Les Baxter Albums (16)
'The Chronestrian'
Release Date 1/1/2003
Tracks 7
Label The Les Baxter Factor
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Les Baxter's Que Mango! is considered one of the hallmark albums of the exotica genre, and also his last great release. The album's liner notes claim it to be the last of the first generation exotica albums -- and that it was originally sold in grocery stores for $1.99! Baxter's popularity waned in the late '60s and an offer to record with the world's largest orchestra, the 101 Strings resulted in Que Mango!. The album is an attempt to capture a South American vibe on what is often described as his "virtual tourist" albums. Baxter's Best may have a higher percentage of his better (and more accessible) songs, but it is the thematically unified albums that exotica fans will get more use out of. Recorded in January of 1970, Que Mango! is a fun, lush, orchestral album for creating a go-go, jet-set party atmosphere. This functional use side-steps the reality of the album and the exotica genre itself, which is that lounge instrumentals are not the easiest music to listen to without a cocktail in your hand or a barbecue going on. Standout tracks include "Tropicando," "Flight in the Andes," and "Jungle Montuno." Les Baxter's last non-soundtrack album is a pleasant, but hardly essential, purchase. ~ JT Griffith, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
A real period piece, Space Escapade is a definitive slice of lounge/bachelor pad music. The music, of course, is a bit dated, although it certainly shows off Baxter's chops as a big-band leader. One reason to get the record, however, is the cover -- two astronauts holding goblets of exotic (and potentially lethal) cocktails, surrounded by three very attractive Martian women, and in the background, a silhouette of a rocket. All cloaked in dry ice. This record has sold for decades on the cover artwork alone, and you'll see why if (and when) you pick it up. ~ Matthew Greenwald, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
A follow-up to the popular Skins! Bongo Party with Les Baxter LP of 1957, Les Baxter's Teen Drums returns the easy listening maestro to pure beat territory, and the results are as wholesome as the squeaky-clean youngsters grinning on the album cover. Producer/arranger/marimbist Baxter collected a group of session percussionists schooled in various foreign rhythms (Afro-Cuban, Puerto Rican, Brazilian) and steered them through 11 improvised selections. Congas, bongos, tom toms, and timbales are employed, surrounded by the occasional saxophone, piano, or guitar to rein in any stray solo excursions. "Ting Ting Ting" and "Brazil Nuts" start the album off with appropriately busy rhythms, but the furor fades and Teen Drums delivers skeletal arrangements and tightly restrained beats without aggression or abstraction, fading easily into the background as Baxter probably intended. The jazzy "I Dig" swings the hardest, "Barbarian" shoots for (and misses) some Link Wray-style guitar rumble, and "Boombada" rewrites the "Peter Gunn Theme" for an imaginary film noir soundtrack. Les Baxter's Teen Drums is well-behaved exotica, a pleasant approximation of romantic rhythms for the average space-age bachelor's cocktail party. ~ Fred Beldin, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Following the commercial success of the lush instrumental "The Poor People of Paris," Capitol commissioned Les Baxter to create an entire LP expanding upon the single's global theme, and with 'Round the World with Les Baxter, the arranger again proves his unparalleled skill for translating the sounds and textures of foreign lands into sublimely melodic travelogues that capture settings based far more in fantasy than reality. The album travels the earth at a speed of 33 and 1/3 revolutions per minute, making stops in the Far East ("Japanese Parasols"), South America ("Romantic Rio"), and Scandinavia ("Monika") -- each arrangement perfectly captures the cinematic precision of Baxter's artistry, documenting the far-flung corners of the globe via the universal language. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide
