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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Sunday, November 4, 2001

Isle vibraphonist honored in benefit

By Rod Ohira
Advertiser Staff Writer

Friends of legendary Hawai'i vibraphone player Arthur Lyman will hold a fund-raiser to help the 69-year-old musician with medical costs associated with his three-month battle with throat cancer.

Arthur Lyman, left, with his fellow 1950s Hawai'i music luminary, singer Ed Kenney, in 1997.

Advertiser library photo • Feb. 22, 1997

Best known for his recordings of "Taboo" and "Yellow Bird," Lyman is in a musical class by himself, said Harold Chang, who played drums and percussion in Lyman's combo from 1957 to 1973.

Lyman "contributed a lot to the exotic image of Hawai'i on the Mainland," Chang said. "With respect to Don Ho and Martin Denny, I believe Arthur was as big as they were (at the height of his career)."

Lyman is fighting cancer "his own way, without surgery," said his friend, Honolulu dentist Neal Tamura, who is helping to organize the benefit.

The "Yellow Bird Iron Man Challenge" next Sunday is a 9-mile canoe race, from the Maunalua Bay park in Hawai'i Kai to the Elk's Lodge beach in Waikiki, plus an all-day music festival at the Elk's Lodge. Crews must paddle the entire distance, as no substitutes will be allowed, Tamura said.

Performers at the festivals' two stages will include Martin Denny, Gabe Baltazar, the Kahauanu Lake Singers, Mahiai Beamer and Nina Keali'iwahamana, the Jake Ho'opai Band, Ron Miyashiro and Buddy Fo, and Elua Kane.

The music runs from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and food booths will be set up at the Elks Lodge.

Lyman was 8 years old when his father gave him a marimba, a wooden percussion instrument with resonators that resembles a xylophone.

In 1955 Martin Denny organized a trio that included Lyman and bass player John Kramer. Conga player Augie Colon later joined. The group introduced the "exotica" sound featuring bird calls through Denny's signature hit "Quiet Village."

Lyman formed his own progressive jazz group in 1958, playing with Chang, Kramer and pianist Allan Soares, with Archie Grant replacing Kramer in 1964.

It was the year that tenor Charles K.L. Davis was performing with the Metropolitan Opera Co. in New York; Ed Kenney was appearing in "Flower Drum Song" in Boston; and a 16-year-old Punahou student named Robin Luke was singing his national hit "Susie Darlin" in appearances on "American Bandstand" and the "Perry Como Show."

Lyman, too, was on the verge of gaining prominence. His recording of "Taboo" sold 2 million copies by the time he released a second hit, "Yellow Bird" in 1961.

"We played a good mix of jazz, Latin and exotic music arranged in Arthur Lyman fashion, which meant a lot of percussion," Chang said. "We used 56 percussion instruments. That was our thing then.

"We didn't sing or talk. We just played," Chang said. "To keep the audience's attention, the arrangements had to be something different."

Although Lyman is best known for his recordings of "Taboo" and "Yellow Bird," his group was equally comfortable playing "Slaughter on 10th Avenue."

"Lionel Hampton, Cal Tjader and Red Norvo used to come and watch Arthur play, to see how he got that haunting sound," Chang said. "He just had a touch that makes him one of a kind."

Before falling ill, Lyman had been playing solo gigs in recent years at Wai'alae Country Club and the New Otani Kaimana Beach

Hotel. In his six-decade career he performed regularly at the Hilton Hawaiian Village's Shell Bar and Tiare-Tahiti room, Don the Beachcomber's and the Ilikai Hotel's former Canoe House.

He will be inducted into McKinley High School's "Hall of Honor" on Nov. 16.

The entry fee for the canoe race is $20 per paddler. Tickets to the music festival are $25 and available at the Elk's Lodge or by calling Alan Awana (479-4942), Colin Chock (735-5700) or Jack Manini (739-5157).

For details about the canoe race, call Scott Thompson (224-2149) or Tamura (941-2513).


Correction: In 1955, Martin Denny organized a trio that included Arthur Lyman and bass player John Kramer. Because of an editing error, a previous version of this story misstated who organized the trio.