HERB ALPERT BIOGRAPHY

1962       1963       1964       1965       1966       1967       1968       1969      

1956 - 62: BEFORE THE TIJUANA BRASS

In 1956, Herb Alpert began writing songs with Lou Adler. Herb Alpert and Lou Adler were signed to an exclusive production agreement with Madison Records and in 1960 were running the label's West Coast office. Adler and Alpert managed Jan and Dean, Dean Hawley, Dante and the Evergreens, the Untouchables.

Jan and Dean, Herb Alpert, Lou Adler
Herb Alpert Image

The 1956 recording of "Sweet Georgia Brown" featured Johnny "Guitar" Watson playing the organ.

During 1959-1961, Herb Alpert and Lou Adler owned a small record label named Shar-Dee.  Sharr-Dee released six singles that were distributed by London Records. Three of the singles were by singer Lou Rawls. These were Rawls first singles as a recording artist. The remaining singles were by The Valiants and The Roosters. Alpert was credited as the arranger on "My Heart Belongs to You" by Lou Rawls Shar-Dee 702-2 and the team of Alpert and Adler produced "Chicken Hop" and "Fun House"  by The Roosters Shar-Dee 45-704 and Lou Rawls "Kiddio" and "Walkin' (For Miles)" Shar-Dee 45-705.

In 1960, Alpert signed with RCA Records as vocalist Dore Alpert.

Carnival 701 was released on July 25, 1962. Also released in July 1962 was Carnival 702 "Love Is Back in Style" by Charlie Robinson. Both singles were produced by Alpert and Moss and printed at their expense. Upon learning the label name Carnival was being used by another company, Alpert and Moss renamed their label A&M Records.

THE PRE-TIJUANA BRASS SINGLES

LABELTITLEARTISTYEAR
Keen As Long As Life Goes On/Beggar Boy Milton Grayson with Herbie Alpert & His Orch. 1957 
Andex Hully Gully/Summer School Herbie Alpert Sextet 1959
Arch Trial (the)/Kiss Me Herb B. Lou & the Legal Eagles 1959
Carol Sweet Georgia Brown/Viper's Blues Herbie Alpert & His Quartet 1959 
Madison Finders Keepers/This Game Called Love Herbie Alpert1960 
Dore Hooray For the Big Slow Train Diddly Oohs 1961 
Dot Tell It to the Birds/Fallout Shelter Dore Alpert 1962 
RCA Gonna Get a Girl/Dreamland Dore Alpert 1962 
RCA Little Lost Lover/Won't You Be My Valentine Dore Alpert 1962 
CarnivalTell It to the Birds/Fallout Shelter Dore Alpert 1962 
A&MDina/You're Doin' What You Did with Me with Him Dore Alpert 1963 
A&MI'd Do It All Again/Special Kind of Love Dore Alpert 1964 

 

SOURCES: 
Madison Signs Adler, Alpert. Billboard, September 26, 1960, 20. 
Top 40 Democracy: the Rival Mainstreams of American Music. Eric Weisbard. University of Chicago Press. 

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1962: THE LONELY BULL

 

The single of "The Lonely Bull" was recorded in August-September 1962. The album version of the song was recorded in October 1962. The single was released in late September 1962. In the U.S. the single peaked at #6 on the Billboard and Cash Box charts. In Australia the song was #1 for five consecutive weeks. 

 

Image
Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass: The Lonely Bull U.S. chart positions

 

THE LONELY BULL SESSIONOGRAPHY

OCTOBER 29, 1962CONWAY RECORDERS
The Lonely Bull
Acapulco 1922
Herb Alpert--trumpet
Ervan Coleman--guitar, mandolin
Lew McCreary--trombone
Earl Palmer, Sr.--drums
William Pitman--guitar
M. R. Pohlman--bass
Billy Lee Riley--guitar
Mel Taylor--drums
Julius Wechter--marimba
David Wells--trombone
OCTOBER 31, 1962CONWAY RECORDERS
El Lobo
Mexico
A Quiet Tear
Let It Be Me
Herb Alpert--trumpet
Ervan Coleman--guitar, mandolin
Earl Palmer, Sr.--drums
William Pitman--guitar
M. R. Pohlman--bass
Julius Wechter--marimba
NOVEMBER 3, 1962CONWAY RECORDERS
Crawfish
Desafinado
Herb Alpert--trumpet
Hugh Louis Allison--drums
Laurindo Almeida--guitar
Harry Babasin--bass
Roy Harte--drums
Julius Wechter--marimba
NOVEMBER 5, 1962CONWAY RECORDERS
Never on Sunday
A Quiet Tear
Struttin' with Maria
Tijuana Sauerkraut
Herb Alpert--trumpet
Laurindo Almeida--guitar
Ervan Coleman--guitar, mandolin
Lew McCreary--trombone
Earl Palmer, Sr.--drums
M. R. Pohlman--bass
Howard M. Roberts--sax
Julius Wechter--marimba
David Wells--trombone
Ira Westley--tuba

 

THE LONELY BULL HISTORY

Released in December 1962 on vinyl album, cassette, 8-track and open reel tape. First CD issued in 1988.

The monaural and vinyl copies of the album have a different mix on "Acapulco 1922"and a different arrangement of "Crawfish."

"The Lonely Bull"was #1 in Australia for six weeks in 1962.

In Britain, EMI acquired "The Lonely Bull"for release on Stateside Records. 

On January 19, 1963, Billboard had "The Lonely Bull"on its Honor Roll of Hits at #26.

On March 16, 1963, Billboard reported "The Lonely Bull"was #6 in Israel. 

By April 1964, The Lonely Bull sold 125,000 copies and the title track single sold over 60,000 copies.

Billboard's Top LP's for 1966 included The Lonely Bull at #14. 

Billboard's Top LP's for 1967 included The Lonely Bull at #21. 

In 1966, The Lonely Bull was certified gold by the R.I.A.A. 

In 1977 the R.I.A.A. began issuing platinum album certifications. The Lonely Bull was certified.

In 2005, The Lonely Bull was remastered and released as part of the Herb Alpert Signature Series. 

The Lonely Bull remastered digital album released December 4, 2015 on the Herb Alpert Presents label. On September 9, 2016, the CD was released. 

SOURCE: 
International News Reports. Billboard, December 8, 1962, 39. 

 

HERB ALPERT ON THE LONELY BULL

Alpert told Joe Smith, "In those days for a couple of hundred bucks, you could make a record, have it pressed, put a label on it, and put it out. If somebody bites, you either turn it over for distribution or you try to hold it for yourself and get paid for the distributors, which was pretty impossible...."The Lonely Bull" was one of those rarities. It took off....Basically, we were just trying to hang on.....distributors were crying out for us to put out The Lonely Bull album....However, before a distribuor received one album, Jerry made sure they were all paid up on the single. That gave us operating cash, and essentially that was the beginning of A&M Records."

[The Lonely Bull] was one of those melodies that get hold of you. If you'd heard it once, you'd wake up singing it. To me, it lent itself perfectly to trumpets playing in thirds--the Mariachi sound.

I think instrumental music has to paint pictures. 'The Lonely Bull' took you to that bullring whether you lived in San Diego or Fargo, North Dakota.

SOURCES:
Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass Tour Book 1966.
A&M Records press release for Rise album, 1979.

 

OFFICIAL VIDEO PERFORMANCES OF THE LONELY BULL SONGS

SONG TITLESHOWYEAR
The Lonely BullA&M Records Presents Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass
The Brass Are Comin'
1966
1969
Never on SundaySecond Tijuana Brass television special (Kraft)
The Brass Are Comin' television special
1967
1969
A Quiet TearThe Beat of the Brass television special1968
Struttin' with MariaThe Beat of the Brass television special1968

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1963: TIJUANA BRASS VOLUME 2

 

TIJUANA BRASS VOLUME 2 SESSIONOGRAPHY

JUNE 20, 1963WESTERN RECORDERS
America
Winds of Barcelona
Only Dina (Dore Alpert 45)
Herb Alpert--trumpet
Gil Falco--trombone
Milt Holland--percussion
Earl Palmer--drums
Bill Pitman--guitar
M. R. Pohlman--bass
David Wells--trombone
AUGUST 1, 1963WESTERN RECORDERS
Surfin' Senorita
Foolish, Foolish Pride
Swinger from Seville
Picture on the Wall
Green Leaves of Summer
Herb Alpert--trumpet
Nick Bonney--guitar
Ernest A. Freeman
Lew McCreary--trombone
Earl Palmer--drums
Bill Pitman--guitar
M. R. Pohlman--bass
Julius Wechter--marimba
David Wells--trombone

 

HERB ALPERT'S TIJUANA BRASS VOLUME 2 HISTORY

"Struttin' with Maria"became a Billboard Regional Breakout single on March 23, 1963. 

The first Tijuana Brass concert took place at the Cow Palace in San Franciso, CA. The group participated in Chubby Checker's Limbo Party.

Billboard's Top LP's for 1966 included Volume 2 at #34.

In 1966, Volume 2 was certified gold by the R.I.A.A. 

In 1977 the R.I.A.A. began issuing platinum album certifications. Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass Volume 2 was certified.

Volume 2 was the first A&M album to have two different back covers.

Volume 2 remastered digital album released December 4, 2015 on the Herb Alpert Presents label. On September 9, 2016, the CD was released. 

SOURCES: 
1. Page One Singles. Billboard, March 23, 1963, 1. 

 

HERB ALPERT ON VOLUME 2

One time I recorded a tune called "Mexican Drummer Man" and I had the kitchen sink in it. I had two drummers, two bass players, two guitars and I thought I would just load it up with sound and groove and pulse and it was very contrived. It didn't happen at all.

That sound didn't quite work. I was using a studio I wasn't quite happy with; I thought the sound was a little metallic; and it didn't sound like the other albums.

