The birth of a sound and the birth of a legend – Martin Denny's first album in the Exotica series, and a record so great it named an entire genre! Denny certainly didn't invent the tropical style of easy listening that came to be known as "exotica" in the 50s – but with a record like this, he delivered the goods better than anyone else – by taking away all the too-sweet styles of Hawaiian music, and serving up a stripped-down, jazzy kind of sound! The album features Denny's classic original quartet – with Arthur Lyman on vibes and Augie Colon on bongos – and titles include "Stone God", "Jungle Flower", "Busy Port", "Lotus Land", and his hit recording of "Quiet Village". Japanese CD features full mono and stereo mixes of all tracks on the set! CD

The second album in Denny's legendary Exotica trilogy – a set of records that provided the extreme definition of the small sub-genre that today has become the stuff of legend! Denny's still working here in his classic format – a small group with heavy piano lines, playful percussion, and some birdcalls sung by the members of the group! The set's a mix of strange songs from strange sources, all given the sublime Denny twist – and titles include "Singing Bamboos", "Escales", "August Bells", "Ebb Tide", "Rush Hour In Hong Kong", and "Soshu Night Serenade". Japanese CD features full stereo and mono mixes of all tunes on the set! CD

Martin Denny's music always takes us away to the tropics – and this set is a whole Forbidden Island of exotica tunes! The record features the classic Denny exotica quartet with Augie Colon and Julius Wechter – plus some additional guest players on flute, percussion, and guitar – rounding out things very nicely. The expanded sound works nicely for Denny's style – and the mood incorporates plenty of easy lounge arrangements of the fairly standard instrumentation in the backdrop – broadened wonderfully in the arrangements! It's sort of a blue-eyed tropical feel – one that makes it a cheeky classic! The set includes some good originals like "Goony Birds", "Cobra", "Exotica", and "Primitiva", plus the Les Baxter tunes "Port Au Prince" and "Sim Sim", as well as a perennial exotica fave, "March Of The Siamese Children". This version includes both the mono & stereo mixes of the full track list! CD

2 classic bits of exotica on one CD! Forbidden Island is an excellent session that's one of the harder to find Martin Denny albums on Liberty! The record features the classic Denny exotica quartet with Augie Colon and Julius Wechter, plus some additional guest players on flute, percussion, and guitar. The expanded sound works nicely for Denny's style – and the set includes some good originals like "Goony Birds", "Cobra", "Exotica", and "Primitiva", plus the Les Baxter tunes "Port Au Prince" and "Sim Sim", as well as a perennial exotica fave, "March Of The Siamese Children". On Primitiva, Denny's classic quartet format is augmented by extra percussion that includes gongs, cymbals, tuned logs, steel drums, chimes, chromatic bamboo, and lots more! Tak Shindo also sits in and plays a bit of Koto, for a nice Eastern feel on some tracks. Titles include "M'Bira", "Burma Train", "Kalua", "M'Gambo Mambo", and "Mau Mau". Groovy cover, too, with a model standing waist-deep in ice water! CD

One of Martin Denny's greatest albums – thanks to some extra special added elements! For the record, Denny's classic quartet is augmented by a wealth of odd added percussion – including gongs, cymbals, tuned logs, steel drums, chimes, and "chromatic bamboo"! All of these elements take Denny's exotica sound way further than ever before – and if that's not enough, the legendary Tak Shindo plays a bit of Koto on the record too! Titles include "M'Bira", "Burma Train", "Kalua", "M'Gambo Mambo", and "Mau Mau". Album features the full track list – in both mono and stereo mixes! CD

2 of Martin Denny's grooviest albums – back to back on one CD! Hypnotique is as compelling as the title would imply! The core group of the Denny Quartet – with Julius Wechter on vibes and percussion, and Augie Colon on congas and bongos – is augmented by the Jack Halloran Singers and additional Japanese instrumentation. The added sound is absorbed nicely by Denny's group, and the record has some great tracks like "Jungle Madness", "American in Bali", and "Voodoo Dreams". Exotica 3 is the third volume in Denny's great series that virtually defined the genre they're named after – and it's every bit as strong as volumes 1 & 2. Denny comes up with some wonderful numbers – working with the spare group that included Augie Colon and Julius Wechter – on titles that include "Moon of Manakoora", "Congo Train", "Bamboo Lullaby", and "Jungle River Boat". CD

2 exotica classics on one CD! Quiet Village is an undisputed classic in the exotica field, and the record that yielded Denny his biggest hit – the title reworking of "Quiet Village", written by Les Baxter a few years earlier. The rest of the record's pretty darn nice, too – with Denny's trademark piano/percussion style firmly in place – and we can't think of a better way to start off a collection of exotic 50s tunes. Titles include "Sake Rock", "Martinique", "Tune From Rangoon", and "Pagan Love Song". Enchanted Sea is another great classic by Denny – with a nice approach that has sort of a drifting South Seas feel! The record is one of his last good ones for Liberty, and has lots of nice tracks like "My Isle Of Golden Dreams", "Beyond The Reef", "Flotsam & Jetsam", and "Cross Current". Nice sexy cover, too! CD

