Latest Release
- 11 AUG 2023
- 12 Songs
- The Soul of the Drums (2005 Remaster) · 1963
- Tamboo! (2010 Remaster) · 1955
- Skins! · 1957
- Ordinary Madness · 2009
- Ultra-Lounge: Cha-Cha De Amor · 1996
- Baxter's Best · 1960
- Ritual of the Savage (Le Sacre du Sauvage) · 1951
- The Exotic Moods of Les Baxter · 1996
- Zoo Zizaro · 2009
- The Summer Moods of Les Baxter · 1970
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