02. Laguestra and his Cha Cha Cha’s - Jamila (Cha Cha Oriental)

Laguestra, born as Willy Langestraat (1914 - 1998), was a multitalented musician, composer, orchestra leader, producer and music collector. In the 1930s he received a record with oriental music (Oum Kalsoum) from a sailor and immediately he was fascinated by the strange, melancholic, exotic sounds. After WWII he led several Latin orchestra’s, dance orchestra’s and smaller jazz ensembles. He was the first Dutchman who played and recorded a sitar (on his very rare Utopia album) and collected musical instruments from all over the world. He made records like “Turkish Coffee” and “The Flying Carpet” on which he played most of the exotic instruments himself. In radio shows he introduced his musical treasures to the Dutch audience but most of his listeners were not as much impressed as the American TV producer Vance Graham who met him once and reported excited in a radio session: “Here is a Dutch musician, playing with Arabian musical instruments, a cha cha cha from Cuba, played for an American tourist. He calls it Oriental Cha Cha Cha”.

03. Milly Scott – Africa

Milly Scott, born in Holland (1933) from Suriname parents, already knew she wanted to be a singer/artist when she was a child. She performed all over the world (from small nightclubs, cruise ships to big tv shows) and sang with all the big orchestra’s in The Netherlands. In 1967 she was the first black Dutch act (with the song “Fernando en Philippo”) for the European song contest. In the song “Africa” she sings - influenced by the vocal rawness of Louis Armstrong - as a Dutch version of exotica-legend Yma Sumac.
Nowadays she runs a healing practice with her original name Marion.

04. Jamaica Johnny – Pineapple Princess

All we know about Jamaica Johnny, artist name of Nelis Liefeld, that he came from Suriname and started his career working with Max Woiski in Amsterdam. One of his hits in the fifties was an convincing and funny interpretation of the Calypso classic “Mother and wife” of Lord Kitchener. Fun and Calypso seem to be the main ingredients of Johnny’s work as you can hear in “Pineapple Princess”. Jamaica Johnny was one of the first Suriname artists that chose to sing in English, instead of Papiamento or Dutch, maybe aiming at a more international public. In retrospective, he succeeded very well because there is a vivid trade in recordings of Jamaica Johnny amongst collectors all over the world.

05. Combo Rinus van Galen - Jungle Fantasy

Rinus van Galen (1930 – 1989) was a Dutch musician/composer who released many jazz, honky-tonk and cocktail music records under his alias Martin Gale. He was a long-time member of Dutch Orchestra The Skymasters and wrote soundtracks for movies and tv series. His haunting, piano driven version of 'Jungle Fantasy' is a nice contribution to the vast amount of Esy Morales' exotica-classic interpretations.

06. Jan Tromp – Beautiful Isle of Somewhere

In the fifties Jan Tromp (1934-2006) amazed the Dutch audiences with his whistling and great ability of mimicking bird sounds. He won every talent competition there was and became extremely popular as an performing artist on radio and also in the many theatre revues there were in the Netherlands that days. His popularity declined immediately when television became the leading form of entertainment and, for one or another reason, Jan stopped whistling. The reason only became clear much later in Pieter Verhoef’s film portrait of Jan Tromp in the seventies. Jan’s wife was very afraid that their marriage would break when Jan would earn to much money and living an artist-life. That’s why she wouldn’t let him whistle anymore. Jan made a little come-back, thanks to Jacob Klaasse, who composed a beautiful melody, tailor-made for Jan, as the tune for the VPRO – broadcasting company.
Beautiful Isle of Somewhere (1897) is a pre-Exotica composition with a serious, religious undertone that somehow and strange ways lends itself easily as a vehicle for the Exotica-feelings. In Holland, much later in the nineties, the song became almost an anthem, due to the interpretation of popular singer André Hazes and TV-personality Paul de Leeuw in a Dutch translation “Droomland” (Dreamland).

