Exotica Volume I
The Exciting Sounds of Martin Denny

It's Small Wonder that fabulous Henry Kaiser, who's changed the face of Waikiki in two years with a little energy and $10 million, is also saluted by the people of the appreciative Hawaiian Islands as the man who discovered Hawaii's most popular musical combo: The Martin Denny Group.

When Kaiser opened his fabled tropical Hawaiian Village, he signed a newly-organized quartet of musicians for a two-week stand. They could have stayed forever amidst the tourists sipping exotic drinks and gulping in some unbelievably-appetizing jazz. There wasn't a night in a solid year of playing by the Martin Denny Combo that the luxurious Shell Bar wasn't jammed to the coconut trees with tourists and localites who succumbed to the magic of the Martin Denny music. The big thing about the group is the new sounds and luxurious rhythm that come from leader Martin Denny's offbeat improvisations in sound. "We establish a mood by stressing melodic content and highlight it with novel effects," explains Denny.

But nothing can explain succinctly why the group's music was soon a must for tourists along with Diamond Head and Pearl Harbor. You have to hear it, experience it, to believe that glasses, small cymbals, bamboo sticks with drum heads, and exotic Oriental effects can enrich music so much. Any kind of music--concert, pop, jazz, Afro-Cuban-- takes on another dimension when interpreted by August Colon on the bongoes, Arthur Lyman on vibes, John Kramer on bass and Martin himself on piano -- plus all of them creating their own special brand of sounds.

At the Shell Bar, and later in the lounge of Las Vegas' Royal Nevada you could hear a martini drop when the group swung into one of their delightful concoctions.

If you believe wildly enthusiastic listeners like Alice Faye, who spent the last five nights of her Hawaiian vacation soaking up the Martin Denny brand of musical nectar, this group is destined to be one of the biggest hits across the Nation. Try the exciting sounds of Martin Denny on your hi-fi and you'll soon hear why . . . Exotic treatments of music from exotic lands . . . EXOTICA as only Marlin Denny can present it!

  • Quiet Village
  • Return To Paradise
  • Hong Kong Blues
  • Busy Port
  • Lotus Land
  • Similau
  • Stone God
  • Jungle Flower
  • China Nights
  • Ah Me Furi
  • Waipio
  • Love Dance
 Cover Photography: Garrett-Howard
Producer: Simon Jackson
Engineers: Ted Keep

Liberty Records - Album LRP 3034