Exotica is a type of music popular between about 1950 and 1965 that depicts how musicians thought the music of the Islands of the South Pacific sounded. It combines impressions of music from the South Pacific, Southeast Asia, Hawaii, the Middle East, South America, the Caribbean, and even Africa—and is very seldom related to the real music from those areas. Exotica heavily relies on obscure percussion instruments. Today’s edition of Brass, Reeds, and Percussion opens with a 1960 recording of the “Girlfriend of the Whirling Dervish,” as interpreted Martin Denny, one of the leading performers of exotica.
- Girlfriend of the Whirling Dervish (1960 recording)
Composer: Al Dubin (1891-1945), Johnny Mercer (1909-1976) & Harry Warren (1893-1981)
Performer: Martin Denny & His Orchestra
Album: Mondo Exotica - Jungle Train
Composer: Les Baxter (1922-1996)
Performer: Si Zentner & His Orchestra
Album: Exotic Sounds of Martin Denny - Partita, Op. 45, No. 3: Allegro
Composer: Franz Vincenz Krommer (1759-1831)
Performer: Wind Ensemble of Academy of St. Martin in the Fields
Album: Krommer: Three Partitas and Six marches - Partita, Op. 45, No. 3: Adagio
Composer: Franz Vincenz Krommer (1759-1831)
Performer: Wind Ensemble of Academy of St. Martin in the Fields
Album: Krommer: Three Partitas and Six marches - Partita, Op. 45, No. 3: Menuetto
Composer: Franz Vincenz Krommer (1759-1831)
Performer: Wind Ensemble of Academy of St. Martin in the Fields
Album: Krommer: Three Partitas and Six marches - Partita, Op. 45, No. 3: Rondo
Composer: Franz Vincenz Krommer (1759-1831)
Performer: Wind Ensemble of Academy of St. Martin in the Fields
Album: Krommer: Three Partitas and Six marches - Mein Lebenslauf Ist Lieb und Lust
Composer: Josef Strauss (1827-1870)
Performer: German Air Force Band 4, Berlin
Album: Fliegerrevue - Electric Shock March (Scossa Elettrica)
Composer: Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924)
Performer: Orchestra di Fiati della Valtelina
Album: Salute from Italy
Composed for piano to honor Allesandro Volta, the inventor of the battery. Arranged for wind band. - March Electric
Composer: Giuseppe Creatore (1871-1952)
Performer: Orchestra di Fiati della Valtelina
Album: Salute from Italy
- Duck’s Yas Yas Yas (1932 recording)
Composer: James "Stump" Johnson (1902-1969)
Performer: Eddie Johnson’s Crackerjacks
Album: Hot Town - March Slav
Composer: Pytor Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
Performer: Prague Castle Guard Band
Album: Marhces by Classics - Ole Miss
Composer: W. C. Handy (1873-1958), arranged by Carl Wolfe
Performer: Handy's Beale Street Reenactment Band
Album: W. C. Handy's Beale Street
When this tune was written in 1916, the Ole Miss was the fastest train between Memphis and New Orleans.