SOURCES:
Larry King Show, June 7, 1982.
Herb Alpert Albums Remastered and Reissued, Rarities Revisited and Released. Gillian G. Garr. Discoveries, January 2006.

 

OFFICIAL VIDEO PERFORMANCES FROM VOLUME 2

SONG TITLESHOWYEAR
A-me-ri-caFirst Tijuana Brass television special (Singer)1967
Winds of BarcelonaSecond Tijuana Brass television special (Kraft)1967

 

MEXICAN DRUMMER MAN

The single of "Mexican Drummer Man" was recorded on October 10, 1963 at Western Recorders. 

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1964: SOUTH OF THE BORDER

 

SOUTH OF THE BORDER SESSIONOGRAPHY

APRIL 20, 1964GOLD STAR RECORDING STUDIOS
Mexican Shuffle
The Shuffle
Herb Alpert--trumpet
Hal Blaine--drums
Ervan Coleman--guitar, mandolin
Carol Kaye--bass
William Pittman--guitar
M. R. Pohlman--bass
Julius Wechter--marimba
AUGUST 18, 1964GOLD STAR RECORDING STUDIOS
Hello Dolly
All My Loving
In a Little Spanish Town
Angelito
Sol's Tune 1
Herb Alpert--trumpet
Hal Blaine--drums
Ervan Coleman--guitar, mandolin
M. R. Pohlman--bass
Thomas Tedesco--guitar
Julius Wechter--marimba
AUGUST 21, 1964GOLD STAR RECORDING STUDIOS
Sol's Tune 2
Girl from Ipanema
I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face
South of the Border
Herb Alpert--trumpet
Hal Blaine--drums
Russell Bridges--piano
Ervan Coleman--guitar, mandolin
Lew McCreary--trombone
William Pitman--guitar
M. R. Pohlman--bass
Thomas Tedesco--guitar
Julius Wechter--marimba
David Wells--trombone
Jerry Williams--drums, percussion

 

SOUTH OF THE BORDER HISTORY 

Released in February 1964 on vinyl album, 4-track, 8-track and open reel tape. 

The maintenance people at Gold Star Studios sang on "Hello Dolly."

"Numero Cinco" has a spoken word intro on the monaural album but not on the stereo album. 

Bob Edmondson was the first member of the touring Tijuana Brass to play on a recording session led by Herb Alpert. The session was for a Baja Marimba Band session that included the songs "Maria's First Rose"and "Pedro's Porch, Part 2."

The second Tijuana Brass concert took place in San Francisco on February 17, 1964. 

Billboard's Top LP's for 1966 included South of the Border at #11.

In 1966, South of the Border was certified gold by the R.I.A.A. 

In 1977 the R.I.A.A. began issuing platinum album certifications. South of the Border was certified.

Billboard's Top LP's for 1967 included South of the Border at #34.

The "Mexican Drummer Man"single was #19 on Billboard's Middle-Road Singles on April 18, 1964 and on the Hot 100 chart for four weeks.

At the end of 1964, Herb Alpert created a new arrangement and recording of "Mexican Shuffle"for the Clark Gum Company. The song was used in Clark Teaberry Gum television ads with actors dancing the Teaberry Shuffle. 

South Of The Borderl remastered digital album released December 4, 2015 on the Herb Alpert Presents label. On September 9, 2016, the CD was released.

 

HERB ALPERT ON SOUTH OF THE BORDER

[The Clark Gum Company's use of the "Mexican Shuffle" for its Teaberry Gum] really helped a lot. I don't know if that was the catalyst, but it certainly didn't hurt. After The Lonely Bull there was somewhat of a lull--the records didn't catch on the same way The Lonely Bull did. I did an album called South of the Border and on it was the "Mexican Shuffle" tune. I got a call from the ad agency handling the account and they wanted to use it as the centerpiece for a commercial. So I agreed to arrange it for them and with that exposure people started to hear that sound and more got accustomed to the Tijuana Brass sound.

South of the Border, while I was mixing the album, I had one of those feelings. I had people knocking on the windows and coming in the doors. 'What's that record?' 'That's the Tijuana Brass. Remember us?' So I had a feeling something might be up with that record.

We did rather well with South of the Border and then it started to grow.

SOURCES:
Man with a Golden Horn. Richard Harrington. Washington Post, September 1, 1984.
Star Track Profile 87-24, June 8, 1982.

 

OFFICIAL VIDEO PERFORMANCES OF SOUTH OF THE BORDER SONGS

SONG TITLESHOWYEAR
I've Grown Accustomed to Her FaceFirst Tijuana Brass television special (Singer)1967
Mexican ShuffleFirst Tijuana Brass television special (Singer)
Second Tijuana Brass television special (Kraft)
1967
1967

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1965: WHIPPED CREAM AND GOING PLACES!

 

WHIPPED CREAM & OTHER DELIGHTS SESSIONOGRAPHY

JANUARY 21, 1965GOLD STAR RECORDING STUDIOS
Whipped Cream
Follow the Leader
Don't That Prove
David Alpert--drums
Herb Alpert--trumpet
Frank DeVito--drums, vocals
Ervan Coleman--guitar, mandolin
Bob Edmondson--trombone
William Green--sax, flute, reeds
Pete Jolly--piano
Carol Kaye--bass
Richard Leith--trombone
MARCH 10, 1965GOLD STAR RECORDING STUDIOS
A Taste of Honey
Lemon Tree
Tangerine
Lollipops and Roses
Together
Herb Alpert--trumpet
Hal Blaine---drums
Ervan Coleman--guitar, mandolin
Pete Jolly--piano
Milt Holland--percussion
Roy Main--trombone
Lew McCreary--trombone
William Pitman--guitar
Lyle Ritz--ukelele, bass, tuba, violin
Robert Ross
Juluis Wechter--marimba
MARCH 10, 1965GOLD STAR RECORDING STUDIOS
Da-Da
Green Peppers
Love Potion #9
I'll Never Let You Go
Tico Taco
Sol's Samba
Ladyfingers
Herb Alpert--trumpet
Hal Blaine---drums
Russell Bridges--piano
Ervan Coleman--guitar, mandolin
Bob Edmondson--trombone
Jewell Grant--sax, clarinet
Milt Holland--percussion
Jay Migliori--sax
William Pitman--guitar
M. R. Pohlman--bass
Julius Wechter--marimba

 

WHIPPED CREAM ALBUM HISTORY

Released in April 1965 on vinyl album, cassette, 8-track and open reel tape. First CD issued in 1988.

Whipped Cream and Other Delights was the first A&M Records album to be released in Brazil. 

Whipped Cream and Other Delights was on the Billboard Pop Album chart for 185 weeks--more than three years. It peaked at #1 on November 27, 1965 and held the position for eight straight weeks; in the Top 10 for 61 weeks and in the Top 40 for 141 weeks. 

Whipped Cream and Other Delights was NARM's Best Selling Album for 1965 and the Tijuana Brass the Best Selling Instrumentalist. 

"A Taste of Honey"not only charted on Billboard's Top 100, it was #1 for five weeks beginning October 30, 1965 and on the Hot 100 Discotheque Records chart in November 1965. 

Billboard's Top Sellers in Top Markets reported "A Taste of Honey"peaking in these U.S. cities: 

CITYPEAKDATE
Atlanta 
Baltimore 
Boston 
Chicago 
Cleveland 
Detroit 
Los Angeles 
Miami 
New Orleans 
New York 
Philadelphia 
Pittsburgh 
San Francisco 
St. Louis 
Washington, DC
34 
33 
  4 
  5 
  9 
30 
  6 
  5 
  7 
  1 
28 
  7 
  4 
  5 
10
September 25, 1965 
November 27, 1965 
November 6, 1965 
November 27, 1965 
November 6, 1965 
September 18, 1965 
November 20, 1965 
November 27, 1965 
December 18, 1965 
November 27, 1965 
November 6, 1965 
December 18, 1965 
October 30, 1965 
November 20, 1965 
November 13, 1965 

 

Internationally, "A Taste of Honey" was ranked #31 on Foreign Hits of Japan. Billboard reported it as the #5 best seller in Argentina on December 18, 1965.

On July 3, 1965 "Whipped Cream" was the #2 best seller in Mexico according to Billboard. 

In addition to "Whipped Cream's" appearance on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, it peaked at #13 on the Middle-Road Singles chart on May 1, 1965.

Billboard's Top LP's for 1966 ranked Whipped Cream and Other Delights at #1.

Billboard's Top LP's for 1967 ranked Whipped Cream and Other Delights at #8.

The albums Whipped Cream & Other Delights and Going Places were given gold album certificates from the R.I.A.A.

On December 20, 1965, "The Dating Game"television show premiered. It featured "Whipped Cream" during the bachelorette introductions, "Spanish Flea"for the bachelor introductions and "Lollipops and Roses" as the winner's theme. “Those were chosen by the producers of the show,” said Alpert. “It was a phone call from them to our publishing company. Because they were played on that show, a lot of records were sold." 

By January 1967, Whipped Cream and Other Delights sold 4.5 million copies.

In 1977 the R.I.A.A. began issuing platinum album certifications. Whipped Cream & Other Delights was certified:

In 2005, the album was remastered and released as part of the Herb Alpert Signature Series.

A limited edition picture disc was released on January 20, 2009.

On November 20, 2015, Whipped Cream and Other Delights was released on vinyl and CD on the Herb Alpert Presents label. 

Whipped Cream & Other Delights remastered digital album released December 4, 2015 on the Herb Alpert Presents label. On September 9, 2016, the CD was released. 

The Tijuana Brass performed for the President's cabinet members and their families.

The first touring Tijuana Brass made its first concert appearance on February 27, 1965 at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. The TJB was the opening act for the Dave Brubeck Quartet.

The first time the touring Tijuana Brass recorded together was July 6, 1965 on the "Zorba the Greek" session.

