The Best of Martin Denny : Exotica

Martin Denny | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 27, 1990)
• Original Release Date: November 27, 1990
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Rhino
• ASIN: B0000032NF
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #58,122 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #33 in Music > Pop > Easy Listening > Retro Space Age

Track Listings

1. Quiet Village

2. Stone God [*]

3. Jungle Flower [*]

4. Love Dance

5. The Queen Chant (Li Liu E)

6. Escales

7. When First I Love [*]

8. Exotica

9. March of the Siamese Children [*]

10. Bangkok Cockfight

11. Tsetse Fly

12. Baia

13. Simba [*]

14. Aku Aku [*]

15. Martinique

16. Tune from Rangoon

17. Jungle River Boat

18. Caravan [*]

19. Congo Train [*]

20. The Enchanted Sea

Editorial Reviews

this cd has exotica, quiet village, stone god, jungle flower, love dance, and many more

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good view of Denny's early LPs, though a bit narrow in focus, March 16, 2000

By 

hyperbolium (Earth, USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Best of Martin Denny : Exotica (Audio CD)

Another good compilation from Rhino, nicely remastered and packaged. This is both a handy CD compilation for the Denny aficionado as well as a good intro for those who've never heard any of Denny's work before. The track overlap with EMI-Japan's best-of release is minimal, making the two very complementary.

The insert booklet, while a bit less dense in discographical detail than the EMI-Japan best-of, does provide an English language overview of Denny's music, and snippets of interview with Denny himself. The track listings are nicely annotated with album names, master numbers and dates (either release of recording, it's unclear).

Although this disc covers less of Denny's career (only extending to the 1959 issue "The Enchanted Sea"), the track selection is excellent. Many of my favorite tracks are here, including "Quiet Village" "Bangkok Cockfight" "Tse Tse Fly" "Simba" "Caravan" (with an incredible Stereo Action drum break), "Congo Train" and "The Enchanted Sea." The tracks flow well, and the whole sequence of the disc is very pleasing.

All of the trademark Denny sounds are here in their original form. Denny's piano, the world-beat drums (ranging from South America to Africa), gongs, temple bells, pieces of gamelans, and the ever-present birdcalls. This is in addition to the more standard jazz lineup of bass, drums and vibraphone.

Rhino's focus seems to be in capturing the essential exotica sound of Denny's combo, and in that they've succeeded. Where this disc falls short is in giving any sense of where Denny and his crew took this sound, and how his career developed. For that, you'll either need to pick up the EMI-Japan best-of, or the original releases.

12 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THIS CD IS A MUST FOR AT HOME ENTERTAINMENT., February 15, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Best of Martin Denny : Exotica (Audio CD)

EXOTICA IS THE PERFECT COMPLIMENT,LIKE FINE WINE, TO ANY GATHERING OF FRIENDS, FOOD, AND FUN. THIS COLLECTION FROM THE PAST WILL MAKE YOU WANT TO MIX A DRY MARTINI,PUT ON A POODLE SKIRT OR BANLON, AND TANGO THE NITE AWAY.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I Finally Found The Genre!, March 23, 2001

By 

Lie^n "bamboochik" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Best of Martin Denny : Exotica (Audio CD)

When I was a young girl, my dad would play these albums on Saturday night and I can still remember how much I loved them. Unfortunately, I didn't know how to find them since they had a class all their own and it really had no name. (even ... doesn't have an 'exotica' genre.) Now that I have found out all these great exotica performers like Martin Denny you can believe me when I say I will end up buying every one I can find. They were New Age Ambient before there was such a thing! (my "other" favorite sounds today)