| The Fruit Of Dreams is a fantastic combination of Les Baxter's rarest, best and most pure exotica albums Ports Of Pleasure and The Sacred Idol, both of these records are rightly internationally acclaimed as masterpieces, remarkably this is their first release anywhere on CD. Les Baxter was the founding father of exotica, a variation of easy listening that documented the sounds and styles of the South seas, India and South America. Exotica became a massively popular trend from the early fifties and with the onset of international jet travel, making it possible for middle-class Americans to simulate an authentic travelogue experience in the comfort of their suburban homes. The music of Les Baxter is never sad or gloomy-it is full of the adventure of life, the sounds of exotic lands and the free spirit of life close to nature. Because of the wild inventiveness of his music Les Baxter is a hero to contemporary independent artists as diverse as Jello Biafra and Beck. Les Baxter has scored many movies and he also scored music for theme parks and seaworlds. In the nineties Baxter was widely celebrated, alongside Martin Denny (for whom he had written the 1959 top ten hit Quiet Village) and Arthur Lyman Group, as one of the progenitors of exotica.
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