HERB ALPERT'S ON THE WHIPPED CREAM ALBUM

While I was working on [the Whipped Cream & Other Delights] album, the one song that stuck out, for me, was Taste of Honey. It just kept haunting me. I liked the melody. There was something about it. It was like a nice cross between jazz and pop and whatever. When it came time to release a single from the album, when we took a survey, nobody liked Taste of Honey. It was one of those records that, you know, if you analyze it, everyone usually came up with it's too long, you can't really dance to it, it stops and starts in the middle, it's not right. It's not right for radio. I said I don't know if it's not right for radio but I like it, I like the feeling of it. So we released it as Taste of Honey on the back side of the single of Third Man Theme. Well, Taste of Honey became Record of the Year, became a huge record, and that was the catalyst. From that point on, I organized the Tijuana Brass and we started traveling as a group.

Taste of Honey was the record that I chose to release as a single 'cause I felt when you work on a product for two, three, four, five months, this was the song I kept singing while taking a shower in the morning and at odd times it would just pop into my head. And most of the feedback that I got from playing this record to friends in the business, they felt it was not a hit record because it stopped in the middle and you couldn't dance to it and it didn't adhere to some of the rules they were looking for but yet I felt emotionally that it was a good record. Well, we put it out, and it became a huge record. In fact it won the Record of the Year ®.

Right after [the Clark Teaberry Gum commercial] came a song called Whipped Cream which was a moderate hit. It was a tune that was written for Al Hirt. Al Hirt turned it down and the publisher called me; played it over the phone for me from New Orleans. I liked it very much. He sent it the next afternoon. I recorded it and my partner got the idea of taking a collection of food titles and putting them in one album.

New Playtapes in June 1968: Whipped Cream and Other Delights (Vols. 1 and 2).

Whipped Cream & Other Delights was NAMM's Best Selling Album for 1966.

On May 16, 1966 Whipped Cream & Other Delights won four Grammys, the most for a West Coast record label.

SOURCES:
Star Track Profile 87-24, June 8, 1982.
Larry King Show, June 7, 1982.

 

GOING PLACES SESSIONOGRAPHY

APRIL 12, 1965UNITED RECORDING STUDIO
Mae
And the Angels Sing
Herb Alpert--trumpet
Israel Baker--violin
Hal Blaine--drums
Harry Bluestone--violin
Russell Bridges--piano
Ervan Coleman--guitar, mandolin
Jesse Ehrlich--cello
Cecil Figelski--viola
Arthur Gleghorn--
Murray Kellner--violin
Sarah Kreindler--violin
Reuben Marcus--viola
Lou Raderman--violin
Lyle Ritz--ukelele, bass, tuba, violin
Joseph Saxon--cello
Paul Shure--violin
Thomas Tedesco--guitar
APRIL 28, 1965UNITED RECORDING STUDIO
Mae
And the Angels Sing
Herb Alpert--trumpet
Israel Baker--violin
Hal Blaine--drums
Perry Botkin, Jr.--arranger
Russell Bridges--piano
Jesse Erlich--cello
Cecil Figelski--violin
Arthur Gleghorn--flute
Murray Kellner--violin
Sarah Kreindler--violin
Reuben Marcus--viola
Lou Raderman--violin
Lyle Ritz--bass
Joseph Saxon--cello
Paul Shure--violin
Tommy Tedesco--guitar
JUNE 29, 1965COLUMBIA RECORDS
I'm Getting Sentimental Over YouChuck Berghofer--bass
Pete Jolly--piano
Nicholas Martinis
Howard Roberts--sax
JULY 6, 1965GOLD STAR RECORDING STUDIO
Third Man ThemeHerb Alpert--trumpet
Hal Blaine--drums
Nick Ceroli--drums
Bob Edmondson--trombone
Tonni Kalash--trumpet
Lou Pagani--piano
John Pisano--guitar
William Pitman--guitar
Pat Senatore--bass
AUGUST 6, 1965GOLD STAR RECORDING STUDIO
A Walk in the Black Forest
I'm Getting Sentimental Over You
Walk, Don't Run
Herb Alpert--trumpet
Nick Ceroli--drums
Ervan Coleman--guitar, mandolin
Bob Edmondson--trombone
Tonni Kalash--trumpet
Lou Pagani--piano
John Pisano--guitar
Lyle Ritz--ukelele, bass, tuba, violin
Pat Senatore--bass
Julius Wechter--marimba
AUGUST 10, 1965GOLD STAR RECORDING STUDIO
More and More Amor
Tijuana Taxi
Herb Alpert--trumpet
Nick Ceroli--drums
Ervan Coleman--guitar, mandolin
Bob Edmondson--trombone
Tonni Kalash--trumpet
Lou Pagani--piano
John Pisano--guitar
Lyle Ritz--ukelele, tuba, bass, violin
Pat Senatore--bass
Julius Wechter--marimba
AUGUST 13, 1965GOLD STAR RECORDING STUDIO
More and More Amor
Spanish Flea
John's Tune
Cinco de Mayo
Herb Alpert--trumpet
Nick Ceroli--drums
Ervan Coleman--guitar, mandolin
Bob Edmondson--trombone
Tonni Kalash--trumpet
Lou Pagani--piano
John Pisano--guitar
Lyle Ritz--ukelele, tuba, bass, violin
Pat Senatore--bass
Julius Wechter--marimba
AUGUST 17, 1965GOLD STAR RECORDING STUDIO
Zorba the GreekHerb Alpert--trumpet
Nick Ceroli--drums
Ervan Coleman--guitar, mandolin
Bob Edmondson--trombone
Tonni Kalash--trumpet
Lou Pagani--piano
John Pisano--guitar
Pat Senatore--bass
Julius Wechter--marimba

 

Herb Alpert Top 5 Albums

 

GOING PLACES HISTORY 

Released in 1965 on vinyl album, cassette, 8-track and open reel tape. First CD issued in 1988. The album uses cold song endings rather than fadeouts.

The first time the touring Tijuana Brass recorded together was July 6, 1965 on the "Zorba the Greek" session. The track "Mae" was the first time a Tijuana Brass song used strings. 

Released in September 1965 on vinyl album, cassette, 8-track and open reel tape.

Going Places had advance orders for 1.2 million copies. The pilot of the biplane on the cover was Jerry Moss. 

Billboard named Going Places its #3 top album for 1966. On its Top Easy Listening list "Zorba the Greek" was ranked 14th, "Spanish Flea" was #55, and "Tijuana Taxi" was #78.

Billboard named Going Places its #9 top album for 1967. 

The Tijuana Brass had caught on in Mexico, Canada, Australia and Britain. Because the group had not yet caught on in Europe, Going Places was initially released only in Britain. 

Going Places produced singles that were on the Billboard Top 40 Easy Listening Chart. "Zorba the Greek" peaked at #5 on January 30, 1966; "Tijuana Taxi" at #9 on the same date; "Third Man Theme" at #7 on October 2, 1965 and "Mae"at #26 on July 10, 1965. 

"Third Man Theme" was the only single to chart on Billboard's Top Sellers in Top Markets chart. It peaked at #30 in Cleveland, #17 in Detroit, #35 in Seattle and #34 in St. Louis. 

Imported copies of the "Third Man Theme" saturated Australian radio airplay. In response, Festival Records rush-released the single. 

The November 7, 1965 appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show started the Billboard chart climb of all five albums. On the show the Brass played "A Taste of Honey" and "Zorba the Greek."

The Brass ended 1965 with a total of 4 million albums sold in the U.S. 

Animated film makers John and Faith Hubley created a 6-minute movie titled "Tijuana Brass Double Feature" that used "Spanish Flea"and "Tijuana Taxi" by the Tijuana Brass. In 1966, it won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. 

New Playtapes in June 1968: Going Places (Vols. 1 and 2).

In 1977 the R.I.A.A. began issuing platinum album certifications. Going Places was certified.

In 2014, the Australian Recording Industry Association ranked Going Places as its #12 album to stay in the Top 20. It stayed there for 17 weeks. 

 

OFFICIAL VIDEO PERFORMANCES OF GOING PLACES SONGS

SONG TITLESHOWYEAR
I'm Getting Sentimental Over You First Tijuana Brass television special (Singer)1967 
Mae Second Tijuana Brass television special (Kraft) 
The Brass Are Comin' television special 
1967 
1969 
Spanish Flea First Tijuana Brass television special (Singer) 
The Brass Are Comin' television special 
The Sentry Collection
1967 
1969 
1974
Tijuana Taxi A&M Records Presents Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass 
First Tijuana Brass television special (Singer) 
The Sentry Collection 
1966 
1967 
1974 

 

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1966: WHAT NOW MY LOVE AND S.R.O.

