Post #400143 by DJ Terence Gunn on Sat, Aug 9, 2008 3:40 PM

Interesting someone should bring up the BVSC. This is terrific music, soulful and passionate (like you said); new recordings of old songs of an old genre of folk music of Cuba -- one that preceeds the Cuban dance music most of us know. But it is not Tiki music. In fact, there really is no such thing as 'Tiki Music', unless one looks to some of the music (not all) of Les Baxter and Martin Denny as being representative. And it is far wiser and more accurate to refer to said 'Tiki Music' as Exotica, as Tiki implies Polynesia only and not the rest of the exotic locales of the world -- locales of which both Les Baxter and Martin Denny explored in their own unique musical fashion. Then, of course, there's the short-lived spin-off groups and bandwagon-jumper albums that followed Baxter and Denny's sound(s), but I won't go there.

But neither is the BVSC's music Exotica. Exotica music is a unique musical expression of far away, exotic places, conjured up and composed largely by those and for those who didn't/don't live in such locales (nor have ever been to such). On the other hand, some -- i.e., Martin Denny and Arthur Lyman -- actually did live in such exotic places, albeit in urban surroundings. Did they consider their place of residence exotic? Probably not so much as they thought of neighbouring islands and the mysterious islands of long ago that they could not access as exotic locales. But the music they conjured up sounded like no other musical form, it wasn't cultural, traditional. Whereas the music of the BVSC IS cultural, traditional -- hence, authentic.

Exotica music is rather about imagination and fantasy; and its sound evolved into a short-lived musical genre at a time when leisurely travel to far away places became more accessible to the middle and lower classes, particularly in North America. And whilst one could classify traditional Hawaiian music or any of the forms of progressive Hawaiian music that still incorporate traditional Hawaiian form, rhythm, and instrumentation as 'Tiki Music', traditional Hawaiian music is not Exotica; not Exotica because of its authenticity and tradition. Exotic, not Exotica.

A further paradigm to illustrate my point:
Augie Colon brought Latin (Cuban) rhythms to the Martin Denny group, transforming a George Shearing-esque jazz sound into more of a Cal Tjader-styled sound. At the time and slightly before, this Latin fusion into jazz, and vice versa, was one that was happening all over the place, especially in New York city. One could compare the styles of Tito Puente and Perez Prado -- they both were Cuban bandleaders inside and out and both played firery Cuban dance music often mixed with jazz, but, with the exception of some of his earlier recordings, Perez Prado's music wasn't traditionally Cuban along the same lines as Tito Puente's music. Prado took his firery brand of Cuban music further, adding jazz and rock rhythms, electric organ, electric guitar, etc., -- all making his music less traditionally Cuban. Still, it does SCREAM of Cuba in its performance, despite the infusion of musical styles from the U.S. Perez Prado could possibly be the first Cuban to make Progressive Cuban music.

It was/is often claimed that Perez Prado was trying to appeal to the white-bred audiences of North America; and with the political relationship of Cuba and the U.S.A. in the 1950s and '60s, it makes a lot of sense. And it is perhaps because of this implementation and fusion of Western instrumentation and beats (and general imaginative musical fun and exploration) that Perez Prado fits so well into the colloquial genre 'Lounge Music', whereas Tito Puente fits in less so: authentic versus inauthentic, traditional versus non-traditional. That's not to say that certain artists and genres within the 'Lounge Music' category aren't authentic (the jazz ones in particular, of which Lounge music is based heavily), but when it comes to World music, then it becomes a different story. Why? Because such World music that is unauthentic, untraditional should evoke a romanticised ideal of an exotic locale or style of music, not be representative of it. And perhaps this is where the kitsch factor comes in. It is for this same principle that the Buena Vista Social Club doesn't fit into the 'Lounge Music' category, either: it's too folk, too authentic, too traditional, too serious. Though it's good music, it isn't fun and whimsical, experimental music. It's traditional folk music reflective of its society and social way of life -- sort of a Cuban Blues.

As far as Rockabilly and Surf music, though I enjoy both, I certainly do not include these forms of music as 'Tiki Music' or 'Lounge' music (of which the former is merely a component of the latter). Some people associate these two genres with 'Tiki' and Lounge music because of their proximity in decades (the 1950s & '60s) and because the music is still round and being played today -- a link to the past. But cultural fashion/time period is the only link between Rockabilly and Exotica and Lounge music. Exotica and Lounge music is non-rock music; adult music of the easy listening variety -- largely jazz-based -- of the 1950s and '60s, and Rockabilly couldn't be further from it. Surf music ties in perhaps more realistically with the two ('Tiki' and Lounge) as it deals with elemental similarities of Hawaii, is clean-sounding and instrumental, and as many surf music groups covered easy listening songs of the day, as well as traditional/contemporary Hawaiian songs.

A tiki is a statue, a totem. It is not a culture, not a musical style, not a decorative style. There is more to totems in the world than tiki; more to the tropics, bamboo, thatch, and grass huts than Hawaii.

So embrace the Buena Vista Social Club for what it is: Cuban.

[ Edited by: DJ Terence Gunn 2008-08-10 14:10 ]