Martin Denny RIP

Death sucks for Us living.

This is a big blow to the tiki scene.

Mr. Denny,

Smoke a big fat cigar with my Dad and my Grandfather!

Aloha!

I've cried tonight. I agree this is such a huge loss. I'm glad he was in his home and not some sterile environment surrounded by strangers but with his family, memories and somewhere he felt safe. Mahalo Mr. Denny for bringing something special to my life.

I am too very sad to hear the News!! All I can say is that Mr. Denny was a Amazing man. He really was a musically creative genious and inventor that really knew how to set the mood with his music. Mahalo Martin Denny!!!

Martin Dennys sounds have made many nights here more magic than memorable. There is a very deep sadness now. Time for a Quiet cocktail....Thank you Mr. Denny, Tim

He lives forever in our thoughts and brings smiles to our ears.

Maybe we could all play Quiet Village at the same time this weekend, and raise a mai tai in his honor.

A world wide Quiet Village-a-thon.

I once a dated a Hawaiian girl who was studying in London. We got to talking about Hawaii and the things it meant to me, and I mentioned Martin Denny's music.... it turned out that her mother was a friend of Martin Denny's wife, though sadly she had to report that he'd been suffering from cancer. It's a small world...

CHRIS.

From Urban Panda:

"The High Preist of Exotica" and my mentor, my pal and all around great and fascinating guy, Martin Denny has passed away at 93 at his home in Hawaii Kai ...

He had an amazing career and life, a loving wife June and a wonderful daughter Christina with whom he was living at the time of his death

He was a really great guy ...

Martin Denny was born on April 10, 1911 in New York, raised in Los Angeles, California. He studies classical piano and at a young age tours South America for four and a half years with the Don Dean Orchestra. This tour begins Denny's fascination with Latin rhythms.

After serving in World War II, Denny returns to Los Angeles where he studied piano and composition under Dr. Wesley La Violette and orchestration under Arthur Lange at the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music. He also studies at the University of Southern California

In January of 1954, Don the Beachcomber's (which later became Duke Kahanamoku's) brings Denny to Honolulu, Hawaii. He performs here for ten years, forming his own combo in 1955 and signing to Liberty Records. The original combo consists of Augie Colon on percussion and birdcalls, Arthur Lyman on vibes, John Kramer on string bass, and Denny on piano. Lyman soon leaves to form his own group and future Herb Alpert sideman and Baja Marimba founder Julius Wechter replaces him. Harvey Ragsdale later replaces John Kramer.

Denny describes the music his combo plays as "window dressing, a background". It is the perfect compliment to the exotic setting of Hawaii. "A lot of what I'm doing", he states in Incredibly Strange Music Volume 1 "is just window dressing familiar tunes. I can take a tune like "Flamingo" and give it a tropical feel, in my style In my arrangement of a Japanese farewell song, "Sayonara", I include a Japanese three stringed instrument, the shamisen. We distinguished each song by a different ethnic instrument, usually on top of a semi-jazz or Latin beat Even though it remained familiar, each song would take on a strange, exotic character." Denny built a collection of strange and exotic instruments from several airline friends. They would bring Denny back these instruments and he would build arrangements around them. His music is a combination of ethnic styles: South Pacific, the Orient and Latin rhythms. It is the music a lot of people believed came from the islands. A musical fantasy created by Denny.

During an engagement at the Shell Bar, Denny discovers what would become his trademark and the birth of "Exotica". The bar had a very exotic setting: a little pool of water right outside the bandstand, rocks and palm trees growing around, very quiet and relaxed. As the group played on night, Denny became aware of bullfrogs croaking. The croaking blended with the music and when the band stopped, so did the frogs. Denny thought this to be a coincidence, but when he tried the tune again later, the same thing happened. This time, his bandmates began during all sorts of tropical bird calls as a gag. The band thought it quite amusing, but as nothing more than a joke. The next day, though, someone approached Denny and asked if he would do the arrangement with the birds and frogs. While at first he thought it was ridiculous, the more Denny thought about it, the more it made sense. At rehearsal, he had the band do "Quiet Village" with each doing a birdcall spaced apart.. Denny did the frog part on a grooved cylinder and the whole thing became incorporated into the arrangement. It caught on like wildfire and everyone wanted to hear "Quiet Village".

