Featured In
ALBUMElectro Tropicando: The Les Baxter Remixes101 Strings Orchestra & Les Baxter
Albums by Les Baxter
ALBUMElectro Tropicando: The Les Baxter Remixes101 Strings Orchestra & Les Baxter
ALBUM101 Strings Orchestra Presents Les Baxter101 Strings Orchestra & Les Baxter
ALBUMCry Of The Banshee (1970) / Edgar Allan Poe Suite (1980) / Horror Express (1972) [Original Scores]Les Baxter & John Cacavas
ALBUMBlack Sunday (1960) / Baron Blood (1972) [Original Motion Picture Soundtracks]Les Baxter
ALBUMMillion Seller Hits - Arranged and Conducted (Remastered from the Original Master Tapes)Les Baxter & 101 Strings Orchestra
ALBUMQue Mango! Arranged and Conducted by Les Baxter (Remastered from the Original Master Tapes)101 Strings Orchestra & Les Baxter
ALBUMHell's Belles (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)Les Baxter
ALBUMThe Academy Award WinnersLes Baxter, His Orchestra and Chorus
ALBUMThe Soul of the Drums (2005 Remaster)Les Baxter and His Orchestra
ALBUMThe Primitive and the Passionate (2006 Remaster)Les Baxter and His Orchestra
Artist Playlists
Les Baxter Essentials
This man morphed lounge music into exotica.
Artist Biography
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
Genre
Jazz