Exotica’s Enduring Appeal

A shorter version of this featured appeared previously in SPIN.

One of the most intriguing and unexpected current-day musical phenomena is the enduring popularity of exotica, a style of music dating back to the post-WW II era in America. Detractors might question its authenticity and accuse its practitioners of cultural appropriation, but at its core, exotica is a quintessentially American musical style with undeniable appeal.

In its original run, exotica leading lights included Martin Denny, Arthur Lyman and Juan Garcia Esquivel, but plenty of other cats – from Henry Mancini to Lalo Schifrin – got in on the fun. The music was varied, but some signature elements included vocalized bird calls and extensive use of vibraphone and enthusiastic (some might say heavy-handed) use of wide stereo panning. Classics of exotica’s first era include Les Baxter’s 1952 LP Ritual of the Savage and Denny’s Quiet Village from 1959.

By the time of the British Invasion, exotica’s time had come and gone. But enterprising archivists would breathe life back into the form – with a heavy dose of irony – in the 1990s. Hip indie label Sub Pop signed Combustible Edison, an arch group named after a classic cocktail – and the exotica revival was in full – if short-lived – swing (baby).

Yet as another generation of music lovers came of age, exotica was rediscovered yet again, this time delivered with sincerity. Appreciating the music for what it was (and is), groups like The Waitiki 7 and Tikiyaki Orchestra leveraged the cultural grab-bag nature of exotica, its undeniably fun aesthetics and its too-often-ignored connections to jazz and Afro-Cuban music. Today, exotica groups thrive, emphasizing not only the sonic pleasures of hi-fidelity recordings but also the singular experience of playing the music live in front of audiences.

Hawai’i-born Randy Wong leads the Waitiki 7, a group he and Abe Lagrimas Jr. founded in Boston more than two decades ago. “I started this group to interpret a mid-century pop sound that we came to know as part of the history of music in Hawai’i,” he says. Their first regular gig was at a newly-opened tiki bar. “We weren’t sure if exotica was going to be popular in New England,” he admits. “But it certainly was.” As he and Lagrimas dug deeper into the world of exotica, they developed the band into what Wong calls an “all-star exotica septet,” one that expanded upon the standard exotica lineup – alto flute, vibraphone, bass and drums – by adding piano, percussion and violin. With that configuration, Wong explains, his group has been able to “expand the sound dimension” of the music.

Inspired by Otto Von Stroheim (founder of the long running annual Tiki Oasis annual event), Jim Bacchi put the Tikiyaki Orchestra together in 2004. The “group” – initially Bacchi playing everything – debuted on record with 2007’s StereoExotique. TO’s music folds in elements of surf ’n’ spy, lounge and more, creating an intoxicating musical cocktail. Four more albums and a DVD followed, and the group – including percussionist Nelson Bragg – is a regular and beloved fixture at famous tiki spots like Trader Vics’s and Fort Lauderdale’s Mai Kai.

Wong acknowledges that as a genre, exotica often plunders liberally from cultural traditions. But he emphasizes that his group plays creative interpretations of “hapa haole” (half Hawai’ian, half foreign) music with jazz elements as well as original compositions in that exotic style. “Abe and I were born and raised in Hawai’i; exotica music was part of that time,” he says. Waitiki 7’s pianist Zaccai Curtis brings his Afro-Cuban heritage to the mix, and percussionist Augie Lopaka Colón Jr. is the son of the legendary first-wave exotica percussionist and Martin Denny sideman. “What’s more authentic than having musicians like that interpret it?”

In 2026, The Waitiki 7 released a pair of albums; one captures the band live at Halekulani (the Waikiki hotel that looms large in exotica lore), another cut in the studio the very next day. Both balance originality with the enduring spirit of classic exotica.

Wong believes he knows what lies at the heart of exotica’s lasting allure. “It originally came out of the post World War II travel phenomenon.” he explains. “Everyone wanted to escape.” And in the turbulent present-day, plenty of listeners feel the same way. “Tiki offers the ultimate form of escapism,” Bacchi concurs.

Come back for more in-depth conversations with Randy Wong and Jim Bacchi.