robert Ashley in 1978 (Visibility Music Publishers)

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TImbre (1995)

"Timbre" is the self-given name of a vocal group led by American expatriate Lauren Newton. They have been together since 1988 and have performed literally all over the globe. Combining medieval polyphony, plainchant, improvisation, spontaneous composition, and asymmetrical approaches to both timbre and harmony, this group has literally re-written the book on vocal invention in new music. Newton is only the one of the four with any background in "jazz" singing per se as she embraces standards as a part of her canon. The rest come from either classical school of voice or from theater and improvisation (Muetter). There are 19 compositions here, all of which were recorded live, direct to digital audiotape without overdubbing or additional mixing except for the master. The element of meld here is the key to comprehending but not enjoying Timbre's most astonishing recording -- it's so musical, it can be enjoyed without any understanding of what is taking place mechanically. 

The overtone singing, which comes from the Tuvans is not replicated here so much as hinted at. The work is structured as one large piece with very brief intervals of silence in between these "miniatures." There are percussion instruments employed in a few places, but, overall, the voices are more than enough to create an atmosphere that is ethereal, yet solidly "there." 

There are few acrobatics, few flights of fancy among the individuals, as it is clearly the group effort; it's trust and empathy that allows for these works to happen so spontaneously and change on a dime. If you purchase only one "new music" vocal recording, let it be this one. Gorgeous, harrowing, and hauntingly beautiful".

Thom Jurek, All Music Guide

1. Three & L

2. Three & O

3. Three & E

4. Three & B

5. Miniatur I

6. Miniatur II

7. Miniatur III

8. Miniatur IV

9. Miniatur V

10. Magna Mater

11. Fifteen

12. Kuult

13. Schrrr

14. Air

15. Miniatur VI

16. Miniatur VII

17. Miniatur VIII

18. Miniatur IX

19. AAAA

Lauren Newton: voice
Oskar Moerth: voice
Elisabeth Tuchmann: voice
Bertl Muetter: voice, trombone, conch shell

Recorded directly to DAT, no overdubs, March 1993 in the Basilica Mariazell, Austria, and October 1994 in the St. Veit Church, Graz, Austria.
Released by Leo Records in 1995.

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180 D'Gs to the Future: The Music of Negativland (2007)

This is an absolutely jaw-dropping collection of Negativland songs covered by a 5-or-6 piece a cappella group. Every sample is sung, every um and er is included. And it's mindblowing, even if you're not familiar with Negativland.

Formerly the Singing Minnicks, David and his brothers Chris, Don, Mark, Peter and Dick Minnick started out singing in their church and at neighborhood concerts. In 2001, however, their direction changed when David found a copy of Negativland's LP Points in their pastor, Rev. Al "Sugar" Sweet's trailer. Rev. Sweet helped the group to become what we now know as the 180 Gs. After selling out concerts all over their hometown of Detroit, they went to The Closet studios run by Sophocles Jones and recorded their first singles.

Negativland heard these recordings and contacted the Gs to put out their first full-length record on their own Seeland label.

And remember, every number is 180; every letter is G.

Have the 180 Gs ever attempted a Negativland song that you just couldn't get to work?
David Minnick: Yeah, we had a few of those. We could have gotten them to work (in my opinion) but everyone just got impatient. For example: I had written out a transcription of "Potty Air" from Points, but while recording it, a few of the guys felt too silly reading through 5 minutes of fart noises to continue. I had to scrap it to keep a few of the guys from walking off the project (even though it took me over 100 hours of tedious work to transcribe it accurately)... I HOPE YOU'RE READING THIS DON AND PETER!! IT WOULD HAVE BEEN COOL!!!
There were a few other songs ("Oven Noises", "The Playboy Channel") that we nearly gave up on. Whenever we were close to giving up, we'd remember Dad's last words to us, as he walked out the front door for the last time: "Don't give up." We'd collect ourselves, and get back to work. Dad also told me: "If ya get lost, you might have taken a wrong turn a few miles back. Just walk backwards a few miles and then walk forwards down another path and you might not be lost anymore." I had no idea what he meant by all of that, until we had to scrap our first recording of "Oven Noises" and start over. The final result was much better, but it was painful to just throw away 2 months of work. It took a long time, but we eventually got arrangements that we were satisfied with for the songs we wanted.