WHAT NOW MY LOVE SESSIONOGRAPHY

JANUARY 11, 1966GOLD STAR RECORDING STUDIOS
It Was a Very Good Year
I'll Remember You
Herb Alpert--trumpet
Chuck Berghofer--bass
Nick Ceroli--drums
Ervan Coleman--guitar, mandolin
Bob Edmondson--trombone
Tonni Kalash--trumpet
Lew McCreary--trombone
Lou Pagani--piano
John Pisano--guitar
Pat Senatore--bass
Julius Wechter--marimba
Jerry Williams--drums, percussion
JANUARY 14, 1966GOLD STAR RECORDING STUDIOS
Red
Plucky Part 1
Herb Alpert--trumpet
Chuck Berghofer--bass
Nick Ceroli--drums
Ervan Coleman--guitar, mandolin
Bob Edmondson--trombone
Tonni Kalash--trumpet
Lew McCreary--trombone
Lou Pagani--piano
John Pisano--guitar
Pat Senatore--bass
Julius Wechter--marimba
Jerry Williams--drums, percussion
FEBRUARY 7, 1966GOLD STAR RECORDING STUDIOS
Sol's Tune #1
Shadow of Your Smile
Sol's Tune #2
If I Were a Rich Man
Herb Alpert--trumpet
Nick Ceroli--drums
Ervan Coleman--guitar, mandolin
Bob Edmondson--trombone
Samuel Goldstein--drums
Clifford Hills--bass
Tonni Kalash--trumpet
Lou Pagani--piano
John Pisano--guitar
Pat Senatore--bass
Julius Wechter--marimba
FEBRUARY 10, 1966GOLD STAR RECORDING STUDIOS
So What's New?Herb Alpert--trumpet
Carl Fortino--accordion
MARCH 1, 1966GOLD STAR RECORDING STUDIOS
Shadow of Your Smile
It Was a Very Good Year
Sol's Tune #1
Herb Alpert--trumpet
Emil Briano--violin
Peter DeVoogdt
Gareth Nuttycombe--viola
George Poole--flute, violin
Ernie Tack--trombone
Darrel Terwilliger--violin, viola
Irving Weinper--trombone
Walter Wiemeyer--violin
MAY 19, 1966GOLD STAR RECORDING STUDIOS
Brasilia
Plucky
Freckles
It Was a Very Good Year
Memories of Madrid
Five Minutes More
Magic Trumpet
Robert Matthews--bass
Sergio Mendes--piano
Jose de Azerei Soares--percussion
Howard Perry

 

WHAT NOW MY LOVE HISTORY

Released in April 1966 on vinyl album, cassette, 8-track and open reel tape. There were two versions of the album. The variations are most noticeable on "Plucky" as one take had a "strip tease" rhythm inserted and one had an additional marimba part; "What Now My Love" with less reverb on the lead trumpet; "So What's New" with less echo on the whistled part, and "Brasilia" without a trombone that begins the song.

Billboard named What Now My Love its #5 top album in 1966 after it had been #1 on the Top LP chart for nine weeks. On its Top Easy Listening Singles of 1966 the single "What Now My Love" was ranked #36.

Billboard's Top LP's for 1967 included What Now My Love at #11. 

In 1966, The Lonely Bull, Volume 2, South of the Borderand What Now My Love were certified gold by the R.I.A.A. 

New Playtapes in June 1968: What Now My Love (Vols. 1 and 2).

In 1977 the R.I.A.A. began issuing platinum album certifications. What Now My Love was certified.

In 2005, the album was remasterd and released as part of the Herb Alpert Signature Series.

What Now My Love remastered digital album released December 4, 2015 on the Herb Alpert Presents label. The CD was released December 4, 2015 on the Herb Alpert Presents label.

SOURCES: 
Hits of the World. Billboard, June 18, 1966, 36. 
A&M Putting Cameras on Alpert with Eye on TVer. 
ITCC Supplement. Billboard, June 25, 1966, ITCC-12. 
ARD Putting Alpert Film on Television. Billboard, 40. 
Hits of the World, Billboard, January 29, 1966, 32. 
Hits of the World. Billboard, July 9, 1966, 46. 
Music Capitals of the World. Billboard, October 29, 1966,, 36. 
Tape Cartridge Tips. Larry Finley. Billboard, December 24, 1966, 12. 
Top Records of 1966. Billboard, December 24, 1966, 34. 
Baja Marimba to Play 'LBJ Room.' Billboard, December 24, 1966. 
Grammy TV'er Backing Urged. Billboard, May 14, 1966, 4. 
Double-Sided Hits Turn Into Winning 1-2 Punch. Billboard, May 14, 1966, 10. 
Alpert & Tijuana Brass Going Places in England. Billboard, January 22, 1966, 6. 
From the Music Capitals of the World. Billboard, October 15, 1966, 41. 
From the Music Capitals of the World. Billboard, June 11, 1966, 36. 
From the Music Capitals of the World. Billboard, December 31, 1966, 35. 
Attendance record (photo). Billboard, December 17, 1966, 22. 
Billboard Top Albums Ad. Billboard, December 15, 1984. 
Top 10 Albums 1956-1983. Billboard, December 15, 1984. 
Mamas and Papas in Raceway Show. Billboard, June 3, 1967, 24. 
Hits of the World. Billboard, March 5, 1966, 34. 
From the Music Capitals of the World. Billboard, February 5, 1966, 36. 
1967 International Talent Directory. Billboard, 13.

 

OFFICIAL VIDEO PERFORMANCES OF WHAT NOW MY LOVE SONGS

SONG TITLESHOWYEAR
If I Were a Rich Man Second Tijuana Brass television special (Kraft) 
The Beat of the Brass television special 
The Brass Are Comin' television special 
1967 
1968 
1969 
Magic Trumpet First Tijuana Brass television special (Singer)1967 
What Now My Love First Tijuana Brass television special (Singer) 
Second Tijuana Brass television special (Kraft) 
1967 
1967 

 

In the U.S., Herb Alpert had three double-sided hit singles--six hit songs on three singles.

In 1966, Herb Alpert sold over 13 million records and had five albums in Billboard's Top 20 on the album chart. On April 2, 1966, four of those albums were in the Top 10.

Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass was NAMM's Best Selling Instrumentalist for 1966.

A&M Records filmed the Carnegie Hall concerts and the European tour.

On March 25 the Tijuana Brass performed at The White House at the Correspondents' Dinner. For the first time in the history of the dinner, the musical artists received a standing ovation.

A&M planned the first tour of Britain for March 1966.

The Tijuana Brass U.S. tour set some attendance records, including one at the University of Illinois for which Alpert received a commemorative plaque.

The Tijuana Brass was the pre-race entertainment at the Indianapolis 500.

The Tijuana Brass flew to Britain on March 11 and stayed for 70 hours to film their show for the BBC.

On May 16, the Tijuana Brass performed on the Grammy Awards. Whipped Cream & Other Delights won four Grammys, the most for a West Coast record label.

Senator Thomas Kuchel of California made a statement on the floor of the Senate praising the Tijuana Brass for its contribution to "international understanding and [promoting] cordial relations with peoples around the globe."

First extended European tour in September and October 1966. The tour increased album sales. Concert dates and television were also planned for Sweden in November.

For the Brass's European tour, a promotional recording with excerpts of the group's hit songs was released in Belgium.

In October, the Brass taped a show for French television called "Tilt Magazine."

On October 1, 1966, the U.S. Commander in Berlin, Germany recognized Herb Alpert as A Guardian of Berlin's Freedome.

In early November the Tijuana Brass taped "Rendevous am Rhein" on Lake Constance then toured U.S. military bases in Germany.

Herb Alpert won Billboard's Music Man of the Year Award for 1966 and was also its Top LP Artist of 1966.

Billboard ranked Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass #6 on its Top Singles Artists of 1966. Billboard reported "During the first 10 months of the year, the Brass sold more than twice the number of LP's as the Beatles and more than all the soundtracks combined." From October 1966 through February 1967, the Brass was Billboard's Best Selling Artist on college campuses that were surveyed.

Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass won the Music Operators of America award as the most popular instrumental group on jukeboxes.

The Tijuana Brass performed for the President's cabinet members and their families.

John and Faith Hubley created animated short films featuring the Tijuana Brass songs.

Billboard's Top LP's for 1967 included What Now My Love at #11.

The Lonely Bull, Volume 2, South of the Border and What Now My Love were certified gold by the R.I.A.A.

Billboard Top Albums 1966

 

S.R.O. SESSIONOGRAPHY

MAY 18, 1966GOLD STAR RECORDING STUDIOS
JUNE 16, 1966GOLD STAR RECORDING STUDIOS
JUNE 17, 1966SUNSET SOUND RECORDING STUDIOS
JUNE 20, 1966GOLD STAR RECORDING STUDIOS
SEPTEMBER 2, 1966GOLD STAR RECORDING STUDIOS
The Work SongHerb Alpert--trumpet
Nick Ceroli--drums
Bob Edmondson--trombone
Pete Jolly--piano
Tonni Kalash--trumpet
Lew McCreary--trombone
Lou Pagani--piano
John Pisano--guitar
Pat Senatore--bass
Julius Wechter--marimba
I Will Wait for YouHerb Alpert--trumpet
Nick Ceroli--drums
Bill Green--sax, flute, reeds
Pete Jolly--piano
Jackie Kelso--sax
John Pisano--guitar
Pat Senatore--bass
Julius Wechter--marimba
Mame
I Will Wait for You
Heart
Sol #3
Herb Alpert--trumpet
Bob Edmondson--trombone
Tonni Kalash--trumpet
Lou Pagani--piano
John Pisano--guitar
Pat Senatore--bass
I Will Wait for YouHerb Alpert--trumpet
Nick Ceroli--drums
Pete Jolly--piano
Jackie Kelso--sax
Lou Pagani--piano
John Pisano--guitar
Pat Senatore--bass
Our Day Will Come
Day Train
Herb Alpert--trumpet
Nick Ceroli--drums
Milt Holland--percussion
Pete Jolly--piano
Tonni Kalash--trumpet
Lou Pagani--piano
John Pisano--guitar
William Pitman--guitar
Pat Senatore--bass
Julius Wechter--marimba

 

S.R.O. HISTORY

Released December 8, 1966 on vinyl album, cassette.

"The Work song was recorded in a single take. 

On Billboard's Top Easy Listening Singles of 1966, "The Work Song" was #31 and "Flamingo" was #62. 

S.R.O. was released in December 1966. It spent 38 weeks in Billboard's Top 40 and received an RIAA gold certification one month after its release. 

In December, ITCC announced that S.R.O. was its best selling tape cartridge. 

Billboard ranked its Top LP's for 1967 with S.R.O. at #7 and the Alpert-produced Herb Alpert Presents Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 was #14. 

S.R.O., Sounds Like... and Herb Alpert's Ninth received gold album certifications from the R.I.A.A. 

In 1977 the R.I.A.A. began issuing platinum album certifications. S.R.O. was certified.

S.R.O. remastered digital album released December 4, 2015 on the Herb Alpert Presents label. On September 9, 2016, the CD was released.

