Kenneth Patchen – Reads Jazz In Canada

I am a sucker for both word jazz and Folkways so I figured I’d give it a try. Glad I did! Crazy beatnik vibe the likes of which so many records with wild covers promise but rarely deliver. The Alan Neil Quartet is backing him on this, and are super tight, but in no way does this sound like “a jazz group backing a poet”. Patchen’s interplay with the instruments is amazing and his stream of consciousness imagery, and warbley delivery will absolutely pin your ears to this record from the crackle of the empty grooves that begin side A, to the rhythmic hissing of the run-off groove at the end of side B.

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