小简介
Les Baxter 1922年3月14日出生于德州的Mexia，1996年1月15日于加州的Newport Beach逝世。
他在移居到洛杉矶就读Pepperdine College之前，曾在底特律音乐学院学过钢琴。后来，他放弃了古典钢琴而转向流行乐。吹过萨克管，还唱过歌。他在23岁时加入了Mel Torme的组合‘Mel-Tones’，曾在Frank Devol四重唱组合中唱过《Love Letter In The Sand》，还在Artie Shaw乐队演奏的《What Is This Thing Called Love》中任歌手的角色。
1950年代，他在Capitol唱片公司任编曲兼指挥。纳京高早期演唱的《Mona Lisa》，《Too Young》等曲就是他的作品。1953年他首次为一部描写航海的电影‘Tanga Tika’配乐。他自己组建的乐队曾有过多支上榜曲，如1953年的《Ruby》，1955年的《Unchained Melody》，1956年的《The Poor People Of Paris》等。他的专辑‘La Sacre du Sauvage’，‘Festival of the Gnomes’，‘Ports Of Pleasure’，‘Brazil Now’都获得很大的成功。前三张是Capitol唱片公司出版发行的，最后一张是属于Gene Norman的Crescendo唱片公司出版发行的。
Baxter擅长拉丁弦乐，但在录音时决不仅限于此。他自己就曾对Soundtrack杂志说过：“我什么都想试试。”
在60年代，他组织过一个称为‘The Balladeers’的老派民乐组合，David Crosby曾为组合成员之一。他在广播电台的 ‘Halls Of Ivy’，‘Bob Hope’以及‘Abbott
by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Les Baxter is a pianist who composed and arranged for the top swing bands of the '40s and '50s, but he is better known as the founder of exotica, a variation of easy listening that glorified the sounds and styles of Polynesia, Africa, and South America, even as it retained the traditional string-and-horn arrangements of instrumental pop. Exotica became a massively popular trend in the '50s, with thousands of record buyers listening to Baxter, Martin Denny, and their imitators. Baxter also pioneered the use of the electronic instrument the theremin, which has a haunting, howling sound.
Baxter studied piano at the Detroit Conservatory and Pepperdine College in Los Angeles. After he completed school, he abandoned the piano and became a vocalist. When he was 23, he joined Mel Tormé's Mel-Tones. The group sang on Artie Shaw records, including the hit "What Is This Thing Called Love."
In 1950, he became an arranger and conductor for Capitol Records, working on hits by Nat King Cole, including "Mona Lisa." Around the same time, Baxter began recording his own albums. In 1948, he released a triple-78 album called Music out of the Moon, which ushered in space-age pop with its use of the theremin. Four years later, he began recording exotica albums with Le Sacre du Sauvage.
On his early-'50s singles Baxter was relatively straightforward, performing versions of standards like the number one hits "Unchained Melody" and "The Poor People of Paris," but on his albums he experimented with all sorts of world musics, adapting them for his orchestra. As he was recording his exotica albums, Baxter was also the musical director for the radio show Halls of Ivy, plus Abbott & Costello radio shows; he also composed over 100 film scores, concentrating on horror movies and teenage musicals and comedies, though he also did dramas like Giant.
Baxter's heyday was in the '50s and '60s. Although he continued to compose and record in the '70s, his output was sporadic. Nevertheless, a cult following formed around his exotica recordings that persisted into the '90s.