Les Baxter

Easy Listening music is instrumental music that was designed to be soothing and relaxing. Unlike jazz, which demands your utmost attention, easy listening slips into the background, which is the very reason many critics and listeners dismissed the music as nothing more than disposible fluff. Although some records certainly fall into that category, there were a number of inventive arrangers and conductors working in the genre, such as Martin Denny, Les Baxter and Esquivel, who distinguished... [+] Read More

Easy Listening music is instrumental music that was designed to be soothing and relaxing. Unlike jazz, which demands your utmost attention, easy listening slips into the background, which is the very reason many critics and listeners dismissed the music as nothing more than disposible fluff. Although some records certainly fall into that category, there were a number of inventive arrangers and conductors working in the genre, such as Martin Denny, Les Baxter and Esquivel, who distinguished themselves with unpredictable instrumentation and idiosyncratic arrangements. Still, the primary characteristic of easy listening, from Ray Conniff's lush wordless vocals to the Latin flourishes of Herb Alpert, is that it's pleasant and easy on the ears. [-] Hide

Bruce Haack

Exotica and Lounge were two of the prime styles of easy listening music in the '50s and '60s -- so symbolic of the sound of their era that they seemed to define easy listening in the minds of many listeners, particularly those that came upon the genre in its '90s revival. Exotica draws upon world music, but it doesn't aim for authentic replication. Instead, exotica's primary concern is lightweight entertainment, gathering readily identifiable ethnic sounds into a smooth, easily digested pop... [+] Read More

Exotica and Lounge were two of the prime styles of easy listening music in the '50s and '60s -- so symbolic of the sound of their era that they seemed to define easy listening in the minds of many listeners, particularly those that came upon the genre in its '90s revival. Exotica draws upon world music, but it doesn't aim for authentic replication. Instead, exotica's primary concern is lightweight entertainment, gathering readily identifiable ethnic sounds into a smooth, easily digested pop form. The music typically conjures up images of exotic foreign tourist destinations geared toward white Americans, and in that sense, it's sort of the equivalent of a pre-packaged resort vacation -- fun, inauthentic, and safely familiar. Exotica is usually arranged for standard orchestras, with instrumentation added according to the location being evoked (ethnic percussion, string instruments, etc.); some exotica also borrows the weird, otherworldly sound effects that define the space-age pop style. Even in its '50s/early-'60s heyday, exotica was often derided as cheesy and contrived, but its '90s revival among alternative music fans embraced those very qualities (albeit ironically), and also brought a sincere reassessment of the music's inventive production techniques. The Pacific, the Caribbean, Latin America, Brazil, and Africa are among exotica's most popular regional musical sources; major exotica artists include Les Baxter, Martin Denny, Esquivel, and Yma Sumac.

Lounge was based on the lush styles of latter-day swing and big band music. Lounge scaled these back, borrowing ideas from the worldbeat exploration of exotica, as well as the futuristic aspirations of space age pop. Lounge wasn't as adventurous as either form, yet it wasn't as watered down as Muzak -- instead, it occupied the middle ground, appealing to fans of traditional pop as well as space-age pop.

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Betty Roché

Traditional Pop refers to post-big band and pre-rock & roll pop music. Traditional pop drew from a repertoire of songs written by professional songwriters and were performed by a vocalist that was supported by either an orchestra or a small combo. In traditional pop, the song is the key. During the golden age of the American popular song (around 1915-60), several dozen very talented composers wrote a countless number of flexible songs that were adopted (and often transformed) by creative jazz... [+] Read More

Traditional Pop refers to post-big band and pre-rock & roll pop music. Traditional pop drew from a repertoire of songs written by professional songwriters and were performed by a vocalist that was supported by either an orchestra or a small combo. In traditional pop, the song is the key. During the golden age of the American popular song (around 1915-60), several dozen very talented composers wrote a countless number of flexible songs that were adopted (and often transformed) by creative jazz musicians and singers. Often originally written for Broadway shows and Hollywood films, many of these works (generally 32 bars in length) have been performed and recorded a seemingly infinite number of times, including "Body and Soul," "Stardust," and "All the Things You Are." Such composers as Jerome Kern, Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Harold Arlen, Hoagy Carmichael, Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers, Harry Warren, Fats Waller, and Duke Ellington supplied the jazz and pop music worlds with what must have seemed like an endless supply of gems. Called Standards (which means that they caught on as a permanent part of the jazz and pop music repertoire), the songs differ from less flexible "originals" that are often put together for a record date and then quickly forgotten. ~ Scott Yanow [-] Hide