 

OFFICIAL VIDEO PERFORMANCES OF S.R.O. SONGS

SONG TITLESHOWYEAR
Flamingo First Tijuana Brass television special 1967 
Freight Train Joe The Beat of the Brass television special 1968 
Mame First Tijuana Brass television special (Singer) 
Second Tijuana Brass television special (Kraft) 
The Brass Are Comin' television special
1967 
1967 
1969
The Wall Street Rag The Beat of the Brass television special 1968 
The Work Song The Beat of the Brass television special 
The Sentry Collection
1968 
1974 

 

Top

1967: SOUNDS LIKE...,
HERB ALPERT'S NINTH,
THE BEAT OF THE BRASS

SOUNDS LIKE... SESSIONOGRAPHY

JANUARY 30, 1967GOLD STAR RECORDING STUDIOS
Lady Godiva
Wade in the Water
Herb Alpert--trumpet
Nick Ceroli--drums
Ervan Coleman--guitar, mandolin
Bob Edmondson--trombone
Tonni Kalash--trumpet
Sal Monte
Lou Pagani--piano
John Pisano--guitar
Pat Senatore--bass
Julius Wechter--marimba
FEBRUARY 22, 1967COLGEMS
Casino RoyaleHerb Alpert--trumpet
Nick Ceroli--drums
Jules Chaiken--trumpet
Tonni Kalash--trumpet
Sal Monte--
Lou Pagani--piano
John Pisano--guitar
William Pitman--guitar
Pat Senatore--bass
Ernie Tack--trombone
Julius Wechter--marimba
David Wells--trombone
MARCH 6, 1967GOLD STAR RECORDING STUDIOS
Gotta Lotta Living to DoHerb Alpert--trumpet
Nick Ceroli--drums
Ervan Coleman--guitar, mandolin
Pete Jolly--piano
Lew McCreary--trombone
Lou Pagani--piano
John Pisano--guitar
Pat Senatore--bass
Julius Wechter--marimba
MARCH 8, 1967GOLD STAR RECORDING STUDIOS
Town Without Pity
In a Little Spanish Town
Herb Alpert--trumpet
Nick Ceroli--drums
Ervan Coleman--guitar, mandolin
Tonni Kalash--trumpet
Lew McCreary--trombone
Sal Monte
Lou Pagani--piano
John Pisano--guitar
Pat Senatore--bass
Julius Wechter--marimba
MARCH 21, 1967GOLD STAR RECORDING STUDIOS
Gotta Lotta Living to DoJose Soares--percussion

 

SOUNDS LIKE... HISTORY

Sounds Like... was released on May 8, 1967 on vinyl album, cassette, 8-track and open reel tape. 

In 2005, the album was remastered and released as part of the Herb Alpert Signature Series. 

Sounds Like... remastered digital album released December 4, 2015 on the Herb Alpert Presents label. On September 9, 2016, the CD was released.

 

OFFICIAL VIDEO PERFORMANCES OF SOUNDS LIKE... SONGS

SONG TITLESHOWYEAR
Casino Royale The Beat of the Brass television special 
The Brass Are Comin' television special 
1968 
1969
Gotta Lotta Livin' to Do Second Tijuana Brass television special (Kraft) 1967 
The Treasure of San Miguel The Brass Are Comin' television special 1969 
Wade in the Water First Tijuana Brass television special 1967

 

HERB ALPERT ON SOUNDS LIKE...

Bacharach called and said he wasn't happy with the way things were going while he was in London working on Casino Royale. And so he asked me if I'd put a horn on it. He sent me the tape, and it was a rush deal. I had to finish everything within three days, which I did, and rushed it back to him. And that was the theme song of Casino Royale.

In 1977 the R.I.A.A. began issuing platinum album certifications. Sounds Like... was certified.

Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass was Billbord's top instrumental recording artist and ts best selling instrumental artist for 1967. By early 1967, the Brass had sold over 18 million albums in the U.S.

By March 1967 Tijuana Brass album sales were over 18 million.

In Australia, Herb Alpert received a logie award from Radio Station 3XY in Melbourne because the Tijuana Brass was the most programmed album artist of 1966. He was also awarded eight gold record album certifications for sales of over 300,000 copies. The president of Festival records thought this was the first time that eight gold records were presented simultaneously.

The Tijuana Brass toured Australia to sold out audiences at every venue in the spring of the year. The tour also included New Zealand. Billboard reported that the Brass' box office receipts eclipsed those of the Beatles.

The Tijuana Brass was the ranked as No. 8 for jukebox playmaker from February 1966 to February 1967.

The TJB toured the U.S.

The Tijuana Brass performed at the 1967 San Remo Festival.

The Brass was invited to perform at the Moscow Film Festival, however the Soviet Minister of Culture refused to allow them because it thought the performance "would tend to tip the scales in favor of the Americans." If the TJB had performed, they would have been the first U.S. pop group to give a concert in Moscow.

A&M International planned a Tijuana Brass tour of Italy.

Herb Alpert received the Chici Viola Award because "El Presidente" was the best selling disk of the year on a Brazilian television station.

The MIDEM International Trophy for North and South America was presented to Herb Alpert.

Ampex Stereo Tapes presented its Artistry in Sound Award to Herb Alpert for bringing a new dimension in sound to the music world, for his originality in concept and orchestration and for consistent quality in performance.

Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass was NARM's Best Selling Instrumentalist for 1967.

At Chicago's first F.A.N. Awards Congress, the Tijuana Brass were names Star of the Year.

Billboard's Top Easy Listening Singles 1967 included these Tijuana Brass recordings: "Casino Royale" at 9 and "A Banda" at 16.

The first Tijuana Brass television special was originally aired in the U.S. in April 1967 and reached 57 percent of television viewers. The show ultimately aired in sixteen countries outside the U.S. in 1968 and 1969.

American Airlines had an A&M Records channel on its flights.

 

HERB ALPERT'S NINTH SESSIONOGRAPHY

MARCH 17, 1967GOLD STAR RECORDING STUDIOS
Bud's Tune
Julius's Tune
John's Tune
Herb Alpert--trumpet
Nick Ceroli--drums
Ervan Coleman--guitar, mandolin
Bill Earl
Bob Edmondson--trombone
Tonni Kalash--trumpet
Sal Monte
Lou Pagani--piano
John Pisano--guitar
Pat Senatore--bass
Julius Wechter--marimba
Jerry Williams--drums, percussion
MAY 15, 1967GOLD STAR RECORDING STUDIOS
The HappeningHerb Alpert--trumpet
Nick Ceroli--drums
Ervan Coleman--guitar, mandolin
Bill Earl
Bob Edmondson--trombone
Tonni Kalash--trumpet
Sal Monte
Lou Pagani--piano
John Pisano--guitar
Pat Senatore--bass
Julius Wechter--marimba
MAY 23, 1967SUNSET SOUND
The HappeningHerb Alpert--trumpet
Gabe Baltazar--sax
Nick Ceroli--drums
Bill Earl
Bob Edmondson--trombone
William Green--sax, flutes, reeds
Tonni Kalash--trumpet
Sal Monte
Jack Nimitz--sax
Lou Pagani--piano
John Pisano--guitar
Pat Senatore--bass
Ernest Watts--sax, flute
JULY 12, 1967GOLD STAR RECORDING STUDIOS
My Heart Belongs to Daddy
The Trolley Song
Herb Alpert--trumpet
Nick Ceroli--drums
Bill Earl
Bob Edmondson--trombone
Tonni Kalash--trumpet
Lew McCreary--trombone
Sal Monte
Lou Morrell--bass, guitar
Lou Pagani--piano
John Pisano--guitar
Pat Senatore--bass
JULY 20, 1967GOLD STAR RECORDING STUDIOS
Sol #3
The Trolley Song
The Love Nest
Herb Alpert--trumpet
Nick Ceroli--drums
Bob Edmondson--trombone
Tonni Kalash--trumpet
Lou Pagani--piano
John Pisano--guitar
Pat Senatore--bass
AUGUST 2, 1967COLUMBIA RECORDS
With a Little Help from My FriendsHerb Alpert--trumpet
Nick Ceroli--drums
Bob Edmondson--trombone
Tonni Kalash--trumpet
Lou Pagani--piano
John Pisano--guitar
Pat Senatore--bass
AUGUST 8, 1967COLUMBIA RECORDS
A BandaHerb Alpert
John deVoogdt
Carl LaMagna--violin
Betty Marks--violin
Wilbert Nuttycombe--violin
Jerome Riesler--violin
Ambrose Russo--violin
Darrel Terwilliger--violin, viola
John Vidusich--violin
Tibor Zelig--violin
OCTOBER 18, 1967GOLD STAR RECORDING STUDIOS
My Heart Belongs to Daddy
The Trolley Song
Love So Fine
Cowboys and Indians
The Love Nest
Emil Briano--violin
Bobby Bruce--violin
Nick DeCaro--piano
Samuel Boghassian
Betty Marks--violin
Gareth Nuttycombe--viola
Wilbert Nuttycombe--violin
George Poole--flute, violin
Jerome Reisler--violin
Jay Rosen--violin
Ambrose Russo--violin
Jose Soares--percussion
Walter Wiemeyer--violin
Tibor Zelig--violin
OCTOBER 19, 1967GOLD STAR RECORDING STUDIOS
California Poppy
With a Little Help from My Friends
Justin DiTullio--cello
Nathan Gershman--cello
Lester Harris
Joseph Saxon--cello

 

HERB ALPERT'S NINTH HISTORY 

Herb Alpert's Ninth was released in December 1967 on vinyl album, cassette. 

The album spent 18 weeks in Billboard's top 40 albums. 

"Carmen" was recorded in New York City and mixed by Phil Ramone.

A&M's Christmas promotion for Herb Alpert's Ninth included a standup display with a Christmas message by Herb for retail stores. 

