Apr 20
Close your eyes while an exotica record is playing and almost anything can happen. A vibraphone drifts through the room. Bongos and strange percussion begin somewhere in the distance. A bird calls from an imaginary jungle. Frogs answer from a lagoon. Strings swell dramatically, a gong appears unexpectedly, and suddenly an ordinary living room feels …
Jun 20
Before Martin Denny filled a Waikīkī lounge with vibraphone and bird calls, before exotica became a recognized genre, and before tropical mood music became almost inseparable from midcentury tiki culture, Les Baxter was already constructing imaginary worlds with an orchestra. Baxter was a composer, arranger, conductor, and recording artist whose career stretched across popular music, …