Do you find that Negativland songs from a particular era (the earlier, more experimental based stuff versus the more song-based stuff of the later records) work better in an 180 Gs arrangement?
David Minnick: That's really impossible to say because the entire concept of turning Negativland pieces into a cappella vocal arrangements doesn't (or shouldn't) work. Each song on 180 d'Gs to the Future was as difficult as the next. The more experimental, or speech-based pieces demanded that we make up our own melodies/harmonies while still being faithful to the original. In addition, the absence of regular rhythmic patterns in the original pieces meant that we had sing a lot of complicated, irrational rhythms AND not get lost. Our job, however, was to give these pieces a natural, funky "flow". The more song-like pieces demanded that we come up with arrangements that went BEYOND the original so that we weren't just doing straight cover versions. There was really no easy way to do this record and make it hold together.

While doing a bit of research for this interview, I discovered that you can buy Mp3s of the 180 Gs album from Amazon using Pepsi Points -- what do you think about that?
David Minnick: Personally, I think that's just fine. I happen to like Pepsi a lot better than Coke anyway. However, I haven't gotten any Pepsi points yet. I guess it's a good thing I've got the master tapes of the 180 Gs album.

Why is Dick Minnick not pictured on the album sleeve? David Minnick: If we're talking about Dick, I'll have to back into history a little bit: Dick (aside from his incessant theremin playing and his occasional violent temper) was just like the rest of us. We'd sing, we'd play music, we'd joke around, we'd argue from time to time... he was just one of us. Other people had told us that there was something wrong with him (being the 4th Minnick triplet) but we didn't see it.

Read the full interview here.



1. Intro (Everything's Going Fine) (from "Negativland")
2. Christianity Is Stupid (from "Escape From Noise")
3. Helter Stupid (excerpt from "Helter Stupid")
4. Greatest Taste Around (from "Dispepsi")
5. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For (from "U2")
6. Car Bomb (from "Escape From Noise")
7. A Nice Place to Live (from "Points")
8. Seat Bee Sate (from "Negativland")
9. The Playboy Channel (from "Escape From Noise")
10. I Am God (from "Free")
11. Roy Storey Sports Line (from OTE Vol. 4: "Dick Vaughn's Moribund Music of the 70's")
12. Oven Noises (from OTE Vol. 6 - "The Willsaphone Stupid Show")
13. Theme From a Big 10-8 Place (Live) (from "A Big 10-8 Place")

The 180 G's are:
Chris Minnick, Don Minnick, Mark Minnick, Peter Minnick, Dick Minnick, David Minnick
Produced by Leonardo De Vinci Knight & D'Andre Xavier Jones
Engineered by Sophocles Jones
Released by Seeland in 2007.

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Robert Ashley & Paul de Marinis - In Sara, Mencken, Christ and Beethoven There Were Men and Women (1974)

"New definitive CD reissue of this original Cramps label album from 1974, an early classic from Robert Ashley (previous CD version on Cramps is now deleted). This deluxe slipcased version features a 110-page book, reproducing the original Wolgamot text along with fascinating liner notes explaining the whole project from Keith Waldrop and Robert Ashley. The CD features one long composition with Ashley reading a text by poet John Barton Wolgamot. The poem has 128 stanzas; each stanza is made up of the same phrase, into which are introduced four variables, three are names or groups of names or constructions of names, and the fourth variable is formed by the adverb of the active verb. The result is considered "one of the most unusual and difficult linguistic textures in the English language". The underlying music is supplied by Paul DeMarinis on Moog synthesizer. Ashley on DeMarinis: "Paul has elaborated seven different modular combinations, each of which can be controlled by programmed impulses. These derive from the sound of the reading of the poem passed through the regeneration high frequency filter and successively translated into a series of command impulses."

"This uniquely original work for voice and electronics dates from 1972. A 128-stanza poem by the legendary John Barton Walgamot traces a hidden story of social progress and influence within the gradual repetition of a single grand phrase. For example, "In its very truly great manners of Ludwig Van Beethoven, very heroically the very cruelly ancestral death of Sara Powell Haardt had very ironically come amongst his very really grand men and women to Rafael Sabatini, George Ade, Margaret Storm Jameson, Ford Madox Hueffer, Jean-Jacques Bernard, Louis Bronfield, Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche and Helen Brown Norden very titanically." In the other verses names are added and subtracted, and there occurs a subtlety organized variation of syntactical parts leading to further mysterious integration of meanings. The voice part is read with as few inflections and breaths as possible -- in the first realization prepared on tape, all pauses were removed, so that the voice has this eternal quality. (Gertrude Stein once mentioned that she aimed for this same quality while in the 1934-35 recording of her works, but had to settle for reading in long breaths). The voice activates electronic sounds that respond with inflected sounds; in the initial realization for records, electronic sounds designed by composer Paul DeMarinis were variously beautiful and humorous. The musical effect is that of an internal voice stimulating involuntary ideas and feelings. This piece, together with Ashley's "Automatic Writing" (1979), "The Wolfman" (1964), "Fancy Free, or It's There" (1970), "Purposeful Lady Slow Afternoon" (1968, from The Wolfman Motorcity Revue) and "She Was a Visitor" (1967, from the opera That Morning Thing) offer a profound musical exploration of the relation between the physical nature of the voice and social/language behaviors". AMG

Synthesizer - Paul DeMarinis
Voice - Robert Ashley
Text - John Barton Wolgamot

CD reissue in 2002 by Lovely Music

Link removed by request.