A great illustration of the way that Martin Denny expanded his groove in the 60s – on some sweetly inventive records like this! On Latin Village, Martin Denny changes the rhythms from tropical to Latin – but the overall groove is still highly in his best exotica mode, and nicely augmented by some additional instrumentation! There's some traces here of the shift in production for instrumental music from the time – a bit of electric bass echoing out at the bottom of some cuts, more echo than usual on the piano lines, and a floating quality that's almost even more sublime than the original Liberty sessions. But the core Denny elements are also still in place – tinkling piano, island percussion, and a playful approach to familiar rhythms that never fails to please. The Latin is more of a nod to harder Latin modes than anything else, but it does make for a nice, if subtle change – one that works especially well when Denny's piano is out front, but compressed a bit in the mix. Titles include "Flying Down To Rio", "Ho Ba La La", "Something Latin", "Girl From Ipanema", and "Latin Village". The Versatile Martin Denny definitely lives up to the versatile in the title – working through a whole host of different 50s and 60s easy tunes – played in ways that are much wider-ranging than usual! Some are percussive and slightly exotic, some have more strings and tinkling piano, and some get slightly playful instrumentation – in a very nice way. Titles include "Little Bird", "Theme From Mondo Cane", "Exotique Bossa Nova", "Quiet Village Bossa Nova", and "Strawberry Tree". CD

A rare holiday album from string maestro Felix Slatkin – one of the more dynamic orchestra leaders to record for Liberty Records during the glory days of bachelor pad music! Felix is usually in a style that's got more zing in the strings – but here, he steps things down a bit for a set of Holiday goodies – turning his orchestra arrangements to Christmas tunes, with a slight flair from time to time that keeps the record from sounding as sleepy as it might if it were on a label like Columbia or Decca. Titles include "Deck The Halls", "White Christmas", "Adeste Fideles", "O Holy Night", "Joy To The World", and "Away In A Manger". (Holiday Music, Now Sound) CD

2CDs, 40 tracks – and a motherlode of incredible work in the exotica vein! Most of the sides on the set are from Denny's groundbreaking albums for Liberty Records in the late 50s and early 60s – albums that featured Denny's hip combo lineup of piano, vibes, percussion, and lots of other odd effects – all working through a variety of exotica tunes to create a very cool sound! The whole thing's put together very nicely, with an incredibly gorgeous cover – and titles include "Bacoa", "Mau Mau", "Jungle Madness", "Black Orchid", "The Left Arm Of Buddha", "Lotus Land", "Time & Tide", "Swamp Fire", "Isle Of Love", and "Jungle Drums". CD

A groovy set of loungey bossa tunes – pulled from 60s recordings on Capitol, Liberty, Pacific Jazz, and related labels. There's more than a few "authentic" bossa performers here, mixed with some others that pick up the groove nicely – working out their own west coast interpretation of the genre in a lively swinging way. There's a total of 18 tracks in all – and titles include "Mas Que Nada" by Rubin Mitchell, "Baia" by Bill Perkins, "So Danco Samba" by Wanda De Sah, "Triste" by Howard Roberts, "Amy's Theme" by Martin Denny, "Samba De Orfeu" by Ray Anthony, "Look Of Love" by Billy May, "Misirlou" by Laurindo Almeida & The Bossa Nova All Stars, "Witchcraft" by Joe Graves & The Diggers, and "Que Sabe Voce De Mim" by Walter Wanderley. CD

18 exotic groovers from the glory days of the bachelor pad! The set's a well-chosen bunch of rare ones from the catalogs of labels like Capitol, Liberty, and United Artists – and the tunes are tied together with a Latiny theme, as you've probably already expected from the "bongo" in the title! Tracks include "Latin Fever" by Jack Costanzo, "Caravan" by Dick Hyman, "Balinese Bongos", "The Young Savages" by Martin Denny, "Moderna Muchacha" by Joe Loco, "Club Caballeros" by Laurindo Almeida, "Bernies Tune" by Al Caiola, "Dr No's Fantasy" by Elliott Fisher, "Taboo" by Leo Arnaud, and "Softly As In A Morning Sunrise" by Terry Snyder. CD

Bud Shank takes on the sounds of The Beatles – and a whole host of other 60s pop stars as well – all with results that are as jazzy as they are groovy! The album's one of a few that Bud cut for Liberty in this format – alto and flute spread out over fuller backings from Bob Florence, a great arranger who knows how to make things swing by bringing in some wonderful 60s touches! There's a bit of guitar at times, some compressed horns – ala A&M – and some overall mod rhythms that help change things up nicely from tune to tune. Titles include "Michelle", "Yesterday", "Blue On Blue", "Sounds Of Silence", "Turn Turn Turn", "As Tears Go By", and "Girl". (Jazz, Now Sound) CD