The seminal "Exotica" album was recorded in the Webley Edwards Studio (not, as often reported, the Aluminum Dome at Henry I. Kaiser's Hawaiian Village Complex) in Waikiki in Novenmber of 1956. In 1958, Dick Clark hosts Denny on American Bandstand. "Quiet Village" reaches ..2 on Billboard's charts in 1959 with the "Exotica" album reaching ..1. He rides the charts of Cashbox and Variety also. Denny has as many as three or four albums on the charts simultaneously during his career. He also has national hits with "A Taste of Honey","The Enchanted Sea", and "Ebb Tide"."Part of the reason my records caught on was that stereo had just appeared on the market, with its amazing separation into right and left channels. People were interested in sound per se - and that included my so-called exotic sound." (Incredibly Strange Music Volume 1) This interest in stereo shows itself most in "Tse Tse Fly". Denny wanted the feeling of irritation with being trapped in a room with a fly. The whole idea focused on the stereo effect of a fly crossing a room from channel to channel. Augie Colon made a high pitched sound with his lips.. When it was recorded, it was done by transference from one side to another which gave the sound the stereo effect.

In his career as Exotica's founding father, Denny produces 38 albums and sells over 4 million copies.

[ Edited by: Futura Girl on 2005-03-04 03:36 ]

dang...

This is a thread i never wanted to see, i really hoped it was some bad taste post and four pages of flame follow ups.

Martin Denny's death will spark much sadness for the fans of Exotica. I was fortunate to spent some time with him over the last 5 or 6 years. Meeting the man behind the music was truly the highlight of my Exotica experience.

He was so appreciative of his return to fame over the last 10 years. He felt that this validated the importance of his music. And I could see nothing more fitting for a man in his twilight years that such validation of his life's work.

The last year or so was really hard on him. His mobility was severely limited and health issues plagued him on a daily basis. He did find much comfort through his daughter who had moved back to Hawaii after his wife died a few years ago. Christina Denny helped him with his daily living activities and handled most of his correspondence. She organized Christmas cards that had pictures and a review of what her father had done that year.

Some of my fondest memories are of Marty playing his grand piano for me in his condo overlooking Coco Head, which is about 8 miles from downtown Honolulu. He was trained as a classical pianist and so loved the music of Gershwin. In fact, most of the music he played for me was Gershwin.

He loved the music from Porgy and Bess. This was Gershwin's opera about a poor, crippled black man living in the Charleston, South Carolina in the 1930s who befriends and falls in love with a prostitute. The community thought Porgy misdirected but he saw his affection towards this woman as the right and proper thing to do.

Regardless of his plights, Porgy always saw the good in people and life, even if through tremendously naive eyes. Marty loved the purity of the story's main character and the beautiful music that Gershwin composed to express the emotions of the characters. He thought the portrayal of such innocence, a quality buried deep down in each of us, through the songs and lyrics was such an effective, emotional vehicle.

Having grown up in Charleston, I could not help but knowing the story and lyrics to many of the songs from Porgy and Bess. There are a few pieces of music that can bring me to tears. One of those being the duet between Porgy and Bess as they express their love for each other.

My most lasting memory of Marty will be the times he played and I sang those lyrics from that number. I watched with such admiration, a man that was so passionate and understanding of what music was truely about and how it connected with peoples emotions and thus, connected people in general.

I was moved to tears then, just as I am now, as I reflect on the joy that was provided by a humble man who sought to bring both song and spirit to those who knew how to listen.

Aloha Marty. We will meet again each time I listen to your music and then, hopefully, beyond that.

Robert C. Brooks
(Tiki Bob)

:(

my one consolation is knowing that he was aware of the vibrant fan base for his music.

I had never met Him but Loved his Music, my Daughter would dance and do her hula ,She,d say Daddy play the Tiki .RIP

I will miss Martin Denny! That village is just a little bit quiter tonight.

Indeed sad news...I wish my band had known at least one Martin Denny song so we could dedicte it to him tonight, but alas, no.
Just last week we watched his footage at Tiki Taix (thanks Otto), and I was thinking how wonderful it is to still have him around, even if not performing.
He will be missed.
Ran

In the liner notes of "Exotica the best of Martin Denny" Denny laughingly remembers. 'A lot of people told me, when they came to the islands, that when they heard that music they had some wonderful matinees . . . l'd get a vicarious kick out of saying I might have been indirectly responsible for a whole new generation."

So many of you born in the Fifties and Sixties may not even exist if it weren't for him

This is such a great loss for our tiki family. I want to express my sincere sympathy
to Mr. Denny's family and his many, many friends and fans.

Very sad - but I'm glad he got to know how many fans he had before he passed.....

Strange as it may seem, when I read the news here at TC, I smiled. I immediately realized that Martin Denny's music and gentle persona came to mind rather than the fact that he had passed on. I experienced the same reaction upon learning of Dean Martin's death ten years ago. The legacy is that I am happy when I think of him and although I like many artists, my reaction has only been for those two gentlemen.

[ Edited by: His Majesty O'Keefe on 2005-03-04 12:13 ]

On 2005-03-04 03:32, Futura Girl wrote:
From Urban Panda:

"The High Preist of Exotica" and my mentor, my pal and all around great and fascinating guy, Martin Denny has passed away at 93 at his home in Hawaii Kai ...

panda: where'd Mr. Denny live in Hawaii Kai?

