Words and all that Jazz

For many years I've been attracted to words. Maybe old William S Burroughs with his junk needle and croaky sandbox of a voice still knew a thing or two when he stated that 'Language is a virus' and practiced his cut up techniques. And there is so much material available these days in the digital revolution with piles and piles of text on any conceivable topic being available at my fingertips. A sad fact probably is that I spend so much time behind this machine communicating with others that I am sure that I ( and many others ) have lost the art of face to face communication.
Having said that though, If I was to verbalise most of what I write here in an everyday conversation, most people would turn away in disinterest. So we would rather pick and choose our conversations with those who understand and identify with us, even if it does mean that the face I am conversing with throws a phosphorus glow on mine,and can be silenced and instigated at the flick of a switch.
But I digress...
These words..I've been seeing them more as an art form than as simply a communication device. There is a precious gift in articulation, imagery, emotion, rhyme, and not to forget the sound, tone, and inflictions of the human voice.
The early beat poets knew it, standing on a stage with a single microphone and a wailing jazz music behind them , talking nonsensically at times simply relying on the relationship of words on each other filling the aural palette with hues and strokes as would a master painter.
Burroughs cut up method provided a rich landscape of words disjointed yet connected, possibly the reflection of his scattered thoughts and disjointed thought processes, though when read or spoken weave a magical winding road with beautiful curves and turns which takes us on a challenging journey. Challenging because it often leaves us trying to explain what we have read or heard rationally which the mind tends to want to do.
Though not all spoken word need be like this. The best of what I have heard comes from a
gentleman who goes by the name of Ken Nordine. Now Ken Nordine is a master of the voice and words. His thoughts run deeper than the deepest murkiest waters often dismembering the human psyche and walking us through as our expert tour guide. He leaves us thinking, he proposes offbeat situations, he brings the inanimate alive. If you ever get a chance to hear his material, ( his voice is likely to be recognisable and you will ponder upon where you have heard it before) I strongly suggest you take a large dose of his wordy concoctions.
One particularly engaging series that Ken Nordine produced was a radio show called "Word Jazz" which was an installment of Ken's rantings backed up by mostly esoteric music and sound effects to suit. The link will take you to his site where you can sample some of his great works ( Unfortunately the site no longer provides downloads of the radio show, but look hard enough and you might just find some...)
Another wordsmith I have enjoyed over the years (though lately she has begun singing more than speaking) is Laurie Anderson. I guess that hearing her 'Oh Superman ' piece at 3 am while I was in half sleep was a religious experience for me. Though simple, yet profound I continued to enjoy many many more of her works over the years following especially when she joined forces with William S on one of her tracks (Sharkey's day).
Of course MC 900 FT. Jesus is another crafty constructor of the wordly kind. Readers of my previous posts should be familiar with him by now and hopefully appreciated his style of work. sometimes dark, sometimes humorous, sometimes bewildering .
In closing, I would like to acknowledge something which I cannot explain though I know certainly exists. Take a number of mediums, (in our case voice and music) alone they may stand pretty much on their own, but place them together and something extra beyond the individual elements is created, maybe it has to do with the combination of the senses or brain receptors. Speaking of which , mine is just about fried for the day.... my next post will probably take this topic further but you will just have to wait patiently my dearies...

Cheers Eric...