Orienta (album)

Orienta is an album by The Markko Polo Adventurers released in 1959. The album was produced by Simon Rady, arranged and conducted by Gerald Fried and recorded in stereo in Hollywood, California. The album uses a combination of sound effects and Asian-inspired music to tell humorous vignettes. Its suggestive cover art features a photograph by Murray Laden.
Overview.
"Orienta" was the work of three music industry professionals with a long history of involvement in exotica and easy listening music. Producer Simon Rady (1909-1965) was coming off the huge success of "The Music from Peter Gunn", which spent 10 weeks at No. 1 on "Billboard" magazine's album chart, and won the inaugural Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1959. Associate producer Michael H. Goldsen was one of the industry leaders in popularizing Hawaiian music and was later inducted into the Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame. The album was arranged and conducted by Gerald Fried, a Juilliard School-trained oboist who later went on to fame as a composer of music for motion pictures and television, including the 1960s series "", "The Man from U.N.C.L.E.", and "Gilligan's Island", and the 1970s miniseries "Roots".
"Orienta" was an attempt to capitalize on the popularity of exotica music in the late 1950s. The genre's popularity peaked in 1959 as Martin Denny's 1957 album "Exotica" spent five weeks at No. 1 on "Billboard" magazine's album chart. The album's liner notes stated that the music "resembles the dreams of an imaginative person who has fallen asleep during a 'Dr. Fu Manchu' movie on television," with vignettes that "combine the sounds of the East with the wit of the West; the charm of the Orient with the humor of the Occident."
The album was recorded in stereo and was designed to appeal to the growing popularity of albums demonstrating the capabilities of the new technology. The liner notes indicate that the producers sought to offer "sounds and effects to gladden the tweeters and woofers of the most critical hi-fi addict." While the album's producers noted that the album was "primarily a serious artistic effort," one later account noted that "Fried really intended the album to be something of a satire on the then-current craze for musical harem-haunting."
The album features a wide assortment of woodwind and rhythm instruments. The liner notes describe a recording studio filled with as many as 25 percussion instruments. Five of "the nation's top percussionists" were hired for the recording. The array of exotic instruments reportedly prompted one of the musicians to quip: "Why don't they hire that Oriental god with six or eight arms?"
Track listing.
The album contained 12 tracks, including original compositions and adaptations by Fried, Vernon Duke and Leon Pober.
Critical reception.
When the album was released in the spring of 1959, "Billboard" magazine gave it a three-star rating ("Good Potential – Will Sell") and noted: "Here's an interesting stereo sound experience for stereo and hi fi fans. A wide assortment of woodwind and rhythm instruments offers exotic interpretations of a variety of off-beat selections. ... Effective wax. Sexy cover."
In his nationally-syndicated column, "The Record Shop," Dick Kleiner featured "Orienta" as one of "Dick's Picks" and wrote that "a group called the Markko Polo Adventures try new sounds on Oriental music in "Orienta" with interesting results."
In his "Record Roundup" column, UPI music critic William D. Laffler wrote: "FOR HI-FI FANS: "Orienta" by the Marco [sic] Polo Adventurers (RCA Victor LPM-1919) is a top platter for sound bugs. Exotic string instruments are used liberally. Sound engineering is tops." The album also received favorable mention by Norman Weiser in his nationally-syndicated column, "Recordially Yours."
Another reviewer wrote: "A percussion–happy group called the Markko Polo Adventurers, under arranger director Gerald Fried, make some interesting and frequently fascinating sounds in 12 instrumentals. It is atmospheric material, for the most part ... Hi-fi fans will like this one."
Not all of the reviews were positive. "Hi Fi/Stereo Review" wrote: "Zounds what sounds! Once through was all we could take of this. Interesting if you want to know how far out in musical left field it is possible to go."
In February 1960, the album was played as WIBA's "stereophonic concert."
Revival of interest.
The album experienced a revival in the 1990s and 2000s with increased interest in the ultra lounge and exotica genres. The album's seventh track, "Scheherzade," was included on RCA's 1995 compilation, "History of Space Age Pop, Vol. 1: Melodies and Mischief." Two additional tracks, "The Girl Friend of the Whirling Dervish" and "Rain in Rangoon," were included on RCA's follow-up, "History of Space Age Pop, Vol. 2: Mallets in Wonderland."
In 1997, "USA Today" columnist Sam Vincent Meddis wrote: "Strange old album covers don't fade away, they wind up on the Web. Like, who could forget that rousing "Orienta" by the so-called Markko Polo Adventurers?" In the 1999 book "Exotiquarium", Jennifer McKnight-Tronz and Lenny Dee noted the use of sound effects in "Runaway Rickshaw" and other tracks "to tell stories of humor, romance, intrigue and life across the Orient."
In his 2003 encyclopedia of popular music of the world, John Shepherd wrote, "In "Orienta", a 1959 record by the Markko Polo Adventurers, the musicians' main intent was to combine the 'charm of the Orient' with the 'wit of the Occident.' This was achieved through an array of sensual 'oriental' percussion sounds combined with a touch of 'pop 'n' jazz.'" Shepherd suggested, "To a certain extent, the Adventurers and other 'extollers' of the exotic East ... foreshadowed the 1960s sitar fad triggered by Indian musician and composer Ravi Shankar."
"Orienta" was reissued on CD in 2004. Reviews of the CD have included comments and descriptions such as "a dreamy loungecore soundscape a la Les Baxter," "a shining example of the kitsch of the era," and the following: ""Orienta" features witty arranging for an unusual ensemble of virtuoso studio musicians. Many of the tracks sound like dramatic radio place settings ... a Hollywoody send-up meant to amuse rather than soothe. Certainly not to enlighten. "Orienta" is to Asian music as "Get Smart" was to the real business of espionage. ... Nothing's halfway here. It's way over-the-top cool. Recommended for those with a sense of humor."
In September 2010, the Adventurers' "Mountain High, Valley Low" was included on the él record label compilation "Return to Paradise: A History of Exotica".