Damnit, damnit, damnit..........
I just went to a funeral for a friend on Friday. I went home in the worst mood thinking something else was gonna happen, because it seems death always comes in threes. Mr. Denny will be #2 this time around.
Looks like a rum and torches kinda night.

Very sad news. I had to honor him some way, so I came up with this....

Nice collage, Matt.

I just got back from Trader Vic's, where there was no recognition of the great one's passing, whatsoever. AJ is on vacation. There wasn't a single aloha shirt in the place (not even me, unfortunately I went there from a court appearance), but that didn't stop me from raising a toast to the GREAT ONE.

I am just glad that so many of us who admire and remember his work have congregated in one place. I suggest a moment of silence followed by a raucus toast for the king of Exotica at Oasis, Exotica, and Hukilau this year.

I just came across this news...
I am very saddened by the passing of the master of Exotica. Thank you Mr. Denny for many wonderful memories backed by the music you created. You will be sorely missed.
I am sad too because I am going to Hawaii for the first time in December and was hoping to be introduced to him by a friend. Now to pull out some Denny vinyl to bring me a smile.
RIP

Oh hells bells

my worthless tenth of a cent

I JUST saw the man on Sven's documentary, playing Quiet Village on piano.. so simple, so elegant. To hear that he liked Gershwin too, well, I'dve flown out in a heartbeat to hear that!

I had Quiet Village going through my head all day that day... and strangely, mostly it was the Moog version.

This is indeed extrelmy sad nwews inderd.

I've heard it said once "only the good die young"

A GRAND SALUTE TO MARTIN DENNY AND LES BAXTER! THE EXOTICA GODS...!!!

LET THE MUSIC CONTINUE....
ADIOS

Friends -

There will be a one-time special Martin Denny retrospective broadcast on the Live365.com station tommorow, Saturday March 5th. The show will start at 9:00pm Eastern Time and run for 3 hours. I've tried to feature a variety of his works from my collection as best I could.

Three hours certainly is not enough time to cover his contribution to our world -- but it's the least I could do. I'll be raising the Mai Tai skyward.

Aloha,

Vic

Folks, cheer up!, this guy lived into his 90's and touched us all with great, fun music. He passed knowing of the great popularity of his music with a new generation, to a music maker, that is the best feeling around. Take a bow to him and toast with a smile!.

R.I.P. Thanks for all the great music, you'll be appreciated forever!

p.s. great post futuragirl

Wow, I haven't read the posts in a few days so this hit me like a ton of bricks. However I agree with Two wheelin tiki. He lived a long happy life and left us all with his greatest gift, his music. Put a record on, raise a :drink: and say a toast! R.I.P Mr. Denny

edited cuz i kant spell :P

http://www.fraternalorderofmoai.org/huimalu

[ Edited by: Dimethios on 2005-03-05 07:37 ]

I just found out about this via my husband who spends time on some "punk rock" boards - so hope it is helpful for you to know that the news of Martin's passing is affecting not just us... he's apparently significant to others, not just us fans of exotica... What can I say any better than what has already been said? And I am a woman of very few poetic words... so I just like to add my heartfelt condolenses. This is very very sad news. Tiki Bob brought back an autographed picture of Martin Denny for me, framed it and I will always treasure it.

James wrote:

I suggest a moment of silence followed by a raucus toast for the king of Exotica at Oasis, Exotica, and Hukilau this year.

I would certainly like to be a part of that toast. I would also like to say, let Mr. Denny be an inspiration to all of us here on TC and strive to do our best at whatever talent each one of us have been blessed with.

never before and never ever again...thank you Mr Martin Denny

You all can listen to Martin Denny online at http://www.weirdsville.com/

Rest in peace, brudda.

You all can listen to Martin Denny online at http://www.weirdsville.com/

Rest in peace, brudda.

I'm 24 and just heard of him. I just started picking up his music. Its just too bad that their is one less person like him to meet.

The January/February issue of Hawaii Magazine in the Hawaii Mele section spotlighted the career of Martin Denny and titled it "Still the One". The website is http://www.hawaiimagazine.com

Whenever the island birds call
and the surf washes the sand;
Whenever the tradewinds rattle
the bamboo chimes,
I'll remember you Martin.

tikiboy

Here's the homage provided by NPR this weekend:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4523964

Mr. Denny's music provided me my first glimpse into the world of tiki about 12 years ago. I raise a Mai Tai in his honour.

There's a nice memorial story on him in todays Star Bulletin.

http://starbulletin.com/2005/03/13/news/index3.html

Sorry, if this was already posted; I didn't see it anywhere. Here's link to Mr. Denny's obit piece on NPR:

http://www.npr.org/dmg/dmg.php?prgCode=WESAT&showDate=05-mar-2005&segNum=7&NPRMediaPref=WM