Arthur Lyman - Leis Of Jazz (2019) [Hi-Res]

There isn't any exotica going on at all on this album, in which vibraphonist/marimba player Arthur Lyman offered more or less straight cocktail jazz. That might make for a useful change of pace if you had to listen to him for several hours straight, but on record it seems unnecessary. Lounge jazz musicians, after all, are a dime a dozen; if you're going to pick up a Lyman album to begin with, it's almost certainly because you're in search of something that's, to employ the begged pun, exotic. Lyman plays respectably (and, sometimes, quite rapidly), and there's an occasional hint of island rhythms and melodies. But the record is very ordinary, dominated by standards such as "The Lady Is a Tramp," "The Way You Look Tonight," "My Funny Valentine," and "Body and Soul." ~ Richie Unterberger