Yellow Bird

Of the many figures in the "exotica" music revival, Lyman consistently made music that tourists would expect from a tiki cocktail lounge. This Kauai native and vibraphonist left the Martin Denny Group in the early '60s to forge out on his own, garnering his first and only Top 40 hit with the song "Yellow Bird" in 1961. This, his second album, includes the soft and dreamy title song, but it also is an audio panorama of Lyman's range--from such "native" offerings as "Bamboo Tamboo," continental tunes such as "Arrivederci Roma," and sentimental American favorites including "Sweet and Lovely." Here, the unusually crisp sound quality and stereo separation (characteristic of the Lyman albums on the Hi-Fi label) are a refreshing change from the more dreary and "centered" recordings of today. --Joseph Lanza