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Amazon is selling "imported" box sets of Baxter's exotica albums by a label called "Real Gone Jazz." They have many such sets, mostly of jazz artists (surprise). I can't attest as to their quality (or legitimacy):
www.amzn.com/B005I4ULK2
Sadly, these are vinyl transfers of varying quality, plus there's the bare minimum of documentation. But of course, this is the only way to obtain some of the rarer titles...
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Those "Real Gone" boxes are better than nothing - but the sound quality is so bad most of the time that they are practically unlistenable.
The odd thing is that Martin Denny and Arthur Lyman are rather well-represented on CD - while Les Baxter who had major hits with "April in Portugal" and "Blue Tango" is totally unrepresented on CD (at least when it comes to his Capitol exotica calbums).
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I'm only aware of:
- Baxter's Best
- The Exotic Moods Of Les Baxter (2 CDs)
- The Pop Side (Collectors' Choice)
- Tamboo/Skins (Collectables)
In addition, about half a dozen albums are available as official downloads from Capitol - also on some sites with lossless downloads...
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Posted: |
Jun 18, 2021 - 8:37 AM
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By: |
OnyaBirri
(Member)
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Back in 2010, a younger and more innocent OnyaBirri, filled with wonder at the rich possibilities life had to offer, started this thread, dreaming of a Les Baxter exotica box set. (The existing PD Baxter releases are vinyl rips.)
Now, 11 years later, as one who has tasted life's sweet and bitter, and as one who has lived, loved, and lost like Sinatra, an older and wiser Onya realizes that if this has not happened by now, it never will.
But there is a silver lining:
Qobuz is offering eight classic Les Baxter Capitol albums, directly from EMI/Univeral, as CD-quality downloads. The albums are:
Ritual of the Savage
Tamboo
Skins
Ports of Pleasure
Space Escapade
African Jazz
The Sacred Idol
Jewels of the Sea
There are a few quirks: For "Ritual," they used the fake-stereo Duophonic master rather than the clean, original mono master. And for "Ports," they use the abridged 10-track stereo album lineup, omitting "Bangkok Cockfight" and "Spice Islands Sea Birds."
And a few albums are missing. For example, it would be nice to get CD-quality versions of "The Passions," "Caribbean Moonlight," and "Jungle Jazz."
Still, beggars can't be choosers. We're not getting any younger, so these lossless downloads appear to be the way to go.
Sharing this news for the two or three people here who remotely care.
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Hey, I was just listening to Space Escapade a couple nights ago, and have Sacred Idol lined up.
Glad that there are good quality choices out there (Spotify quality is good enough for me).
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Posted: |
Jun 18, 2021 - 10:45 AM
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By: |
OnyaBirri
(Member)
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Hey, I was just listening to Space Escapade a couple nights ago, and have Sacred Idol lined up.
Glad that there are good quality choices out there (Spotify quality is good enough for me).
Be sure to check out at least 7 of the 8 that I listed. "Skins" is primarily a percussion album, and if you are not into all-percussion you may not like it.
Of the others, "Ports of Pleasure" is very symphonic, and "African Jazz" is very jazzy.
"Tamboo" was his second exotica album, and in may ways, this one provided templates for his future exotica albums. It is in many regards my favorite of the bunch.
You will also find his two exotica albums for Warner/Reprise, "The Primitive and the Passionate" and "Soul of the Drums." These albums are less consistent, but the high points are as good as any of the Capitol albums.
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