07. Maria Zamora - Lamento del Desierto

Marietje Jansen (1923-1996) started singing in small Amsterdam cafe’s when she was still a young girl. With Toby Rix she sang in The Young Rambling Cowboys, but as during WWII American cowboys were not allowed she changed to Latin American repertoire.
After the war she sang several years with “De Metropole Orkest” before finally getting her own ensemble: Maria Zamora Y Sus Muchachos. “Mamá el Baión” was an international hit-song in 1955. One of her grandparents was Spanish and that is why she not only looked Spanish but also performed passionately like an authentic Andalusian woman. Backed by the Skymasters she sang many duets with Latin-aficionado Thom Kelling who is also present on this compilation. Her “Lamento del Desierto” happens to be a mostly instrumental song, but it’s beautiful melancholic arrangement makes it one of the highlights of this compilation. Sadly there is no happy ending to her career: after a car accident and more tragical personal events she ends up lonely in a wheelchair.

08. Malando met de Marinierskapel – Orinoco

Malando is the artist name of Arie Maasland (1908 – 1980) a drummer and accordion-player from Rotterdam, who became once and for all enchanted by the Argentinian tango after seeing Eduardo Bianco perform in 1935. He started composing tango’s (i.e. Olé Guapa, one his greatests hits that became an international tango standard) changed his name to Malando and started his own tango orchestra. He transformed the tango in a continental style: commercial, but sophisticated and never vulgar. Malando had a very succesfull career without many interruptions, produced more than hundred tango albums, wrote more than 150 original compositions, was popular in many countries i.e. Japan and was well recognised in Argentina, homeland of the tango. The legacy of Malando is now in hands of his grandson Danny Overweg Malando who adapted his grandfather’s artist name, leading the Malando orchestra and making his grandfathers work sound fresh and contemporary as ever.
The Marinierskapel (Dutch Navy Chapel) is widely acclaimed for its musicianship and repertoire. In this unexpected cooperation with Malando an exotic soundscape is being created, depicting the Orinoco river.

09. George de Fretes - Tango des Roses

George de Fretes was born in Bandung - Indonesia (1921-1981) and was nicknamed the uncrowned king of Hawaiian steelguitar. Influenced by Sol Hoopii he started playing ukelele Hawaiian guitar when he was still a small boy. Before WWII his Royal Hawaiian Minstrels were the best paid Hawaiian band in the Dutch colony Indonesia. But as Hawaiian and American is banned during WWII in Indonesia he switched to traditional Krontjong music. After the war the band changed back to the Royal Hawaiian Minstrels name and music and became more popular than ever. Sometimes the band was even split in two so they could play at two different places at the same time! Because of the political situation in Indonesia he went to The Netherlands 1958. He immediately got a recording deal and started a succesful European career. His Royal Hawaiian Minstrels shows were famous and often George played complex songs such as Tickling The Strings blindfolded for the amazed audience.
But besides traditional Hawaiian and krontjong music he also involved with Indorock bands (e.g. Hawaiian guitar and trumpet with The Tielman Brothers) and even made a record in Germany with Frank Valdor called “Hawaii Beat A Go Go”. In the song “Tango des Roses” he makes the crossover with tango music to show there is no forbidden area for the Hawaiian guitar. In 1969 he moved to Los Angels where he was buried next to his idol, friend and fellow Hawaiian steelguitarist Sol Hoopi.

10. Max Woiski and his West Indian Orchestra – Bron Bron Calypso

Max Woiski sr (1911 – 1981) made the Dutch audiences familiar with the music from Suriname and became very successful in adapting this music to the Dutch taste. Woiski came to Holland in 1937 and, at first, he labeled his music as “Cuban” because of lack of interest in music from Suriname. During WW II Woiski struggled with his musical identity. He managed to keep his music club in Amsterdam open during the German oppression, playing ‘de-Americanised’ versions of his music with Dutch lyrics while denying his Surinam roots, which didn’t make him very popular amongst his Surinam fellowmen. After the war, his musical melting pot became very popular and he had a huge hit with “BB met R” (Brown beans with rice). In the sixties he moved to Spain, Mallorca and started a nightclub. The song “Bron Bron Calypso” comes from “Jenny”, the first Dutch movie in colour in 1958.

