Post #803697 by Bam Bam on Tue, May 24, 2022 1:25 PM

Just came across This Video of the Arthur Lyman Orchestra performing Taboo on local TV in Seattle. I had no idea they got all that percussive sound out of only four guys! Makes me want even more to invest in that quijada (jawbone) I've been meaning to buy for months now. You'll also want to check out Otome-san from later in the show.

For me, Arthur Lyman's sound IS the sound of what I wish all Exotica could be. As mentioned above: mysterious, yet virtuosic at times, tantalizingly wide and wild dynamic changes when called for, and of course, remembering that almost all of his classic albums were recorded live (at 3AM) in the reverberant space of the Kaiser Dome. All that "mixing" was done during the performance itself, back in an era when multi-tracking was still in experimental stages, and editing was manual and time-consuming. That takes skill and musicianship.