Les Baxter - The Ritual of the Savage

Composer: Les Baxter

Title: Ritual of the Savage

Year: 1951

While Ritual of the Savage has the distinction of arguably being the first concept album, its most essential contribution is that it marks the birth of Exotica, a genre that would come into full bloom over the next decade, entering the mainstream in 1957 with Martin Denny's fittingly-titled album Exotica.  While Denny dropped the strings in favor of vibraphones and added the distinctive element of birdcalls, Ritual is a decidedly orchestral work and as such has a slightly more removed, reflective feeling.  That is, it comes through as a musical recollection of a journey to a distant land rather than being the journey itself.  Though Denny's later sound along with that of Arthur Lyman would largely come to define Exotica, Ritual is essential listening for anyone interested in the genre and many of its distinctive compositions can be heard throughout the albums of the later arrangers.

Hosono/Suzuki/Yamashita - Pacific

Composers: Haruomi Hosono, Tatsuro Yamashita, Shigeru Suzuki

Title: Pacific

Year: 1978

Part exotica, part electronic, part fusion, part funk, Pacific brings together a range of genres but is a sonically coherent sail through the warm seas.  A collaboration between Hosono, Suzuki, and Yamashita (the former two of which had worked together on Happy End and Tin Pan Alley), the album is a beautiful moment of transition in Hosono's magnificent careeer, bridging the gap between the exotic sounds of Tin Pan Alley that proceeded it and the electronic ones of the great and influential Yellow Magic Orchestra that followed.  In the interesting history of collaborations within the Hosono circle, this album is something of a unique punctuation mark, not entirely foreign but still quite separate from the other work.

Though coherent despite having three different composers, the album is at its strongest and most beautiful on the exotic-leaning tracks, "Saigo no Rakuen" and "Slack Key Rhumba" (composed by Hosono) and "Nostalgia of Island" (composed by Yamashita), and the synth-heavy closer, "Cosmic Surfin'" (Hosono), which would later become a signature YMO tune.

The Versatile Henry Mancini

Composer: Henry Mancini

Title: The Versatile Henry Mancini and His Orchestra

Year: 1959

In both the exotica genre and in the Mancini catalog, The Versatile Henry Mancini stands by itself, an early masterpiece, the beauty of which does not wane even after hundreds of listens.  Despite the implication made by the "and His Orchestra" part of the title, this album features no strings, horns or woodwinds and instead employs a small, gentle ensemble of electric organ, accordion, electric bass, electric guitar, wordless vocals and occasional, scattered triangles, bells and faint tambourine.

Though it is decidedly in the realm of exotica, you'll hear no birdcalls or driving hand percussion as are invariably present in Martin Denny and Arthur Lyman's work.  Its emphasis on electric instruments and reeds (accordion and harmonica) sets it further apart, perhaps inviting wandering daydreams more so than imaginations of the tropical and the tribal.  To hear the warm and wet tones of electric organ, guitar and bass in absence of percussion emphasizes the dreamy potential of these instruments as they combine delicately to paint moonlit seaside scenes.

These are immaculate, tender treatments of Exotica standards alongside two original compositions, highlighting Mancini's incredible arranging ability, particularly his sense of instrumentation and timbre.  Though Mancini's soundtrack work that followed undoubtedly continued to exercise his keen use of orchestration and voice, this is the only major work in which he confined himself to such a small ensemble and one might reasonably wish he had revisited this realm from time to time.