11. Amboina Serenaders – Bali Bali Boogie

The Amboina Serenaders was one of the groups of leading artist Rudy Wairata (1929-1981). Wairata started this group in 1953 after being successful with the Mena Moeria Minstrels. The latter was one of the groups that emerged during the post-war Hawaiian rage, but with the Amboina Serenaders he turned to his own roots. Wairata was born and raised on one the islands in the Molukken, one of the former Dutch colonies. The Amboina Serenaders had the same line-up as the Mena Moeria Minstrels, extended with a vibraphone-player. Thus they succeeded very well in grasping that typical west-indian “krontjong” atmosphere and in blending traditional songs with catchy arrangements and beautiful close-harmony singing. Their greatest hit in the Netherlands was: “Ik wil klappermelk met suiker” (“I want coconutmilk with sugar”), but the Bali Bali Boogie is perhaps the best example of their perfect crossover.

12. Rudi Wairata & The Kilima Hawaiians - Whistling Guitar

The Kilima Hawaiians, founded in 1934, are the pioneers of 'Nederhawaiian', or the Dutch Hawaiian sound. Because of the German cultural oppression of jazz and English lyrics during WWII, the more harmless Hawaiian music became de-Americanized by adding Dutch vocals. Shortly after the war there are over 600 Hawaiian bands of which the Kilima Hawaiians were the most popular of all.
In the 1980s they finally (after 50 years!) visited Hawaii for the first time and received a Certficate of Recognition: “WHEREAS, through the medium of the melodies and music of the Islands, the Kilima Hawaiians have for many years brought the Aloha spirit of Hawaii to the people of Europe. NOW, THEREFORE, Mary and Bill Buysman and The Kilima Hawaiians are hereby named “Honorary Kamasinas” of the City and County of Honolulu, State of Hawaii, United States of America”.
Rudi Wairata was an Indonesian lapsteel guitar-student of George de Fretes. In 1958 he joined the group, but at that time rock 'n' roll and beat music were already more more popular. The Kilima Hawaiians are present with an instumental from the early sixties which demonstrates the skills of their leading lapsteel-player Rudi Wairata in mimicking bird sounds.

13. De Zapakara's o.l.v. Lex Vervuurt - Paramaribo Mambo

Lex Vervuurt (1910-1991) came to The Netherlands in 1934 to become an art teacher but changed his plan when he became one the first electric guitar players. He played in several radio- and amusements orchestras (e.g. Malando). He become well known after WWII when he played and sang traditional Surinam folksongs with his Zapakara’s. As a session musician he played a.o. solo-guitar on Blue Diamonds hits (Ramona, Little Ship).
His “Paramaribo Mambo” is a funny Dutchified singalong mambo.

14. Thom Kelling y su Conjunto - Tabu

Thom Kelling (1922-1968) was a well known Dutch entertainer/musician/vocalist who played his guitar most in the Latin-American tradition. He made a lot of recordings with his South-American styled bands like Thom Kelling y su Conjunto. His version of the exotica classic song “Tabu” (a typical specimen of Afro-Cuban rhythm, derived from pagan cults with pronounced witchcraft tendencies, combined with the old slave songs), is special because the traditional jungle calls are played by brass instruments and it is sung in Spanish.

15. The Mena Moeria Minstrels – South Sea Breeze

The Mena Moeria Minstrels were founded in 1950 by Rudi Wairata. The group is not only successful because of Rudi’s skills but also because of the dancing hula girls. In 1953 they started recording and Guus Jansen was their label manager. Years after Rudi has left the group in 1957 they recorded “South Sea Breeze” with a bouncing rhythm, a swelling violin-like sound of the steelguitar and a funny singalong part at the end.

16.Dick Willebrandts – Zambesi

Dick Willebrandts (1911-1970) career as piano player and arranger started in the 1930s when he did many radio performances with AVRO Dansorkest. Zambesi, a composition and arrangement of Ramblers trumpet player Ferry Barendse, was performed and recorded during WWII when playing of American swing music was strictly forbidden. After WWII peopled blamed him for playing with his orchestra during WWII and after a ban of several years it was hard for him to find work again. He earned a living as a bar piano player.

