‘Exotica’ music man Denny dead
HONOLULU, Hawaii (AP) — Martin Denny, who recorded 38 albums that defined a genre of tropical mood music, dubbed “Exotica,” which reflected tiki lounge culture, died Wednesday (March 2, 2005), his daughter said. He was 93.
Denny created a sound that he described as a fusion of Asian, South Pacific, American jazz, Latin American and classical. His relaxing compositions were frequently punctuated by wildlife nature sounds.
Denny’s original “Exotica” album was recorded in 1956. Several albums by Denny played off the Exotica theme, such as “Exotic Sounds from the Silver Screen,” “Exotic Sounds Visit Broadway,” “Exotic Percussion” and “Exotica Classica.”
His other albums include “Forbidden Island,” “Primitiva,” “Hypnotique,” “Afro-Desia,” “The Enchanted Sea,” “Romantica” and “Hawaii Goes A-Go-Go!”
Born in 1911 in New York City, Denny studied piano as a child, and as a young man toured South America with a six-piece band, picking up the Latin elements that would later influence his Exotica sound.
During the 1950s and ’60s, Denny was a fixture in Waikiki.
His music was rediscovered by a new generation of fans in the 1990s, when most of his early catalog was reissued on CD.
