Leslie Thompson Baxter was an American musician, composer and conductor. After working as an arranger and composer for swing bands, he developed his own style of easy listening music, known as exotica and scored over 250 radio, television and motion pictures numbers.
Exotica is a musical genre, named after the 1957 Martin Denny album of the same name that was popular during the 1950s to mid-1960s with Americans who came of age during World War II. The term was coined by Simon "Si" Waronker, Liberty Records co-founder and board chairman. The musical colloquialism exotica means tropical ersatz, the non-native, pseudo experience of insular Oceania, Southeast Asia, Hawaii, the Amazon basin, the Andes, the Caribbean and tribal Africa. Denny described the musical style as "a combination of the South Pacific and the Orient...what a lot of people imagined the islands to be like...it's pure fantasy though." While the South Seas forms the core region, exotica reflects the "musical impressions" of every place from standard travel destinations to the mythical "shangri-las" dreamt of by armchair safari-ers.
Mickey & Sylvia was an American R&B duo composed of Mickey Baker and Sylvia Vanderpool, who later became Sylvia Robinson. They are best known for their number-one R&B single "Love Is Strange" in 1957.
Mingus Ah Um is a studio album by American jazz musician Charles Mingus which was released in October 1959 by Columbia Records. It was his first album recorded for Columbia. The cover features a painting by S. Neil Fujita. The title is a corruption of an imaginary Latin declension. It is common for Latin students to memorize Latin adjectives by first saying the masculine nominative, then the feminine nominative, and finally the neuter nominative singular —implying a transformation of his name, Mingus, Minga, Mingum. The album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2013.
River: The Joni Letters is the forty-fifth studio album by American jazz pianist Herbie Hancock, released on September 25, 2007, by Verve. It is a tribute album featuring cover songs of music written by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell.
The Thelonious Monk Orchestra at Town Hall is an album by Thelonious Monk, released in 1959. The concert included Hall Overton’s arrangements on Monk’s tunes.
Forbidden Island was the third album by Martin Denny. The album was produced in March 1958 at the Liberty Studios in Hollywood, following the group's nine-month gig performing at Don the Beachcomber's Bora Bora Lounge in Hawaii. Forbidden Island was Denny's first album to be recorded and released after vibraphonist Arthur Lyman left the group to pursue his own solo career. The album includes four original compositions by Denny: "Cobra", "Exotica", "Primitiva", and "Forbidden Island".
Ranky Tanky is an American musical ensemble based in Charleston, South Carolina. It specializes in jazz-influenced arrangements of traditional Gullah music, a culture that originated among descendants of enslaved Africans in the Lowcountry region of the US Southeast. Apart from lead vocalist Quiana Parler, four of the group's members, Quentin Baxter, Kevin Hamilton, Clay Ross, and Charlton Singleton, previously played together in the Charleston jazz quartet The Gradual Lean in the late 1990s.
"Please, Mr. Sun" is a song written by Ray Getzov and Sid Frank and performed by Johnnie Ray featuring The Four Lads and the Jimmy Carroll Orchestra. It reached number 6 on the U.S. pop chart in 1952. It was featured on his 1955 album I Cry for You.
Continental Encores is an album by Mantovani and His Orchestra. It was released in 1959 by Decca Records. It debuted on Billboard magazine's pop album chart on February 16, 1959, peaked at the No. 13 spot, and remained on the chart for 31 weeks. AllMusic later gave it a rating of three stars.
Tamboo! is an album by Les Baxter, His Chorus and Orchestra. It was released in 1955 on the Capitol label.
Skins! Bongo Party with Les Baxter is an album by Les Baxter's Drums. It was released in 1957 on Capitol Records.
The Passions is an album by Les Baxter featuring vocals by Bas Sheva. It was released in 1954 on the Capitol label. From February through December 1954, it was included in Billboard's chart of the top five Best Selling Specialized High-Fidelity Albums.
Les Baxter's La Femme is an album by French conductor Franck Pourcel and His French Strings. It was released in 1956 on the Capitol label. Upon its release, Billboard magazine gave the album a rating of 77 and wrote: "'La Femme' might be called a 'pop' symphony, in a dozen movements, dedicated to woman -- her eyes, lips, arms, hands, etc. The pieces are reflective of the mysteries of femininity, and the whole attractive opus is the work of Les Baxter."
Caribbean Moonlight is an album by Les Baxter. It was released in 1956 on Capitol Records. In January 1957, it reached the No. 5 spot on Billboard magazine's "Pop Instrumentals" chart.
Space Escapade is an album by Les Baxter and His Orchestra. It was released in 1958 on the Capitol label. Baxter also composed the music.
Les Baxter's Jungle Jazz is an album by Les Baxter and His Orchestra. It was released in 1959 on the Capitol label. Plas Johnson is featured on tenor sax and alto flute. The music was composed by Baxter.
The Sacred Idol is an album by Les Baxter and His Orchestra. It was released in 1960 on Capitol Records. The music was composed by Baxter; it was originally intended to be the soundtrack for a film that was never released.
'Round the World with Les Baxter is an album by Les Baxter, His Orchestra and Chorus. It was released in 1957 on Capitol Records. The album was recorded on August 8, 1956.
Calcutta! is an album by Lawrence Welk and His Orchestra. It was released in 1961 on the Dot label. The album featured Frank Scott at the harpsichord and included Welk's No. 1 hit single, "Calcutta".