See comments.

Anthologie Musicale de la Péninsule Arabique Vol. 4: Le Chant des Femmes

Anthologie Musicale De La Péninsule Arabique
Vol. 4: Le Chant des Femmes
A Musical Anthology of the Arabian Peninsula
Vol. 4: Women's Songs

Simon Jargy Collection
Recorded in 1968-1990
Released in 1994, Disques VDE-Gallo

01-02. Chants de mer (Sea Songs)
03-14. Chants de mariage (Wedding Songs)
15-19. Chans de l'enfance et du travail (Childhood and Working Songs)



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Shelley Hirsch - O Little Town of East New York (1995)

"Besides her improvisations and collaborations, Hirsch writes and performs her own original compositions, amongst them three radio-plays: #39 (based on a text by Angela Carter), The Vidzer Family, and O Little Town of East New York. The Vidzer Family portrays a Jewish family with roots in Russia, who travelled to South America and ended up in Brooklyn's East New York in the 'sixties. O Little Town of East New York is a sort of sequel to it. It is a semi-autobiographical docu-musical about growing up in mid-century East New York. Hirsch recreates and inhabits remembered environments, situations and characters. She evokes the ethnically diverse neighbourhood: her Russian schoolmate's living room; the home of her own working class Jewish family; the synagogue; high school; the rallies against the Vietnam War; drugs. It's a hilarious, nostalgic, touching composition, merging avant and pop sensibilities. Critics praised her "dazzling technique" as well as her "wild, beautiful energy". The piece (later released on Tzadik) won the prestigious Prix Futura in Berlin (1993)".

"Hirsch's creative transformations of kitschy fragments and her skilled shaping of multiple dimensions suggest a quality central to the surrealist doctrine, the merveilleux: "a rupture in the order of reality." Her methods go beyond conventional definitions of composition and of performance. By violating logical, linear narrative forms, by opposing elements from our known world in disturbing ways, she plunges herself, and her audience, into collective reminiscences so visceral that they seem almost visual---a surreal accomplishment in itself". Anne Le Baron in Reflections on Surrealism in Postmodern Music.

David Weinstein: programming, sampling, performer.
Shelley Hirsch: lyre, programming, main performer, sampling, vocals.

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Les Double Six - Les Double Six (1962)

1. Tickle Toe (Le racket et les balles) [Lester Young]
2. Early Autumn (Finalement l'automne est arrivé) [R. Burns & W. Herman]
3. Sweets (Les quatre de l'opéra) [Bill Russo]
4. Naima (Naima) [John Coltrane]
5. Westwood Walk (Histoire de baryton) [Gerry Mulligan]
6. A Night in Tunisia (Le tapis volant) [F. Paparelli & D. Gillespie]
7. A Ballad (Une ballade) [Gerry Mulligan]
8. Scrapple from the Apple (A batons rompus) [Charlie Parker]
9. Boplicity (La légende du troubador) [Cleo Henry]
10. Moanin' (La complainte du bagnard) [Bobby Timmons]
11. Fascinating Rhythm (Le pas qui plaira) [Gershwin]
12. Walkin' (Un tour au bois) [Richard Carpenter] previously unreleased track

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Les Double Six - Meet Quincy Jones (1960)

"Sometimes considered to be the French incarnation of groups like the Hi-Lo's or Lambert, Hendricks & Ross, Les Double Six took a much jazzier approach to vocalese arrangements and performance than any similar band. They had a successful but short career, partly because of Perrin's health problems, leaving us with no more than four recordings. Using their voices like instruments, they were exceptional improvisors and one of the most innovative vocal ensembles of the era. In this record, Mimi Perrin leads the sextet through brilliant interpretations of Quincy Jones compositions for the Basie Band or his own orchestra, adding her humorous lyrics to the band's rich harmonies and quick phrasing".

