Latest Release
- 11 AUG 2023
- 12 Songs
- The Exotic Moods of Les Baxter · 1954
- Skins! · 1957
- The Summer Moods of Les Baxter · 1970
- Ultra-Lounge, Vol. 1: Mondo Exotica · 1996
- Space Escapade · 1958
- Ultra-Lounge: Space-Capades, Vol. 3 · 1996
- Jewels of the Sea · 1961
- Skins! · 1957
- Hell's Belles (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) · 1969
- Hell's Belles (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) · 1969
Essential Albums
- 1958
Artist Playlists
- This man morphed lounge music into exotica.
Appears On
- The Newton Brothers
About Les Baxter
Les Baxter was a member of Mel Torme's Meltones, a film score and television theme composer, and even the leader of a folk ensemble. However, the multi-talented composer/arranger/conductor is best known for being one of the creators of the "exotica" sound. By fusing Polynesian rhythms and instrumentation with slick orchestral arrangements, Baxter gave rise to a hip, swanky, less cerebral variation of jazz that appealed to the lounge and bachelor-pad set of the 1950s and '60s. The exotica movement has had many a revival through the years, thus ensuring that Baxter remains an icon of quirky cool.
- HOMETOWN
- Mexia, TX, United States
- BORN
- 14 March 1922
- GENRE
- Jazz