I moved into my apartment about a month ago and am still discovering lost possessions and arranging my living space. Today I added to my listening nook. I have a small leather couch, sewing table, rusty vintage lamp and a new but inexpensive record player and speaker set up. The record player is a Audio-Technica AT-LP60X. It is on the low end of nice quality belt driven turntables and the speakers are not much more than computer speakers but have great THX sound. They are a 3-piece set from Logitech including a nice floor level sub woofer. I'd love to have a high quality vintage turntable, an amp with exposed glass tubes and surround sound, but for a total of $200 delivered from Amazon this is more than adequate.

My uncle has an old and dingy vinyl collection that I borrow from and pilfer once in a while. Found this one the other day and brought it over for a listen.  My Dad lives next door and he had just brewed a pot of coffee, so I asked him to come on up and listen to it with me since I just added the couch and record stand. I gave him the prime listening seat and started the album.

What a wild ride. Reminded me of the Jungle Cruise and Tiki Room at Disneyland.

This is a live recording of Arthur Lyman and his band at the Crescendo on the Sunset Strip in Hollywood in 1963. His band-mates include John Kramer, Harold Chang, and Alan Sores. I would classify this album as exotic, easy listening, and smooth jazz. The songs contain sounds from China, Pakistan, Hawaii, Tahiti and Latin America. A truly globe-trotting journey. It's percussive choices are eccentric and diverse. Especially the use of the uli'uli, ipu, and pu from Hawaiian culture and what sounds like a guiro for the Crickets of Karachi. To accentuate the whimsy, Lyman whoops, whistles and wails to mimic tropical bird and monkey noises on a few songs. Lyman is known for adding his tropical fauna calls during his live sets and loved it when the audience called back with their own jungle improvisations. I can only guess that some of the quieter calls on this album may have come from the audience at The Crescendo that night. Nostalgic for me, was recognizing some pieces of familiar Polynesian songs on Similau and Pu Pu Hino Hino (properly called Pu Pu Hinu Hinu, I believe. Which is a song written by the legendary Nona Beamer).

I enjoyed discovering this album. It is not an everyday listen, but a great one to keep in the back pocket for just the right occasion. 

Disclaimer: I also reviewed this album on my Instagram account @osgoodendsgood.