Herb Alpert's Ninth sold more than 10,000 copies in the four days before Christmas in Australia. The sales qualified the album for a gold record, Alpert's tenth gold record in Australia. The preceding eight records had all gone gold and Alpert received a special cold record for being the first artist to sell over 250,000 albums in Australia. 

In 1977 the R.I.A.A. began issuing platinum album certifications. Herb Alpert's Ninth was certified.

In 2005, the album was remastered and released as part of the Herb Alpert Signature Series.

Herb Alpert's Ninth remastered digital album released December 4, 2015 on the Herb Alpert Presents label. On September 9, 2016, the CD was released.

 

OFFICIAL VIDEO PERFORMANCES OF HERB ALPERT'S NINTH SONGS

SONG TITLESHOWYEAR
A Banda The Beat of the Brass 1968 
Carmen Second Tijuana Brass television special (Kraft) 1967 
The Happening Second Tijuana Brass television special (Kraft) 1967 

 

 

THE BEAT OF THE BRASS SESSIONOGRAPHY

MARCH 8, 1967GOLD STAR RECORDING STUDIOS
SlickHerb Alpert--trumpet
Nick Ceroli--drums
Ervan Coleman--guitar, mandolin
Tonni Kalash--trumpet
Lew McCreary--trombone
Sal Monte
Lou Pagani--piano
John Pisano--guitar
Pat Senatore--bass
Julius Wechter--marimba
JULY 12, 1967GOLD STAR RECORDING STUDIOS
Belz Mein Shtetele Belz
Cabaret
Monday, Monday
Thanks for the Memory
Herb Alpert--trumpet
Nick Ceroli--drums
Bill Earl
Bob Edmondson--trombone
Tonni Kalash--trumpet
Lew McCreary--trombone
Sal Monte
Lou Morrell--bass, guitar
Lou Pagani--piano
John Pisano--guitar
Pat Senatore--bass

 

Top

1968: THE BEAT OF THE BRASS AND CHRISTMAS ALBUM 

THE BEAT OF THE BRASS SESSIONOGRAPHY

MARCH 11, 1968GOLD STAR RECORDING STUDIOS
Talk to the AnimalsHerb Alpert--trumpet
MARCH 27, 1968WESTERN RECORDERS
The Robin
Sol #1
Herb Alpert
Clifford Shank--flute
Thomas Scott--woodwinds
MARCH 28, 1968GOLD STAR RECORDING STUDIOS
SlickHerb Alpert--trumpet
John Pisano--guitar
Pat Senatore--bass
Nick Ceroli--drums
Joao Donato--piano
Tonni Kalash--trumpet
Lou Pagani--piano
APRIL 4, 1968GOLD STAR RECORDING STUDIOS
A Beautiful Friend
Panama
Herb Alpert--trumpet
John Pisano--guitar
Lou Pagani--piano
Tonni Kalash--trumpet
Pat Senatore--bass
Nick Ceroli--drums
Bob Edmondson--trombone
Max Garduno--percussion
Julius Wechter

 

Billboard Easy Listening Chart 1968

 

THE BEAT OF THE BRASS HISTORY 

Released in April 1968 on vinyl album, casssette, 8-track and open reel tape. First CD issued in 1988.

A&M launched its first big campaign for Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass. To support the release of The Beat of the Brass and the second television special, A&M created a special record rack, mobile and floor displays, Tijuana Brass posters, a Herb Alpert poster, "The Beat of the Brass" buttons and sweatshirts for retail. There were also two Herb Alpert posters from Ampex, assorted Tijuana Brass photos, easel back album covers, slick books and special order forms.

"The Beat of the Brass" television show was shown again in Britain on March 19, 1969 by BBC 1. The show was number one in the Nielsen all-time multi-network area rating between April 22 and May 5, 1968.

The album was remastered and released as part of the Herb Alpert Signature Series in 2005.

The Beat Of The Brass remastered digital album released December 4, 2015 on the Herb Alpert Presents label.

 

HERB ALPERT ON THE BEAT OF THE BRASS

The director [of my television special] Jack Haley, Jr., asked me to sing a song on the show. So I called Burt Bacharach and I asked him-this is a question I typically ask to a lot of great composers-is there a song you've written in the past that either has been recorded that didn't have the right record or a tune that's tucked away in your drawer someplace that you have a special feeling for. He thought about it, called me back the next day and handed me This Guy's in Love with You. It didn't quite fit the mood of the show. The lyric content didn't so I called Hal David and we made some changes and it was on the show and it got enormous response. 

It has a magical lyric. It says, 'Who looks at you the way I do?' I mean, that covers a lot of territory and you can't say that through a trumpet.1

An opinion of my own voice? Well, I guess I sing like I play-kinda natural. I've never analysed even when I play trumpet. It's just natural. It's just what comes out.2

By the usual standards, I don't have a great instrument as a vocalist. But maybe there is a basic truth that comes across. If you choose good material and are honest about the arrangement and recording, you can get closer to what people are understanding today than if you just sing in a beautiful voice.3

SOURCES: 
April Alpert Month; New LP, Tver Due. Record World, April 16, 1968.
Brass' Real Special. Record World, June 1, 1968.
Larry King Show, June 7, 1982. 
My "Guy" called for No Great Vocal Pipes. Alan Smith. New Musical Express, August 3, 1968. 
Alpert Awaiting Vocal Followup. Mary Campbell. Associated Press, 1968.

 

OFFICIAL VIDEO PERFORMANCES OF BEAT OF THE BRASS SONGS

SONG TITLESHOWYEAR
Cabaret The Beat of the Brass television special 1968 
Caliornia Girls The Beat of the Brass television special 1968 
Slick The Beat of the Brass television special 1968 
Talk to the Animals The Beat of the Brass television special 1968 
This Guy's in Love with You The Beat of the Brass television special 
The Sentry Collection 
1968 
1974 

 

Between 1962 and 1968, Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass were #1 on the Billboard Pop Singles charts for 32 weeks.

In January, Polydor, A&M's European distributor, released the first Tijuana Brass cassette. It had a retail price of $2.25.

A&M International planned a summer tour of Europe. The Tijuana Brass toured Great Britain and Europe in the fall of 1968.

Herb Alpert Presents Pete Jolly released in April 1968.

The Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass television special was nominated for four Emmy Awards for outstanding musical or variety special, achievement in electronic camera work, individual achievement in electronic production and directorial achievement.

The Tijuana Brass appeared at Record Gala in Berlin, Germany on March 15. Record Gala was produced by the German record industry and television companies.

The music book "Swinging Sounds of Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass" was among the Best Selling All Organ Folios in December 1968.

Herb Alpert and Ollie Mitchell developed the trumpet book "Know Before You Blow" with Herb performing on a 7-inch flexidisc.

Herb Alpert joined ASCAP's songwriters roster and ASCAP gave Herb Alpert a cash award as one of its writers.

Festival Records, A&M's Australian distributor, won the 1968 MIDEM International Trophy and the 1968 MIDEM Australia trophy for greats number of recordings sold in Australia by an artist from July 1966 to July 1967 for the Herb Alpert & Tijuana Brass recordings.

Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss were named men of the year by the Conference of Personal Managers, West.

At the Ninth Argentine Festival of International Music, the Tijuana Brass won the award for Best Recordings of International Music for Dancing.

In a rare cancellation of a concert, Alpert decided not to perform at Brigham Young University after university officials refused to have the Checkmates Ltd. as the opening act because the group was interracial.

Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass was NARM's Best Selling Instrumentalist for 1968.

"This Guy's In Love With You" sold over 250,000 copies in England and was awarded a Silver Disc.

Herb Alpert was named one of the judges for "Take Time for Talent," a television show to spotlight minority talent.

Chicago radio station WLS named the Tijuana Brass the best instrumental group in its Hit Parade Awards.

 

CHRISTMAS ALBUM SESSIONOGRAPHY

AUGUST 22, 1968GOLD STAR RECORDING STUDIOS
Winter Wonderland
Jingle Bell Rock
Herb Alpert--trumpet
John Pisano--guitar
Pat Senatore--bass
Bob Edmondson--trombone
Lou Pagani--piano
Nick Ceroli--drums
William Pitman--guitar
Lou McCreary--trombone
OCTOBER 4, 1968A&M STUDIOS
Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow
Jingle Bells
Shorty Rogers

 

CHRISTMAS ALBUM HISTORY 

Recording for Christmas Album began in June 1968. 

Released in November 1968 on vinyl album, cassette, 8-track. 

Christmas Album was Billboard's No. 1 on its Best Bets for Christmas and was in Billboard's top 10 albums.

The Brass made a seven-minute film performing two songs from Christmas Album which was shown on American Airlines flights. The films was originally shot to be aired on The Ed Sullivan Show on December 1. 

In 2005 the album was remastered and released as part of the Herb Alpert Signature Series.

Christmas Album remastered for CD was released October 23, 2015 and the digital was album released December 4, 2015 on the Herb Alpert Presents label.

 

HERB ALPERT ON CHRISTMAS ALBUM

We've got a 16-piece chorus, the first time we've used professional voices. There are pop tunes, with only one religious, "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" and an original by Burt Bacharach that should transcend the two weeks that radio stations play Christmas carols. 

I mixed it several times. I go through that with every album. I mix it once and let it sit a couple of days and listen again. I make some adjustments. After I finally put it out, I listen and say, "Oh, why did I do that?"1

SOURCE: 
1. Alpert Awaiting Vocal Followup. Mary Campbell. Associated Press, 1968.

