The Tikiyaki Orchestra Review May, 9th 2008
By Maya Dawn Henderson
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The temperature climbs as Los Angeles basks in the white heat of the summer sun. It’s the time to spark up those tiki-torches and BBQ grills, and make some grog and chow! Anyone out there with a tiki-bar, listen up. Do I have the perfect CD for you ~ the lush and swanky sounds of the The Tikiyaki Orchestra. This music has both a sense of style and a sense of humor. The sound is Exotica-Lounge, with some 60’s Surf thrown in. Few musicians even know about this almost extinct genre. Intrigued, I wanted to open up my musical palette and explore the world of these armchair safari-ers. Exotica originally became popular during the 50s and 60’s, especially with the suburban set who came of age during World War II. A form of tropical-jazz, pioneered in the ‘50s to sound exotic, atmospheric and occasionally savage. The distinctive sound of tiki-exotica relies primarily on percussion: congas, bongos, vibes, gongs, boo bams (bamboo sticks). Though there are some songs which contain lyrics, singing is rare. Abstract, sirenish ululations, chants, bird calls and guttural growls are common.
Part post-war leisure liberation, part imperialist fantasy, the ‘50s vogue for cocktail music, it stood for leopard skin rugs, phallic tiki mugs and all things Polynesian. Returning in the 90’s with the Swing revival, this was a craze that never forgot it’s art status. Although the lounge revival has since passed, the music is still available and not surprisingly, just as sexy as ever. It’s made it’s return with these kommandos of kitch, decked out in irony and ready to serve it up. The Tikiyaki Orchestra conceived, curated and created by Jim Bacchi who was turned on to “Tiki” from living in LA, with shops like WACKO and fanzines supporting the local tiki underground. He became bored with the trappings of rock and wanted to forge his own style on his own terms. Looking to legendary influences such as Martin Denny, Esquivel, Arthur Lyman and the Blue Hawaiians, The Tikiyaki Orchestra was formed. Finding a surprisingly large tiki-loving sub-culture in LA was easy ~ finding the appropriate players was not.
Coming from a rock background, Jim found it challenging not only to place seven musicians together, but playing orchestrated was completely different than playing rock ~ where it’s fine to simply plug in, jump in and jam. Playing this music requires the discipline of not stepping all over each other’s parts. One guy comes in on the 12th bar, the next on the 16th and so on. Even in this quirky, almost schizophrenic music style, Jim still writes with melody lines and hooks. This is how he came to blend the surf music with the exotica. He calls surf music the punk rock of exotica. He believed the two sounds sonically blended well and wonders why nobody had really done this before
The Tikiyaki Orchestra is: Jim Bacchi on guitar, keys, bongos, Dave “Squid” Cohen on drums, Brian “Cassanova” Kassan also on keys, Mark Gusek on the congas and bongos, Jonpaul “Rummie” Balak on bass, Mark Riddle, a.k.a.“Marty Lush” on the vibes, and Gary Brandin from the Blue Hawaiians and The Vanduras on the lap steel guitar. Songs like “Exotique,” embody the band’s bittersweet melodies and effortless cool. The lushly orchestrated “Waikiki Serenade” has a addictive, melancholic sweetness. “Mai Tai’s On The Moon” carries a seductive, light rhythm dipped in a luscious blue mood. This is a very different way of life. This band has a kind of a musical signature ~ a kind of languid, dreamy approach and sound. All I know is that if you have a tiki bar in your house and you don’t have this record ~ you have to get it ~ it’ll make all your cocktails taste better! www.tikiyakiorchestra.com, www.digitiki.com & myspace.tikiyakiorchestra.
Maya Dawn Henderson~