Tana Yonas
Tana Yonas
Into the World of Global Tiki Music
Every month, Tana Yonas explores captivating music from across the globe. From ultra-niche discoveries to influential movements ripe for rediscovery, sharing the stories, cultures, and histories that bring the world's sounds to life.
Every month, Tana Yonas explores captivating music from across the globe. From ultra-niche discoveries to influential movements ripe for rediscovery, sharing the stories, cultures, and histories that bring the world's sounds to life.
Emerging in postwar America, Exotica was among the first moments that sounds inspired by music from around the world entered the American mainstream. American military expansion, a growing fascination with faraway places through LIFE magazine, and the arrival of television all helped shape a new global curiosity, even if much of it was filtered through a very American imagination.
It also made room for some extraordinary characters and sounds, from the incomparable Peruvian vocalist Yma Sumac and the mysterious Korla Pandit to Middle Eastern belly dance musicians like Mohammed El-Bakkar. Even some unexpected names found themselves drawn into this world, including Sun Ra and Eden Ahbez.
There’s a lot more to this music than tiki bars and bird calls. It’s a fascinating story of cultural exchange, fantasy, appropriation, reclamation and some truly beautiful records.
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