V.A. Primitive Paradise

The music genre known as Exotica reached worldwide success during the 1950s thanks to artists such as Yma Sumac, Martin Denny or Arthur Lyman, but its origin can be found almost 50 years earlier. The seed was planted by Hawaiian musicians who
performed, representing their country, at the first Universal Exhibitions that took place in the United States since 1901. Their paradisiacal melodies, percussion and tribal rhythms, the strange timbre of instruments such as the ukulele and the steel
guitar, and the scantily clad female dancers, sparked the interest of the American society. The eccentric vaudeville shows, especially their risqu numbers, incorporated sounds from Asia, the Middle East and Africa in order to create the right atmosphere for an exotic papier mach stage where sensual dancers and their exuberant moves tried to satisfy the audience's escapist needs. It was then that the traditional folklore of the islands began to merge with Western rhythms such as fox-trot and swing. The first recordings by Hawaiian artists were marketed widely in the 1910s on the 78 rpm
format, and as a result the steel guitar, the genre's characteristic instrument, became so popular that was integrated into other genres such as country, country blues,
Western swing and novelty music. Besides, Cuban and Puerto Rican music arrived to the United States thanks to pioneers such as Tro Matamoros, Don Azpiazu or Los Jardineros, who at the end of the 1920s performed and made recordings on US land, paving the way to enormously popular future stars such as Desi Arnaz and Xavier Cugat. On the other side of the pond, in the early 30s, rumba, conga and beguine were creating a frenzy in then-grey Europe thanks to the great reception achieved by orchestras from Cuba, Guadeloupe and Martinique at Parisian clubs. Later on, after the Second World War, more commercial rhythms such as cha cha cha and mambo would be easily assimilated by an audience already used to Latin sounds that would eventually conquer all of Europe and the rest of the world. The music featured on this compilation is a sample of that musical expansion, exemplified by 14 tracks of early exotica originally released on 78 rpm records between 1920 and 1947 in countries such as France, Spain, England, Holland, Japan and the USA. Most have never been reissued on any format until now. Enjoy a sensorily unique record which will turn your home into an authentic primitive paradise.