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This daddy-o of lounge music was
By John Berger
hip to frog sounds long before beer
commercials discovered them
Special to the Star-BulletinIT all started with a frog, so a big green frog occupies a place of honor on the concert grand piano in Martin Denny's residence in East Oahu. The figure commemorates the role some noisy amphibians played in helping Denny create "Exotica" music almost a half-century ago. It was one of the most fortuitous accidents in modern pop music.
"Exotica" -- a blend of smooth musical arrangements and jungle noises -- brought a fresh sound to the international pop charts. The sound is as popular now as it's ever been and has made the gracious 89-year-old Denny an international pop music icon.
In 1956, Denny was playing the Shell Bar at what was then Kaiser's Hawaiian Village in Waikiki when a persistent croaking of frogs added an impromptu chorus to his arrangements. People started asking for the song "with the frogs" and Denny began experimenting with sound effects. Before long, he realized he was creating a popular new sound in American pop music.
ON STAGE
What: Martin Denny at the 7th Annual Hawaii International Jazz Festival
"The response of the audience (to the animal and bird noises) was the tip-off and I realized that this was possibly the direction I should go into," Denny said, after being honored at a Rotary Club luncheon on Tuesday.
"I was playing straightforward pop and jazz. It never occurred to me that I would be diverted into this particular style, but once it happened I seized the opportunity to use the sounds of animals and birds and I went for it."
Denny became one of the very few Hawaii residents to be signed by a national record label and make Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart in the rock era. His recording of Lex Baxter's "Quiet Village" hit No. 4 on the Hot 100 in 1959, launched the "Exotic Sounds of Martin Denny" around the world, and was followed by a series of successful albums.
Some 40 years later, Denny's music is more popular than ever. Not only is he revered by fans of modern "lounge music" and celebrated on numerous fanzine Web sites, but his original recordings with Augie Colon (percussion), Harvey Ragsdale (bass) and Julius Wechter (vibes) are getting play around the world.
"I've probably attained more popularity in this part of my life than I ever have had in the past, and all I can say is that I'm very fortunate that this is happening to me. I got a royalty statement (recently) for six months and it was over an inch thick.
"It just amazes me that (my music) is being played in such diverse places as Poland, Israel and South Africa -- not to mention Norway, Great Britain, Germany, Italy and France."
Denny's music was also featured prominently in a recent Bruce Willis and Nick Nolte movie, "Breakfast of Champions," and was heard recently at the Super Bowl.
Although a Denny tour would be sure to draw crowds, Denny says that at 89, "Much as I'd like to, I don't think physically I'm up to it."
He can still jam on piano, however, and that makes tomorrow night a date to circle. Wechter and Ragsdale have passed away, but Colon will there on percussion and bird calls when Denny appears as the guest of honor during "Hawaiian Jazz Night" at the 7th Annual Hawaii International Jazz Festival. Moe Keale, Don Tiki, BB Shawn Ishimoto, Pure Heart, Sam Ahia and the Betty Loo Taylor Trio also will perform. The festival opens tonight and continues through Sunday at the Hawaii Theatre.
Denny and Colon will be backed by Don Tiki, a band put together by Kit Ebersbach and Lloyd Kandell as Hawaii's contribution to the contemporary "lounge music" revival of Denny's original "Exotica" sound.
Another prominent disciple of "Exotica" here is composer-musician-producer Dennis Graue, who acknowledges Denny as the inspiration for the bird calls he included in "Lihue," the song that launched Nohelani Cypriano as a solo artist in 1977.And, more recently, percussionist Lopaka Colon (Augie's son) introduced the traditions of bird calls and acoustic percussion to another generation as a member of Pure Heart.
The irony of the whole thing is that Denny studied classical music before he started playing pop music professionally in 1931, and had been a professional musician playing pop and jazz for almost 25 years before his encounter with the frogs.
From the beginning, he said, he arranged his "Exotica" compositions to be more than novelty sound effects numbers. "I think a very important part of my overall sound was being able to organize and put it all together.
"I'd use vibes where another arranger might have used ukulele or guitar. For quite a while we didn't have a drummer but we kept adding percussion instruments and all doubled on percussion."
Denny's arrangements showed the creative possibilities in using Asian, African, Australian and Polynesian instruments in the mainstream American pop and jazz idioms. Imagination was the key and he used everything from dime-store toys to huge antique drums that he borrowed from friendly collectors and curators.
Almost 50 years after he came to Hawaii to play an engagement at Don the Beachcomber's in the International Market Place, Denny has received numerous awards for his music, including a lifetime achievement award from the Hawai'i Academy of Recording Arts. He says the thing he's proudest of is more intangible.
"I've made Hawaii my home and I've been accepted by a lot of the Hawaiian people even though I'm not Hawaiian. My music is part of it and I'm very proud of that."
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