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1969: WARM AND THE BRASS ARE COMIN'

WARM SESSIONOGRAPHY

JULY 12, 1967GOLD STAR RECORDING STUDIOS
The ContinentalHerb Alpert--trumpet
Nick Ceroli--drums
Bill Earl
Bob Edmondson--trombone
Tonni Kalash--trumpet
Lew McCreary--trombone
Sal Monte
Lou Morrell--bass, guitar
Lou Pagani--piano
John Pisano--guitar
Pat Senatore--bass
MARCH 21, 1969A&M STUDIOS
Apple Jade & Silver Beads
Job O Menino Idesta
Warm (Baja Nova)
Reubens Bassini--percussion
Russell Bridges--piano
Nick Ceroli--drums
Jules Chaiken--trumpet
Bob Edmondson--trombone
Paul Hubinon--trumpet
Plas Johnson--sax
Larry Knechtel--piano
John Pisano--guitar
Shorty Rogers--arranger
Clifford Shank--woodwind
Anthony Terran--trumpet
Julius Wechter--marimba
APRIL 10, 1969A&M STUDIOS
Close to You
Sa Marina
Zazueira
Herb Alpert--trumpet, vocal
Russell Bridges--piano
Nick Ceroli--drums
Jules Chaikin--trumpet
Buddy Childers--flugelhorn
Ollie Mitchell--trumpet
Bob Edmondson--trombone
Max Garduno--percussion
Robert Hardaway--flute, sax
Jack Nimitz--baritone sax
John Pisano--guitar
Lyle Ritz--bass
Mark Stevens--percussion
Dom um Romao--percussion
Julius Wechter--marimba
APRIL 10, 1969A&M STUDIOS
O Mar e Meu Chao
Without You
Girl Talk
Apple Jade
Sa Marina
John's Tune
James Getzoff--violin
Gareth Nuttycombe--viola
Allan Harshman--viola
Alvin Dinkin--viola
Edgar Lustgarten--cello
Frederick Allykors
Raymond Kelley--cello
Gerald Vinci--violin
Nathan Ross--violin
Wilbert Nuttycombe--violin
Arnold Belnick--violin
Jules Chaikin--trumpet
Lanny Morgan--sax
Lou McCreary--trombone
Jack Nimitz--sax
Ernie Tack--trombone

 

WARM HISTORY

Released in June 1969 on vinyl album and cassette.

Australia was the first country to release "Zazueira" in March.

The Tijuana Brass began its final tour of the U.S. at Tarrant Coliseum in Ft. Worth, TX on October 4. The group toured Europe in November and the November 14 concert at Royal Festival Hall in London sold out within two hours. 

Warm was ranked #92 on Billboard's Top LPs of 1969. 

In 1977 the R.I.A.A. began issuing platinum album certifications. Warm was certified.

Warm remastered digital album released December 4, 2015 on the Herb Alpert Presents label. On September 9, 2016, the CD was released.

 

OFFICIAL VIDEO PERFORMANCES OF WARM SONGS

SONG TITLESHOWYEAR
The Sea Is My Soil The Brass Are Comin' television special 1969

 

The Tijuana Brass began its final tour of the U.S. at Tarrant Coliseum in Ft. Worth, TX on October 4. The group toured Europe in November and the November 14 concert at Royal Festival Hall in London sold out within two hours.

Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass won the NARM Award for Best Selling Instrumentalist and A&M Records the NARM Scholarship.

Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass was NARM's Best Selling Instrumentalist for 1969.

Germany's Schallplatte music magazine named Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass the top international orchestra.

THE BRASS ARE COMIN' SESSIONOGRAPHY

NOVEMBER 1, 1969A&M STUDIOS
Moon River
You Are My Life
Dave Grusin
Jules Chaikin--trumpet
Russell Bridges--piano
Max Bennett--bass
Nick Ceroli--drums
Emil Radocchia--percussion
Joseph Porcaro--drums, percussion
John Pisano--guitar
Marion Childers--trumpet
Oliver Mitchell--trumpet
Paul Hubinon--trumpet
Stu Williamson--trumpet, trombone
Charles Loper--trombone
Michael Barone--trombone
Bob Edmondson--trombone

 

THE BRASS ARE COMIN' HISTORY 

"The Maltese Melody" was rated number 6 in Japan's Foreign Hits of 1970. The single sold over 200,000 copies.

"The Maltese Melody" was #5 on the Japan singles chart on May 23, 1970. 

The Brass Are Comin' remastered digital album released December 4, 2015 on the Herb Alpert Presents label. On September 9, 2016, the CD was released.

 

OFFICIAL VIDEO PERFORMANCES OF THE BRASS ARE COMIN'

SONG TITLESHOWYEAR
The Brass Are Comin' The Brass Are Comin' television special 1969 
Good Morning Mr. Sunshine The Brass Are Comin' television special 1969 
I'm an Old Cowhand The Brass Are Comin' television special 1969 
Moon River The Brass Are Comin' television special 1969 
Robbers and Cops The Brass Are Comin' television special 1969 
Sunny The Brass Are Comin' television special 1969 
You Are My Life The Brass Are Comin' television special 1969 

 

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1971     1973       1974       1975       1976     1977       1978       1979      

1970: SUMMERTIME

SUMMERTIME SESSIONOGRAPHY

APRIL 21, 1970 A&M STUDIOS
Jerusalem
Hurts So Bad
Pata Pata
John Pisano--guitar
Nick Ceroli--drums
Pete Jolly--piano
Julius Wechter--marimba
Tom Tedesco--guitar
Claudio Slon--drums
Bob Edmondson--trombone
David Wells--trombone
Larry Knechtel--keyboards
Francisco Aguabella--percussion
APRIL 22, 1970 A&M STUDIOS
Jerusalem Milt Holland--percussion
AUGUST 25, 1970 A&M STUDIOS
Strike Up the Band Herb Alpert--trumpet
Milt Holland--percussion
NOVEMBER 10, 1970 A&M STUDIOS
Martha My Dear
Untitled
Herb Alpert--trumpet
Jules Chaikin--trumpet
Thomas Scott--woodwinds
Peter Christlieb--sax
Tom Tedesco--guitar
Oliver Mitchell--trumpet
Paul Hubinon--trumpet
John Audino
Charles Findley--trumpet
Larry Ruhoberer
Joseph Porcaro--drums, percussion

 

 

Herb was a presenter at the Fifth Annual Awards Presentation of the International Academy of Country & Western Music on April 13.

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1971: SUMMERTIME

SUMMERTIME SESSIONOGRAPHY

MARCH 11, 1971 A&M STUDIOS
Free Farm
Summertime
Martha My Dear
Untitled Original #1
Bill Holman
Jules Chaikin--trumpet
Emil Radocchia--percussion
Donald Waldrop--tuba, bass trombone
Dick Hyde--trombone, tuba, trumpet
Paul Humphrey--drums
Bob Edmondson--trombone
Oliver Mitchell--trumpet
Marion Childers--trumpet
Charles Loper--trombone
Charles Findley--trumpet

 

SUMMERTIME HISTORY

Released in June 1971 on vinyl album, cassette, 8-track and open reel tape. It sold 59,000 cassettes, 184,000 8-tracks and 250,000 vinyl albums. 

The "Jerusalem" single was released around October 1, 1970 in the U.S. 

"Jerusalem" was #47 in Britain on December 19, 1970.

Summertime remastered digital album released December 4, 2015 on the Herb Alpert Presents label. On September 9, 2016, the CD was released.

Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss were NARM's Presidential Award Winners for sustained contributions to the music industry.

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1973: YOU SMILE--THE SONG BEGiNS

Herb Alpert US promotional poster

 

YOU SMILE--THE SONG BEGINS SESSIONOGRAPHY

FEBRUARY 6, 1973 A&M STUDIOS
Last Tango in Paris Quincy Jones--arranger
Jules Chaikin--trumpet
Michael Melvoin--piano
Erno Neufeld
Marshall Sesson--violin
Marilyn Baker--violin
William Henderson--violin
Jay Rosen--violin
Bonnie Douglas--violin
Arnold Belnick--violin
Jerome Reisler--violin
FEBRUARY 7, 1973 GOLD STAR RECORDING STUDIOS
Last Tango in Paris
Killing Me Softly with His Song
Herb Alpert--trumpet
Larry Carlton--guitar
Wilton Lewis Felder--sax
Bobbye Hall--percussion
Michael Melvoin--piano
Julius Wechter--marimba
James Beck Gordon
MARCH 6, 1973 A&M STUDIOS
Promises, Promises
Killing Me Softly with His Song
Alone Again, Naturally
Layla
Herb Alpert--trumpet
Gary Coleman--percussion
James Beck Gordon
Jim Hughart--bass
Pete Jolly--piano
Michael Melvoin--piano
David T. Walker--guitar
MARCH 8, 1973 A&M STUDIOS
Man in the Station
Hard
There's a Harbor
I'll Never Need More Than This
Herb Alpert--trumpet
John Pisano--guitar
Julius Wechter--marimba
Nick Ceroli--drums
Charles Rainey--bass
David T. Walker--guitar
Michael Melvoin--piano
MARCH 13, 1973 A&M STUDIOS
Since You Asked
Time Will Tell
Lady (the)
Herb Alpert--trumpet
Larry Carlton--guitar
Gary L. Coleman--percussion
James Beck Gordon
Jim Hughart--bass
Pete Jolly--piano
Michael Melvoin piano
JUNE 7, 1973 A&M STUDIOS
Hello Lani Milt Holland--percussion
Gary Coleman--percussion
James Beck Gordon
NOVEMBER 19, 1973 A&M STUDIOS
Dida
I Might Frighten Her Away
Herb Alpert--trumpet
Nick Ceroli--drums
Vince Charles--percussion, steel drums
Dave Frishberg--piano
Jim Hughart--bass
John Pisano--guitar
Tom Tedesco--guitar
Julius Wechter--marimba
NOVEMBER 21, 1973 A&M STUDIOS
Number 2
Tomorrow Will Be Better
Herb Alpert--trumpet
Nick Ceroli--drums
Vince Charles--percussion, steel drums
Dave Frishberg--piano
Jim Hughart--bass
John Pisano--guitar
Tom Tedesco--guitar
Julius Wechter--marimba
NOVEMBER 25, 1973 A&M STUDIOS
Ruby
Tomorrow Will Be Better
Herb Alpert--trumpet
Nick Ceroli--drums
Vince Charles--percussion, steel drums
Dave Frishberg--piano
Jim Hughart--bass
John Pisano--guitar
Tom Tedesco--guitar
Julius Wechter--marimba
NOVEMBER 27, 1973 A&M STUDIOS
Popcorn Herb Alpert--trumpet
Nick Ceroli--drums
Vince Charles--percussion, steel drums
Dave Frishberg--piano
Jim Hughart--bass
John Pisano--guitar
Tom Tedesco--guitar
Julius Wechter--marimba
NOVEMBER 28, 1973 A&M STUDIOS
Number 3 Herb Alpert--trumpet
Nick Ceroli--drums
Vince Charles--percussion, steel drums
Dave Frishberg--piano
Jim Hughart--bass
John Pisano--guitar
Tom Tedesco--guitar
Julius Wechter--marimba
NOVEMBER 29, 1973 A&M STUDIOS
Number 1 Herb Alpert--trumpet
Nick Ceroli--drums
Vince Charles--percussion, steel drums
Dave Frishberg--piano
Jim Hughart--bass
John Pisano--guitar
Tom Tedesco--guitar
Julius Wechter--marimba
NOVEMBER 30, 1973 A&M STUDIOS
Number 2 Herb Alpert--trumpet
Nick Ceroli--drums
Vince Charles--percussion, steel drums
Dave Frishberg--piano
Jim Hughart--bass
John Pisano--guitar
Tom Tedesco--guitar
Julius Wechter--marimba
DECEMBER 20, 1973 A&M STUDIOS
Lost Horizon
Number 2
Herb Alpert--trumpet
Nick Ceroli--drums
Vince Charles--percussion, steel drums
Dave Frishberg--piano
Jim Hughart--bass
John Pisano--guitar
Tom Tedesco--guitar
Julius Wechter--marimba

