Ritual of the Savage

Capitol released Ritual of the Savage (Le Sacre du Sauvage) in 1951 after sessions at Capitol Studios in Hollywood on May 10 and May 17. Baxter was a concert pianist and Hollywood arranger who wrote imaginary travelogues: strings, Afro-Cuban percussion, and film-score drama instead of a hotel combo.

He called the LP a “tone poem of the sound and the struggle of the jungle.” Liner notes asked the listener to picture native drums and far-off Congo rituals — Hollywood fantasy, not ethnography. The program includes “Quiet Village,” “Jungle River Boat,” “Love Dance,” and “Stone God,” the orchestral templates Denny’s group would later shrink for the Shell Bar.

Martin Denny’s small-combo Quiet Village became the radio hit; this is the wide-screen original. Where Denny is vibes and bird calls in a lounge, Baxter is full orchestra and mid-day heat. It sits earlier in the timeline than most tiki-bar crates and still sounds like a studio jungle picture.