Sweet tribute to Kui Lee plus rehash of earlier works

Hawaii-born Arthur Lyman joined with Martin Denny to invent “exotica” on the latter’s 1957 debut album. Exotica combined the melodic sounds of the islands with unusual percussion (notably the scratching sound of the guiro), pop changes, and human-voiced bird calls to create a soundtrack to the late ‘50s fascination with all things tiki. As a vibraphonist, Lyman’s jazz background added an element of cool to Denny’s classical training. Splitting after their debut release, Lyman created a new quartet and recorded dozens of exotica-inflected albums for the Hi-Fi, Life and Crescendo labels. Collectors’ Choice latest series of reissues gathers eighteen of Lyman’s releases from Hi-Fi and Life, fits them two per CD, includes full-panel reproductions of both album covers, adds a full-panel back cover and new liner notes from Scram’s Kim Cooper and David Smay.Ilikai, Lyman’s only album of new productions in 1967, features a generous helping of island-bred tunes alongside the requisite film and pop selections. Unlike earlier albums, all recorded in the Kaiser aluminum dome on Waikiki, these sessions were taped in the ballroom of the Ilikai hotel, where Lyman had moved his live show. Lyman’s quartet also saw some changes throughout ‘65 and ‘66, settling in with Clem Low on piano (replacing Alan Soares) and Archie Grant on bass (replacing John Kramer) for a run through the mid-70s. Even still, with the group’s style so firmly established by this point, the sound of the quartet wasn’t greatly altered by the changes.The album provides a two-song tribute to popular Hawaiian songwriter Kui Lee (who’d passed away the previous December), opening with “Ain’t No Big Thing” (sounding a bit like a ‘60s discotheque version of the Sesame Street theme) and also featuring the gentle “Lahaina Luna.” Other island tunes, such as “Ilikai,” “Upon a Lonely Beach” and Don Ho’s signature “Tiny Bubbles” mostly forgo exotica, but there are gentle there are gentle touches of world percussion and quiet bird calls accompanying Lani Kai’s “Shells.” From the silver screen, Lyman adapted the pop hit “Born Free” and “Lara’s Theme.” The former, led by Archie Grant’s flute, is quiet and heartbroken, while the latter opens with dramatic piano flourishes before settling in as a light ‘n’ jazzy bossa nova. From the pop charts, Lyman plucked “La Bomba,” the Mexican folk tune turned Richie Valens rock ‘n’ roll hit turned Trini Lopez Latinized pop; with an incessant cowbell guiding the way, Lyman’s shy vibraphone gives way to a rock ‘n’ roll middle. Also drawn from the popular canon is a romantic take on “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” and a sweetly swinging arrangement of Nat Adderly and Oscar Brown Jr.’s “The Work Song.” The latter showcases Lyman’s talent as a jazz player.Lyman’s second release for 1967, At the Port of Los Angeles, was neither recorded at the man-made port, nor is it an album of newly recorded sides. Instead, it cherry-picks eleven shipping-, port- and sea-related tunes from Lyman’s previous decade of releases. Several are taken from other titles in this series of reissues (Bahia yields “Busy Port” and “Quiet Village”; Love For Sale yields “Theme from Mutiny on the Bounty”; Lyman ‘66 yields “Ports of Paradise”; The Shadow of Your Smile yields “Theme from the Sandpiper”; and On Broadway yields “Medley from South Pacific”). Drawn from other Lyman releases are “Red Sails in the Sunset” and “Sea Breeze” from Hawaiian Sunset, Vol. II, “Ebb Tide” from Taboo 2 and “Harbor Lights” from Hawaiian Sunset. It’s a very listenable sampling of Lyman’s works, though not necessarily representative of the breadth of material and sounds found throughout his catalog. Most of the arrangements here are quiet and dreamy, a few sport a mid-tempo bossa nova beat, and only a couple feature the traditional exotica touches of bird calls and guiro (most notably, Lyman’s take on the exotica national anthem, “Quiet Village”).“Ilikai” has a few fine moments (though the tape splice at 0:38 and click at 0:42 of “Sea Breeze” are disappointing), particularly the group’s rendition of “Born Free,” and the pair of songs from Kui Lee. “At the Port of Los Angeles” selects some fine pieces from Lyman’s earlier albums, but is thus unconnected to 1967. [©2008 redtunictroll at hotmail dot com]