Lounge Covers
tagStarted 1957Peak 1958–1968Last big hit 2004
Located in 1 route
Lounge covers recast songs as cocktail-room performance, favoring vibraphone sparkle, Latin-tinged percussion, brushed drums, organ or piano comping, and a playful air of urbane leisure. Compared with straight easy covers, they lean more toward hip atmosphere, sly rhythm, and a faint whiff of martini-glass irony.
History
The substyle emerged in the overlap between easy listening, bachelor-pad records, exotica, and nightclub repertory, with mid-century artists such as Esquivel and Walter Wanderley shaping the light-footed groove and later revival acts such as Pink Martini and Combustible Edison renewing the idiom for retro-minded audiences in the 1990s and 2000s.
Defining artists
Essential listening
Sources
- Joseph Lanza, *Elevator Music*
- Library of Congress, "Elevator Music"
- Smithsonian Libraries, "Popular instrumental music." citeturn7search21turn7search11