Summer Storms: Cherry Red, Righteous Collect "Dark Exotica" from Stan Kenton, Others

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The word "exotica" typically conjures up breezy, mid-20th century imagery of tikis, palm trees, and tropical drinks. Indeed, many musicians were all too happy to contribute to the genre named after Martin Denny's 1957 album, the title of which was coined by Liberty Records executive Si Waronker. Denny's musical island fantasies indeed proved transporting for Americans, as did releases from the likes of Les Baxter, Esquivel, and Arthur Lyman. Back in 2018, the Numero Group curated an alternative history of exotica - underground exotica, if you will - on the label's box set Technicolor Paradise: Rhum Rhapsodies and Other Exotic Delights. Now, Cherry Red's Righteous imprint has a 2-CD release in that same spirit. Dark Exotica as Dug by Lux and Ivy largely eschews the dreamy allure of the tropics for an equally-fantastical underbelly as it collects four of the genre's most unusual albums.

The collection opens with Polynesia from The Buddy Collette Septet. The woodwind multi-instrumentalist (1921-2010) earned featured billing on Chico Hamilton's 1955 debut as a leader, and soon was leading sessions himself for a variety of labels. 1962's Polynesia, on the Music and Sound label, followed such efforts as Tanganyika and Aloha to Jazz, and its song titles alone indicated its different approach to exotica. The near-side-long "Polynesian Suite" had such sections as "Barbarian" and "Corpse." Collette was joined in the studio by musicians Red Callender (bass/tuba), Ed Lustgarten (cello), Earl Palmer (drums), Al Viola (guitar/banjo), Gerald Wilson (trumpet), and Gene Cipriano (brass/winds) as well as by producer George Moran and engineer Bones Howe (The 5th Dimension, Elvis Presley). Further bringing Collette's expansive vision to life was soprano Marni Nixon (perhaps best-known for dubbing lead roles in the big-screen adaptations of West Side Story and My Fair Lady) who added her ethereal vocals to "Flight" and "Gaugin" and actor - and later, convicted murder - Robert Sorrells (The Twilight Zone, Ensign O'Toole) who narrated the Side Two "Polynesian Suite" and "Japanese Suite" in his most ominous tones. Veering from the unsettling to the beautiful with flourishes of straight-ahead jazz, Polynesia proved transporting, indeed.

The second album dug up by Lux and Ivy hails from 1959. Provocatif: Nine Exotic Moods was the only long-player from The John McFarland Sextet. Composer-arranger-pianist McFarland (1926-1971) is best-remembered as a songwriter with classics penned for Aretha Franklin ("Won't Be Long"), Elvis Presley ("Stuck on You"), and Billy J. Kramer ("Little Children") but he didn't rely solely on his own compositions for Provocatif. He found room for the standards "Where or When" and "Tangerine," but adorned them - and the other seven songs, including his own "Summer Storm," "Watusi," and "The Chimp and the Bumble Bee" - with a variety of "exotic" instruments proudly listed on the back cover of the LP including Turkish finger cymbals, congas, maracas, gourds, snake rattlers, Indonesian gongs, Indian bells, and more. Joined by a group including Johnny Rae on mallets and Roland Alexander's flute, McFarland incorporated the familiar exotica trademark of birdsong into his intriguing soundscape.

The most well-known name here is Stan Kenton (1911-1979), whose 1956 Capitol album Cuban Fire opens Disc Two. The innovative pianist, composer, and bandleader acknowledged the influence of Afro-Cuban sounds in exotica with this recording of a suite composed by Johnny Richards. It remains a significant release in the realm of Latin jazz, as Kenton sought authenticity. The bilingual Richards was born in Mexico and worked closely with New York's Cuban and Hispanic musicians to craft the suite. The percussion section - including Mario Alvarez on maracas, Willie Rodriguez on bongos, Roger Mozian on claves, George Laguna on timbales, and Tommy Lopez on congas - added to the real affection for Afro-Cuban music that was quickly recognized by listeners. Kenton's big band swung hard, and Richards made room for ample soloing from the horn section. While Kenton and others would still have a long way to go in attaining authenticity, Cuban Fire remains a swinging and brassy homage to the genuine sound. It's not quite exotica, and not quite dark, but it is a strong entry in Kenton's discography which is filled with ambitious musical mélanges. Though Cuban Fire has been expanded in the CD era, this edition includes only the original six-song album.

The final album on Dark Exotica lives up to the name: Bill Russo and His Orchestra's Seven Deadly Sins. The 1960 Roulette album was composed, conducted, and arranged by Russo (who had led the Jazz Composers' Workshop on the 1957 album of that name famously featuring Charles Mingus) and recorded at New York's Bell Sound. Russo ups the eerie ante as he musically conjures the titular sins of Greed, Lechery, Gluttony, Anger, Envy, Sloth and Pride, taking full advantage of his big band. Among the trombone section is, notably, future orchestrator and leader Don Sebesky, a mainstay of the CTI label with numerous Broadway credits to his name.

Dark Exotica is all-encompassing in this Lux and Ivy compilation, but all of these primarily instrumental records - whether jazz, mood music, or twisted easy listening - still have the power to enchant. This release is made possible via current U.K. public domain laws, and has brief new liner notes by MOJO's Dave Henderson in its simple eight-page booklet. Alan Wilson has remastered. Look for Dark Exotica now from Cherry Red/Righteous.

Various Artists, Dark Exotica as Dug by Lux and Ivy (Cherry Red/Righteous, PSALM23:111D, 2022) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

CD 1:

The Buddy Collette Septet, Polynesia (Music and Sound S 1001, 1962)

Taboo
Flight (feat. Marni Nixon)
Gaugin (feat. Marni Nixon)
Singapore Sling
Polynesian Suite (narrated by Robert Sorrells) (Tenin/Barbarian/Mistress/Anchorage/Corpse/Sleeping Gypsy/Room with Skies)
Japanese Suite (narrated by Robert Sorrells)

The John McFarland Sextet, Provocatif (United Artists UAS 5053, 1959)