The Tiki Collective - Muse (2020)

The twelve member Tiki Collective includes a wide variety of instruments including strings, reeds, sitar and a rotating collection of vocalists on lush and romantically exotic readings of jazz material and beyond. There’s lots of Ellington interpreted here, with Tyra Jutai on a saucy “Mood Indigo,” Mingji Chen oohing on “Chelsea Bridge” and Jocelyn Barth languishing during “All Too Soon.” Most intriguing is an exotic take of Blue Oyster Cult’s “Don’t Fear the Reaper” by Melissa Lauren and the Willows that is wonderfully alluring, while their read of “Hypnotized” is seductively sultry. Rich romance exuded by Genevieve Marentette” make “I’ve Never Left Your Arms” a lush delight and Denielle Bassels has fun on “The Wanderer.” Mixing and match with sensuality.