During the late 1950s and early ’60s, Juan Garcia Esquivel was the creative mind behind space-age lounge music, a jazz-meets-pop-say-hello-to-Latin sound that balanced eccentric arrangements with hi-fi studio technology. Many of his recordings have been reissued on CD; now, a big band of Boston musicians has dedicated itself to recreating the Esquivel sound. The percussionist calling himself Mr. Ho painstakingly transcribed Esquivel’s arrangements for standards (“Night and Day”) and originals (“Mini Skirt”) and recorded them with an orchestra of ace musicians. The retro-futuristic, seriously campy result is an entertaining labor of lovea great soundtrack for watching “Mad Men” on mute.
