Before Prog There was Exotica

Anyone else enjoy this genre?

It's said (by Baxter's daughter) that Les Baxter helped Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys with some training.

If you listen to a lot of the arrangements, they were as complex as things the Beatles and Beach Boys were doing by 1965.  

Here is Dolphin by Les Baxter. 

In fact, progressive jazz existed prior to progressive pop and progressive rock. In England, the term "progressive music" was first used as a synonym for "underground music," which actually originated with the early 1960s' British jazz that was played in clubs in and around Soho, London, which is about four square miles and was the site of the majority of these artistic activities.

In that respect, I'd like to recommend the book Subversion Through Jazz: The Birth of British Progressive Jazz in a Cold War Climate by Matt Parker, which examines the beginning of the British progressive jazz movement from 1956 to 1964. British jazz saw a paradigm shift during this time, going from imitator to innovator, similar to many other art genres in the UK. Under the direction of West Indian alto saxophonist Joe Harriott, a new wave of post-World War II musicians found their own sound. Rather than copying American jazz traditions, they explored improvisation as a means of self-expression and embraced a wide range of influences, including African music, 50s rock 'n' roll, Indian music, blues, classic and contemporary poetry and literature, Caribbean music, folk, R&B, and soul. These influences helped to shape, firstly, British progressive jazz at the time and, a bit later, British progressive pop and rock identity, which in turn influenced musicians on the Continent and all over the world.

British progressive jazz was the source of the British pop and rock music industry's persistent preoccupation with British art and culture starting in 1965. The movement's musicians were the first post-World War II modern jazz performers outside of the United States to incorporate artistic nationalism into their work. They also introduced non-musical elements from the realms of British and European literature and art, left-wing politics, and non-jazz musical influences, including brass bands, the music-hall traditions of Victorian and Edwardian Britain, and the abstract classical compositions of Anton Webern and Cornelius Cardew.

The album Jewels of the Sea by Baxter must be heard. 

Rex Kona's Wild Orchids is one of my favorites, but mostly just a few songs, like the first one (which is the title track) and Patricia. 

Here's ten more reccomendations:

Nino Nardini & Roger Roger - Jungle Obsession (1972)
Jimmy Namaro Trio - Driftwood (1959)
Robert Drasnin - Voodoo (1959)
Alex Serra - Il Continenente Mediterraneo (1974)
David Carroll and His Orchestra - Percussion Orientale (1960)
John Zorn - The Gift (2001)
Milt Raskin - Kapu (Forbidden) (1959)
Werner Müller - East of India (1959)
Ron Goodwin and His Orchestra - Music for an Arabian Night (1959)
Zespół Instrumentalny Marka Sewena - Księżyc na Tahiti (1969)

Concur...there's a lot of smart, informed people here. And the discourse is refreshingly pleasant.