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.
The Beatnuts is an American hip hop group and production duo from New York City. Its current members are JuJu and Psycho Les. JuJu is a Dominican American from Corona and Psycho Les is a Colombian American from Jackson Heights, Queens. Although only peripheral members, they are routinely acknowledged by Q-Tip as being members of Native Tongues. The Beatnuts were originally a trio before Fashion, now known as Al' Tariq, left the group to start a solo career. V.I.C. was also a member of The Beatnuts' production team for a while.
The Hissing of Summer Lawns is the seventh studio album by Joni Mitchell. It was released in November 1975 on Asylum Records. The album continues the jazz-influenced sound of Mitchell's previous album Court and Spark while featuring more unconventional and experimental material than its predecessor. Additionally, the album saw Mitchell experiment with sampling and synthesizers such as the Moog and ARP. Contributors to the album include jazz-rock groups the L.A. Express and the Jazz Crusaders alongside backing appearances by James Taylor, David Crosby, and Graham Nash.
"Take Five" is a jazz standard composed by Paul Desmond. It was first recorded in 1959 and is the third track on Time Out by the Dave Brubeck Quartet. Frequently covered by a variety of artists, the track is the biggest-selling jazz song of all time and a Grammy Hall of Fame inductee.
Plas John Johnson Jr. is an American soul-jazz and hard bop tenor saxophonist, probably most widely known as the tenor saxophone soloist on Henry Mancini’s "The Pink Panther Theme". He also performs on alto and baritone sax as well as various flutes and clarinets.
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.
"Take Me in Your Arms (Rock Me a Little While)" is a song written by the premier Motown songwriting/production team of the 1960s Holland–Dozier–Holland. The first hit recording was sung by Kim Weston in 1965. It was most popular in 1975 when it was recorded by the Doobie Brothers.
Jazz Track is a compilation album by Miles Davis, released in November 1959 by Columbia Records, catalogue CL 1268. It compiles sessions by the most recent edition of the Davis Sextet which were insufficient to compose an entire LP, with music previously released in France as a soundtrack. This album was made available on CD for the first time as part of Miles Davis' 'The Original Mono Recordings' box set.
"Quiet Village" is an orchestral pop instrumental that was written and originally performed by Les Baxter in 1951 and an instrumental album from 1959 by Martin Denny. In the liner notes to his album, Ritual of the Savage , Baxter described the themes he was conveying in the work:
[t]he jungle grows more dense as the river boat slowly makes its way into the deep interior. A snake slithers into the water, flushing a brilliantly plumaged bird who soars into the clearing above a quiet village. Here is a musical portrait of a tropical village deserted in the mid-day heat.
"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.
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.
Les Baxter's African Jazz is an album by Les Baxter and His Orchestra. It was released in 1959 on Capitol Records The album consists of original music composed by Baxter. Upon its release, the album received a four-star rating from Billboard magazine. Billboard called it an "imaginative package" with "inventive treatments", excellent sound, and "lush, rich approaches."
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".
