Eden Ahbez

2016 repress.It is 1960. Rock 'n' roll has just lost a couple of its protagonists during this and the previous year. The time of the great balladeers has just begun but soon will run out, due to the new and exciting beat invasion. In the US mainstream, the tiki culture has reached a certain peak and is about to collapse, but still goes strong, and with it comes the so-called "exotica" music, a crossover between smooth jazz and swing, Latin grooves, and haunting melodies rooted in global folk traditions, plus weird sound effects that often create a spooky jungle or dreamy island beach atmosphere. See palm trees growing out of your speakers; witness monkeys and parrots having fun in your room. eden ahbez (1908-1995) lived a consistent dropout and hippie lifestyle way before the movement was born in the mid '60s. As a poet and composer, he wrote the hit tune "Nature Boy" that gave Nat King Cole his first big success in 1948. On Eden's Island, originally released in 1960, he approaches the field of exotica music from a different point of view, creating an epic concept album about a utopian society living in peace and harmony on an island far away from the modern western world as we know it. Relaxed grooves; easy-listening swing; Latin patterns; peaceful, dreamy, even transcendent vocal melodies; tinges of folk music from around the world; and a whole color palette of mind-expanding sounds, with narrated lyrics and eden ahbez's wood flute. A truly unique effort; highly recommended to exotica aficionados who, for example, love Frank Hunter's 1959 White Goddess album. Psychedelic music before the term was even invented.