17. Guus Jansen - Jungle Rhythm

Guus Jansen started in the 1930s playing piano at silent movies. He played theatre organs and switched later to a Hammond organ. He made some mainstream potpourri compilation 78rpm records and 10 inch LP’s. He wrote the music for the European Song Contest winning song “Net als toen” by Corry Brokken (1957). Most people known him for his simple sheet music and courses to start playing organ. But with “Jungle Rhythm” he really outdid himself: swelling organ chords over a wild bongo beat intro transform in a Latin steam train beat.

18. Stef Meeder – Candid Cuban

In the sixties and seventies Stef Meeder became the icon of the electronic organ, the most popular musical instrument in the Netherlands. The organ already had a firm “installed base” as a home-instrument of the Dutch bible belt, but Stef, performing with his Magic Organ, showed Holland that there was more to it: pop music, swing, latin, schlagers, anything could be played on this miracle instrument. Stef produced an endless series of albums, mostly with medleys consisting of quite often more than 30 songs in a row. Furthermore, Stef Meeder was -and stil is- a man with a mission: “Anyone can play electronic organ”. So he published a large amount of sheet music, cassettes and CD’s with courses “How to play organ”. He even did the same with guitar and piano. It’s not unlikely that a lot of contemporary Dutch musicians did their first musical steps with the courses of Stef Meeder.
Thus performing with his Magic Organ, meanwhile teaching and (equally important) selling organs, Stef Meeder was not taken very seriously by the musical critics. That certainly is a pity because there is always an original and optimistic tone in Meeders arrangements, his own compositions and those of his fellow musician Wim Jongbloed. Candid Cuban is a very catchy and original song: bringing a naïve tough irresistible latin atmosphere to a Dutch home-instrument. Thanks Stef!

19. Secco's Gitanos - The Sheik of Araby

“The Sheik of Araby” is a song that was in 1921 in response to the popularity of the Rudolph Valentino film The Sheik. Secco’s Gitanos was founded by Hans Seligsohn, a jew who fled from Germany. They played a lot in nightclubs in Amsterdam. In 1937 they recorded “The Sheik of Araby” in the Gipsy-jazz style of Quintet du Hot Club de France. with the following musicians: Hans Seligsohn (violin), Jaap Valkhoff (accordion), Leo Borgart (clarinet, altsax), Martin Roman (piano), Lex Vervuurt (guitar) and Leo Askenase (bass).

20. Boy & his Rollin’ Kids - Midnight in Malaya

Boy Jansen (1935-2006) born in Bandung Indonesia, arrived in 1957 in the Netherlands. While still playing in his own band “The Rollers” he founded Boy & His Rollin' Kids where he played the solo-guitar. In 1963 their first record “Midnight in Malaya” (with “China Rock” on the flipside) with a crispy, tender, multi-delayed guitar melody was an international hit record right away (Singapore en Malaysia). They played several times a week but never became professionals. In the summer of 1966 the short-lived career of Boy & his Rollin' Kids ended. The beatexplosion had pushed the indorock aside.

21. Wout Steenhuis and the Kontiki's - Bali Ha’i

Wout Steenhuis (1910 -1985) started as a guitarist with the Dutch Swing College Band. In WWII he joined a resistance group and in 1944 he was captured by the Germans and sent to a concentration camp in Amersfoort. He succeeded to escape but his right elbow was shattered by a bullet the day before libearation. It could well have ended his career but in a British Army hospital a treatment saved his arm. He moved to England shortly after the war and started a career as a Hawaiian specialist. He became a well-known radio guest and even had his own broadcast. His claim to fame were his multi-track performances: he sang and played everything himself, used a choir of his own voices, guitars, Hawaiian guitar, drums, bass, electric and acoustic pianos, organ, ukulele, and Latin-American rhythm instruments, all recorded in his own stereo studios. A one-man orchestra and choir is the end product.
He made some records with fellow Hawaiian-specialists The Kontikis. The beautiful arrangement of the exotica classic “Bali Ha’i” can easily compete with Enoch Light or Les Baxter highlights.

