“The Exotic Moods of Les Baxter” is a compilation album of the works by Les Baxter, an American composer and arranger known as the founder of exotica.
A set of 2 CDs. It contains 40 tracks. Recorded in 1951-1960. Released from Capitol Records in 1996.
The compilation gives an overview of his music during the period when he founded a basic style of exotica, in the 1950s and ther early 1960s.
Exotic and dreamy easy listening/lounge music that incorporated the elements of Polynesian/African/South American music into the instrumentation of orchestral pop and big band jazz.
It contains 38 tracks selected from his ten albums, including “Ritual of the Savage” (1951), one previously unreleased track, and a single “The Left Arm of Buddha” (1956).
“Quiet Village” (1951) is an exotica classic known for Martin Denny’s cover version, which reached No. 4 on the U.S. Billboard in 1957.
