See all 5 pictures

Play Les Baxter Radio

Les Baxter

470,593 plays (65,625 listeners)
In your library (0 plays)

29 shouts

Add to my Library Share

Les Baxter is a pianist who composed and arranged for the top swing bands of the ’40s and ’50s, but he is better known as the founder of exotica, a variation of easy listening that glorified the sounds and styles of Polynesia, Africa, and South America, even as it retained the traditional string-and-horn arrangements of instrumental pop. Exotica became a massively popular trend in the ’50s, with thousands of record buyers listening to Baxter, Martin Denny, and their imitators. Baxter also pioneered the use of the electronic instrument the theremin, which has a haunting, howling sound.

Edit

Tagged as:

exotica, lounge, easy listening, jazz, space age pop
See more…

Similar Artists

Top Albums

Baxter's Best
Les Baxter
Buy
- Download Album
- Amazon MP3 $7.99
- 7digital $6.99
- iTunes $8.99
- Buy Album
- Amazon Search
- eBay Search
Tamboo!
Les Baxter
Buy
- Download Album
- Amazon MP3 $8.99
- 7digital $6.99
- iTunes $5.99
- Buy Album
- Amazon Search
- eBay Search
Moog Rock: Great Classic Hits
Les Baxter
Buy
- Download Album
- Amazon MP3 $7.99
- 7digital $7.77
- iTunes
- Buy Album
- Amazon Search
- eBay Search
The Sacred Idol
Les Baxter
Buy
- Download Album
- Amazon MP3 Search
- 7digital Search
- iTunes
- Buy Album
- Amazon Search
- eBay Search

Top Tracks

1	Santa Claus' Party full track	485
2	Santa Claus Party	165
3	Tropicando	99
4	Simba	69
5	Unchained Melody	67
6	Atlantis	65
7	Go Chango	53
8	Pyramid of the Sun	44
9	Calcutta full track	38
10	Voodoo Dreams	35
11	April In Portugal full track	34
12	Quiet Village full track	29
13	Chopin - Prelude In E Minor	22
14	Oasis of Dakhla full track	21
15	Mozambique full track	17

Shoutbox

Leave a comment. Log in to Last.fm or sign up (it’s free).

sonicsonia wrote:
June 2009

great les baxter turned me into a spacoholic! now i eat it all :)))

View Profile | Leave sonicsonia a shout
laaelxim wrote:
May 2009

absolutely gorgeous the way he use the music!

View Profile | Leave laaelxim a shout
protonemata wrote:
April 2009

how delightful!

View Profile | Leave protonemata a shout
smarts47 wrote:
March 2009

Haha, we did some selections from Tamboo! and The Sacred Idol for a concert at my university, which was the first time it's been performed live. Ever. Let me tell you, that stuff isn't easy to learn and is not meant for live performance (especially vocals, yikes!). It takes a mad genius to write that stuff.

View Profile | Leave smarts47 a shout
imuzico wrote:
March 2009

absolutely gorgeous music....i like it {`

View Profile | Leave imuzico a shout
largojax wrote:
March 2009

Palm trees, secret agents, damsels in need, the scent of exotic flowers, and some space action! You gotta love this music!

View Profile | Leave largojax a shout
brendation wrote:
March 2009

sabrosura!

View Profile | Leave brendation a shout
Audiomoxie wrote:
January 2009

Le Sacre du Sauvage

View Profile | Leave Audiomoxie a shout
MamaLuigi wrote:
January 2009

Space Escapade!

View Profile | Leave MamaLuigi a shout
Jazzdjur wrote:
December 2008

Join The Bahama Soul Club and share our love for jazz, latin, exotica, bossa and smooth sounds! I'm hoping to see you at The Club!

View Profile | Leave Jazzdjur a shout
Zach216 wrote:
November 2008

This guy abso-fukin-lutely ruled

View Profile | Leave Zach216 a shout
notoire wrote:
November 2008

musical genius

View Profile | Leave notoire a shout
Vitalic9999 wrote:
September 2008

Aaaaabuena

View Profile | Leave Vitalic9999 a shout
ladruga wrote:
September 2008

great!!!!...

View Profile | Leave ladruga a shout
mf1171 wrote:
August 2008

The Exotic Moods!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

View Profile | Leave mf1171 a shout
Bullzor wrote:
May 2008

I love Stone God... it's very avant-garde in a way!

View Profile | Leave Bullzor a shout
adaam2 wrote:
May 2008

exotica- yummm

View Profile | Leave adaam2 a shout
Dreagan_luna wrote:
April 2008

Dunwich rules

View Profile | Leave Dreagan_luna a shout
zygocactus wrote:
March 2008

A great artist

View Profile | Leave zygocactus a shout
u_neak wrote:
March 2008

i second that

View Profile | Leave u_neak a shout

See all 29 shouts

Videos

Play Unchained Melody

Listeners

the_sometimes
Top Listener
puppybeale
Top Listener
kasanhasan
Top Listener
casadeldisco_fa
Top Listener
romulavgust
Top Listener
raisedbyrats
Top Listener

Recent Activity

JoshCIVM and ccartuja added Les Baxter to their libraries. Tuesday evening
Zholthan tagged Les Baxter with composers, opium-den-traxxx, nostalgia and 4 other tags. Monday morning
Sailer9781, Diablodavd, ArtLessing and 5 other people added Les Baxter to their libraries. Saturday morning
delijn updated the wiki page for Les Baxter. (diff) 14 days ago
ramonekx, woodchopper11, sozcuk and 3 other people added Les Baxter to their libraries. 16 days ago
Knalien13 tagged Les Baxter with supreme60s and koktayle. 20 days ago
Knalien13 added Les Baxter to Knalien13’s library. 20 days ago
LeToutouAndalou tagged Les Baxter with acid jazz, space age pop, easy listening and one other tag. 20 days ago
IanAR connected Les Baxter to the group Scrawl Audio. 21 days ago
and 1 other person added Les Baxter to their libraries. 23 days ago