Latest Release
- 11 AUG 2023
- 12 Songs
- The Exotic Moods of Les Baxter · 1996
- Ritual of the Savage (Le Sacre du Sauvage) · 1951
- Easy Listening Legend · 1947
- The Exotic Moods of Les Baxter · 1996
- Skins! · 1957
- Baxter's Best · 1960
- Zoo Zizaro · 2009
- Sacred Idol · 1960
- Sacred Idol · 1960
- The Exotic Moods of Les Baxter · 1996
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