Ken Nordine (April 13, 1920 – February 16, 2019) was an American voice-over and recording artist, best known for his series of word jazz albums.
[5] In 1955, he provided the voiceover on Billy Vaughn's version of "Shifting Whispering Sands", which peaked at number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100.
[9] Nordine hosted the weekly Word Jazz program on WBEZ, also carried on other stations, from the 1970s for over forty years.
[10] Nordine was in demand as a voiceover artist on commercials for several companies including the First Chicago Bank, Levi's, Gallo Wine and Magnavox amongst others.
[12] In 1990, Nordine was approached by Jerry Garcia of The Grateful Dead to be the anchor for their New Year's Eve radio broadcast from Oakland, California.
[13] This subsequently led to an album Devout Catalyst, released on the Grateful Dead's own label in 1991[13] and Upper Limbo in 1993[14] and an appearance with the band live at a show at Rosemont, Illinois, in March 1993.
Nordine worked with author Maurice Sendak on Sesame Street, providing the narration for the animated segments "Bumble Ardy"[24] and "Seven Monsters".