22. Max Woiski jr. – Baiao

Max Woiski (1930) is the talented son of Max Woiski jr. and father of the even talented jazz-singer Lils Mackintosh (who adapted her fathers artist name Max Mackintosh). Max Woiski contributed to the Dutch musical culture by making his music club La Tropicana the centre of Latin-American music in Amsterdam, where new styles, trends and rhythms were introduced. The general public knows Max Woiski best by some of his hit-records like “Rijst met kouseband” in the tradition of his fathers “BB met R”, but we have chosen a track that captures the atmosphere of La Tropicana at its best, Woiski’s superb interpretation of Luis Conzaga’s “Baiao”.

23. Frans Poptie – Beer Barrel Mambo

Multi-instrumentalist and jazz violin virtuoso Frans Poptie (1918) seems to by ever present in the history of Dutch popular music, but is mostly known as the musical companion of popular singer Eddy Christiani. His Beer Barrel Mambo is a catching crossover where Poptie adds a jazzy swing to a Surinam type of song, in the style made popular by Max Woiski.

24. Rob Meyn and his Rainbow Quartet - Mr. Bongo

Rob Meyn was a long-time percussionist (1949 - 1978) of “Radio Filharmonisch Orkest Holland”. When he was a kid he played on a toy-drum and performed already for the visitors at home. In 1956 he founded The Rainbow Quartet: Rob Meyn (vibraphone), Dick Schallies (piano), Piet Baan (bass) and Gerard Bezey (drums).
When stereo was commercially unveiled in the late 1950s, record companies and audio dealers staged a relentless campaign to persuade consumers that two speakers were better than one. Gimmicky demonstration discs were distributed free with the purchase of any home stereo. These records featured rifle zings and ping-pong volleys, fireworks, zooming locomotives, and footsteps panning from left channel to right, magically before the astonished listener. “Mr. Bongo” stereodelic ping-pong bongos shows that the Rainbow Quartet was riding the first-class of the bandwagon.

25. Johnny Meijer – El Cumbanchero

Johnny Meijer (1912 – 1982) is without any doubt one the greatest instrumentalist that ever lived in the Netherlands. He was internationally acclaimed as the “roi de l’accordeon” and received excellent reviews in international magazines for his records and performances. The tragic of Johnny’s life is well documented. He was born in Amsterdam in the Jordaan, a poor neighbourhood, well-known for its mentality: optimistic, musical and very close. His musical career developed quite anonymously, with Johnny playing at weddings and parties until, in the mid-thirties, Johnny discovered swing, or maybe swing discovered Johnny. He toured with jazz-orchestra the Ramblers and transformed the accordion into a jazz-instrument in a way nobody did before. His extraordinary virtuosity made him able to play everything people wanted him to play: jazz, latin, classical, gypsy music, musette which made it difficult to focus on a consistent musical career. Meanwhile he remained true to his roots in the Jordaan, still performing at parties and weddings with popular singers like Johnny Jordaan and Tante Leen, which he preferred above leaving Amsterdam for international tours.
Later on, Johnny’s career became more and more troubled by alcohol, relational problems and physical injuries although there were more then a few moments where he reached his peak again. One of this moments is the recording of ‘Johnny goes latin’ in 1975 from which the track “El Cumbanchero” is taken. What makes this track special is the typical Amsterdam, Jordanese atmosphere that surrounds an wild and exciting interpretation of the Rafael Hernandez classic. A crossover you wouldn’t miss. Enjoy!

26. The Ramblers – Nacht op Hawaii

The Ramblers are in the Guinness Book or Records as the oldest jazz-orchestra in the world: founded in 1926 and still going strong. Their popularity reached its peak in the thirties when they performed more than 2.000 times at VARA-radio and so making the Dutch audiences familiar with the latest trends in ‘swing’. In the same period the highly creative and innovative Jack Bulterman joined the band, providing the Ramblers with original material, new arrangements and hits like “Wie is Loesje?” (Who’s Loesje?). WW II is still a black page in the Ramblers’ history. They kept playing for the German oppressor without two of their Jewish members who died in German concentration camps. There was much to do about their rehabilitation after the war, but their popularity finally made the decision. With “Nacht op Hawaii” (Night on Hawaii), they joined the post-war Hawaiian rage and succeeded very well: a beautiful and atmospheric arrangement with a Hawaiian guitar added to the traditional jazz line-up. Dutch Exotica indeed.