1. For Lena and Lennie (En flânant dans Paris)
2. Rat Race (La course au rat)
3. Stockholm Sweetnin' (Un coin merveilleux)
4. Boo's Bloos (Au temps des Indiens)
5. Doodlin' (Tout en dodelinant)
6. Meet Benny Bailey (Au bout du fil)
7. Evening in Paris (Il y a fort longtemps)
8. Count'em (T'as foutu l'camp)

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Morton Feldman - Three Voices for Joan La Barbara (1989)

"Three Voices, composed for Joan La Barbara and completed in 1982, uses delicate repeating patterns of precise pitches and rhythms and is indicated to be sung very softly. It is a setting of fragments from the poem Wind, by Frank O'Hara (dedicated to Feldman). The composition is sung in vocalise until just before the midpoint of the piece when the text appears. It was first performed in March 1983 at the California Institute of the Arts at Valencia" (CD Notes)

"Here is one of the great contemporary masterpieces for voice. Three Voices was composed for Joan La Barbara, a singer and performer of avant-garde music in the tradition of Cathy Berberian or Jan DeGaetani. In live performance, the singer stands next to two loudspeakers that play two prerecorded tapes of her voice, to which she synchronizes herself. At the center of the work is a setting of the poem Wind by Frank O'Hara. The various vocal patterns on either side of the poem were inspired, as in all Feldman's late music, by the patterns on Oriental carpets, and you actually can hear the slow modification of shape and form as the music proceeds. It's a remarkable work, and La Barbara's performance is definitive". David Hurwitz

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Alejandro Viñao - Hildegard's Dream (1994)

The first 3 pieces in this CD form a trilogy for soprano and computer which explores the relationship between melody and timbre in 3 different contexts. Both "Chant d’Ailleurs" [Chant from Elsewhere] and "Borges y el Espejo" [Borges and the Mirror] are concerned with melodic processes based on non European singing models, seeking to extend the syntax of these models beyond their Oriental origin. ‘Chant d’Ailleurs’ takes as a model the chanting tradition of Mongolia and ‘Borges y el Espejo’ that of the classical Arabic singing. ‘Hildegard’s Dream’ functions as a connecting point between these Eastern traditions and the more recent melodic tradition of Europe. The piece, as the title suggests, draws its melodic material from the monophonic singing of the Middle Ages. In those early days, the European melodic syntax was not as different from its Eastern counterpart - as it was to become after the Renaissance - enjoying a rhythmic freedom which had not yet been subjected to the constraints of a rigid meter. This composition marks the beginning of my exploration of melody and timbre which culminated, some 10 years later, in the 3 pieces forming the trilogy. All four works were influenced by the writings of Jorge Luis Borges and his labyrinthine view of the world. His influence was imprecise and diffused and yet I experienced it as something very real. If I try to define it in my own words it is the words of Borges that come to my mind: “luckily we don’t owe ourselves to one tradition. We can aspire to all of them”. Alejandro Viñao

1-3. Chant d'Ailleurs (1992, for soprano and computer)
4-5. Hildegard's Dream (1994, for soprano and computer)
6-7. Borges y el Espejo (1992, for soprano and computer)
8-9. Go (1981, tape composition)

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Ken Nordine - Colors (1966)

The voice-over man from a thousand commercials, Ken Nordine registers in your subconscious instantly: Wait, I know that guy! Smooth as an ice sculpture and ringing with "the voice of our sponsor," Nordine has personified authority since the 1960s. It's disorienting at first to hear the way Nordine lets go on this record with a Beat-inspired, mellifluous-sounding, Dr. Seuss-like exploration of the meanings of different colors. Many of the pieces are parables on racism and human behavior, but they're also totally silly, and meant to be. Recorded in the late 1960s, the 34 tracks manage to be sort of psychedelically goofy but charming at the same time. "Absolute gray is the grayest gray / That's the same distance from absolute white as it is from absolute black," Nordine almost-sings to a delightful, freeform studio backing of hip jazz. All your mix tapes will be very happy that you've bought this strange record to flavor them with. --Mike McGonigal

Chromatic extravaganza from the deep, sociological voice of Nordine.

1. Olive 2. Lavender 3. Burgundy 4. Yellow 5. Green 6. Beige 7. Maroon 8. Ecru 9. Chartreuse 10. Turquoise 11. White 12. Flesh 13. Azure 14. Puce 15. Magenta 16. Orange 17. Purple 18. Muddy 19. Russet 20. Amber 21. Blue 22. Black 23. Gold 24. Crimson 25. Brown 26. Rosy 27. Hazel 28. Mauve 29. Fuschia 30. Sepia 31. Nutria 32. Cerise 33. Grey 34. Coral

Ken Nordine: Vocals, Creation
Richard Campbell: Flute, Vibes, Marimba, Harpsichord, Drums

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