Exotica (Martin Denny album)

Exotica is the first album by Martin Denny, released in 1957. It contained Les Baxter's most famous piece, "Quiet Village", and spawned an entire genre bearing its name. It was recorded December 1956 in Webley Edwards' studio in Waikiki (not, as often reported, the Aluminum Dome at Henry J. Kaiser's Hawaiian Village Complex). The album topped Billboard's charts in 1959.

The album was recorded in mono. It was re-recorded in stereo in 1958; by then, however, Denny's sideman Arthur Lyman had left the group, and was replaced by Julius Wechter. Denny preferred the original mono version: "It has the original spark, the excitement, the feeling we were breaking new ground."

Track listing

 * 1) "Quiet Village" (Les Baxter) – 3:39
 * 2) "Return to Paradise" (Dimitri Tiomkin, Ned Washington) – 2:19
 * 3) "Hong Kong Blues" (Hoagy Carmichael) – 2:15
 * 4) "Busy Port" (Baxter) – 2:50
 * 5) "Lotus Land" (Cyril Scott) – 2:22
 * 6) "Similau" (Arden Clar, Harry Coleman) – 1:57
 * 7) "Stone God" (Baxter) – 3:07
 * 8) "Jungle Flower" (Baxter) – 1:46
 * 9) "China Nights" (Shina No Yoru ) (Nobuyuki Takeoka ) – 2:01
 * 10) "Ah Me Furi" (Gil Baumgart) – 2:08
 * 11) "Waipio" (Francis Brown) – 3:11
 * 12) "Love Dance" (Baxter) – 2:29

Personnel

 * Martin Denny – piano, arrangements
 * Arthur Lyman – vibes, xylophone, percussion
 * John Kramer – string bass
 * Augie Colon – bongos, congas, Latin effects, bird calls
 * Harold Chang – drums, percussion
 * Bob Lang – engineer
 * Sandy Warner – cover model