Exotic Sounds of Arthur Lyman Coming to CD Reissues

Press release
Source: conqueroo / Cary Baker

Having learned his lessons in exotica while playing the vibraphone for Martin Denny, Arthur Lyman went on to become one of the Big Three (along with Denny and Les Baxter) in exotic lounge music during the ‘50s and ‘60s. He deftly grafted unusual tropically-inspired instrumentation and jazzy arrangements onto tunes ranging from Polynesian melodies to Broadway standards. However, despite his pre-eminent stature in the genre, vast swaths of Arthur’s album catalog for the HiFi label have remained unexplored over the years. (And “unexplored” is the operative word because between the album art and wild sounds, the records do feel like a jungle safari.)

So leave it to Collectors’ Choice Music to carve out nine two-fer Arthur Lyman CDs out of 18 long-playing records — available for the first time on CD. Street date for the nine CDs is April 8. Collectors’ Choice has added historical liner notes, but it’s up to the listener to add the fitting food, drink and festivity to accompany these musical mysteries.

Lyman was born on Kauai when the Hawaiian Islands were still a U.S. territory; his mother was native Hawaiian and his father French, Belgian and Chinese. Every day after school, the young musician was locked in a room until he was able to learn all Lionel Hampton’s solos on his toy marimba. He mastered the four-mallet style, and played with his father and brother at USO shows. Bandleader Martin Denny discovered the 21-year-old Lyman in 1953 and formed a trio with him and bassist George Kramer.

Adding a member, the Denny group released the album Exotica, which gave the genre its name. By 1958, Lyman had his own band, a record deal and a studio. His discography includes more than two dozen albums on such labels as HiFi, Life and GNP Crescendo. The group’s live show is described in the liner notes as “nearly hallucinogenic when viewed through the skrim of strong rum drinks at tiki palaces.” Lyman toured all the major mainland tiki outposts every year.

During his later years, Lyman stayed close to the Hawaiian homefront. He and Denny had the opportunity to bask in the adulation of a new generation of tikiphiles. Lyman died in 2002 of throat cancer — freeing him from the sterile sound of beeping hospital machinery to that vast magical jungle of joyous monkeys, chirping iridescent birds and the wildest rhythms ever known.

The CDs:

• Bwana’A / Bahia. Recorded on the heels of Lyman’s million-selling Taboo, these 1958 and 1959 releases offer 24 tracks of quintessential exotica. Possibly the purest exotica of the bunch.

• On Broadway / The Colorful Percussions. On Broadway from 1959 takes a brief detour from the tropics to the Great White Way, while 1962’s The Colorful Percussions returns to Lyman’s mix of popular melody and Polynesian flavor.

• The Many Moods of Arthur Lyman / Love for Sale. Two bracingly eclectic albums, from 1962 and 1963, respectively, featuring “Sicilian Holiday,” “Jungle Flower,” “March of the Siamese Children” and more.

• Cottonfields / Blowin’ In The Wind. These two 1963 releases share a folk flavor, highlighted by Lyman’s take on the Bob Dylan title tune as well as nods to the then-hot bossa nova sound.

• Isle of Enchantment / Polynesia. These are 1964 and 1965 releases from the exotica master. But despite the titles, these two albums are salted with standards along the more piquant Polynesian fare.

• Lyman ’66 / The Shadow of Your Smile. A little exotica, a little Broadway, a little Hollywood, even a little rock ’n’ roll. Tracks range from “E Lei Ka Lei Lei” to “Hang On Sloopy.”

• Ilikai / At the Port of Los Angeles. This pair of 1967 releases contains “Ilikai,” “Sea Breeze,” “Medley from South Pacific” and even “La Bamba” — 25 tracks in all.

• Latitude 20/ Aphrodisia. A pair of 1968 releases that draw from everywhere —Brazil, Hawaii, Ireland, Mexico, Japan and the U.S.A. Features “Latitude,” “The Day the Fish Came Out,” “Manha de Carnaval.” “Island in the Sun,” “Maori Flea” and more.

• Winner’s Circle / Today’s Greatest Hits. The 22 tracks on this two-fer were winners indeed as Lyman forsook his tropical blend to tackle contemporary chart smashes on these two 1968 albums. Contains “Love is Blue,” “Everybody’s Talkin’,” and “Hawaii 5-0.”

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