You Smile the Song Begins Official Biography

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1974:YOU SMILE--THE SONG BEGINS AND CONEY ISLAND

YOU SMILE--THE SONG BEGINS SESSIONOGRAPHY

JANUARY 9, 1974 A&M STUDIOS
Song for Herb
Lost Horizon
Herb Alpert--trumpet
Nick Ceroli--drums
Vince Charles--percussion, steel drums
Chuck Findley--trumpet
Pete Jolly--piano
John Pisano--guitar
Ernest Eugene McDaniel--bass
Tom Tedesco--guitar
Julius Wechter--marimba
Larry Carlton--guitar
FEBRUARY 4, 1974 A&M STUDIOS
You Smile--the Song Begins Herb Alpert--trumpet
Vince Charles--percussion, steel drums
Pete Jolly--piano
John Pisano--guitar
Ernie McDaniel--bass
Nick Ceroli--drums
Julius Wechter--marimba
MARCH 11, 1974 A&M STUDIOS
Up Cherry Street
Legend of the One-Eyed Sailor
Dida
Herb Alpert--trumpet
Ernest McDaniel--bass
Vince Charles--percussion, steel drums
Bob Findley--trumpet
Tom Tedesco--guitar
Bob Edmondson--trombone
MARCH 22, 1974 A&M STUDIOS
I Might Frighten Her Away Herb Alpert--trumpet
Jules Chaikin--trumpet
George Kast--violin
Nathan Ross--violin
Sheldon Sanov--violin
Arnold Belnick--violin
Wilbert Nuttycombe--violin
Linda Rose--violin
Jerome Reisler--violin
Bernard Kundell--violin
Mari Tsumura Botnick--violin
APRIL 6, 1974 A&M STUDIOS
You Smile--the Song Begins Kenneth Shroyer--trombone
Lou McCreary--trombone

 

YOU SMILE--THE SONG BEGINS HISTORY 

Released: May 1974 on vinyl album and cassette. 

Toured in support of the You Smile--the Song Begins album in both the U.S. and Great Britain and Europe. The European tour began in September. 

In England, the album was supported by ads on four television stations, radio ads, plus two front panels on 100 London transport buses and buses in 16 towns and cities. There were retail displays in 500 record shops.

You Smile--the Song Begins remastered digital album released December 4, 2015 on the Herb Alpert Presents label. On September 9, 2016, the CD was released.

November 19, 1974 was declared Herb Alpert Day by Metropolitan Dade County, Florida.

ASCAP gave Herb Alpert a special award as a writer/member.

World Records presented A&M Records, Ltd. with a silver disc for over 50,000 sets of a six-disc Alpert collection.

 

HERB ALPERT ON YOU SMILE--THE SONG BEGINS

It was a lonely album, put together piece by piece in my imagination, done over a long period of time during which I was playing the trumpet with one arm tied behind my back. I forced myself to play; I forced myself to do that album. It was kind of a painful experience, but there was no other way to get to where I am now.

SOURCE:
A&M Records press release for Coney Island album, 1975.

OFFICIAL VIDEO PERFORMANCES OF YOU SMILE--THE SONG BEGINS

SONG TITLE SHOW YEAR
Fox Hunt The Sentry television special 1974
Legend of the One-Eyed Sailor The Sentry television special 1974
Save the Sunlight The Sentry television special 1974

 

THE YOU SMILE--THE SONG BEGINS TOURING BAND 

Herb Alpert--trumpet 
Nick Ceroli--drums 
Bob Edmondson--trombone, percussion, timpani, temple block 
Bob Findley--trumpet 
Vince Charles--percussion, steel drums 
Julius Wechter--marimba 
Dave Frishberg--piano 
John Pisano--guitar 
Ernie McDaniels--bass 
Lani Hall--vocals

 

CONEY ISLAND SESSIONOGRAPHY

SEPTEMBER 9, 1974 A&M STUDIOS
I Belong Jimmie Haskell
Jules Chaikin--trumpet
Sidney Sharp--violin
Arnold Belnick--violin
Wilbert Nuttycombe--violin
Jay Rosen--violin
Marilyn Baker--violin
Thomas Ruffus
Jerome Reisler--violin
Tibor Zelig--violin
Harry Hyams--viola
SEPTEMBER 9, 1974 A&M STUDIOS
Coney Island
Happy Man
Clarence McDonald--piano
Vince Charles--percussion, steel drums
Steve Schaeffer--drums
Orlando Hernandez--drums
SEPTEMBER 9, 1974 A&M STUDIOS
I Belong Clarence McDonald--piano
Dave Frishberg--piano
Vince Charles--percussion, steel drums
Tom Tedesco--guitar
Steve Schaeffer--drums
Julius Wechter--marimba
Orlando Hernandez--drums
John Pisano--guitar
NOVEMBER 22, 1974 A&M STUDIOS
Save the Sunlight Herb Alpert--trumpet
Bob Edmondson--trombone
Bob Findley--trumpet
Vince Charles--percussion, steel drums
John Pisano--guitar
Dave Frishberg--piano
Steve Schaeffer--drums
Orlando Hernandez--drums
Julius Wechter--marimba
NOVEMBER 26, 1974 A&M STUDIOS
One Horse Town Herb Alpert--trumpet
Lee Ritenour--guitar
Bob Findley--trumpet
Orlando Hernandez--drums
Bob Edmondson--trombone
Steve Schaeffer--drums
Dave Frishberg--piano
Vince Charles--percussion, steel drums
Julius Wechter--marimba
John Pisano--guitar
DECEMBER 3, 1974 A&M STUDIOS
Coney Island Herb Alpert--trumpet
Lee Ritenour--guitar
Bob Findley--trumpet
Orlando Hernandez--drums
Bob Edmondson--trombone
Steve Schaeffer--drums
Dave Frishberg--piano
Vince Charles--percussion, steel drums
Julius Wechter--marimba
John Pisano--guitar
DECEMBER 6, 1974 A&M STUDIOS
Senor Mouse
Casa #1
Herb Alpert--trumpet
Steve Schaeffer--drums
Dave Frishberg--piano
Julius Wechter--marimba
John Pisano--guitar
Bob Findley--trumpet
Orlando Hernandez--drums
Bob Edmondson--trombone
Vince Charles--percussion, steel drums
DECEMBER 10, 1974 A&M STUDIOS
Casa #1
Coney Island
Senor Mouse
Java
Herb Alpert--trumpet
John Pisano--guitar
Dave Frishberg--piano
Julius Wechter--marimba
Orlando Hernandez--drums
Bob Findley--trumpet
Vince Charles--percussion, steel drums
Bob Edmondson--trombone
Steve Schaeffer--drums
DECEMBER 12, 1974 GOLD STAR RECORDING STUDIOS
Senor Mouse Herb Alpert--trumpet
John Pisano--guitar
Dave Frishberg--piano
Julius Wechter--marimba
Orlando Hernandez--drums
Bob Findley--trumpet
Vince Charles--percussion, steel drums
Bob Edmondson--trombone
Steve Schaeffer--drums

 

CONEY ISLAND HISTORY 

Released: April 1975 on vinyl album, cassette 
Singles: Whistle Song (Whistlestar)/Carmine--Whistle Song was only released as a 7-inch single

We were playing this nameless tune in concert last Summer. We were playing at Springfield, Illinois at the fair outside. While we were playing the tune there was a carnival going on and somebody in the group said, 'It sounds like Coney Island here.' That gave birth to the title of the song and we even considered putting the sound effects of the carnival over it but decided against it.1

We were recording and the drummer started playing a rhythm. The bass player chimed in and 'Sweet Georgia Brown' just came to mind. We had never played it before as a group and since, by the way. I went over to the piano player. I said, 'Do you know 'Sweet Georgia Brown'?' He started plunking out some chords. He wasn't quite sure where he was going. The bass player chimed in and I just picked up the horn and started playing. We recorded this whole album live in the studio. 'Sweet Georgia Brown' came out the first time.1

When I was producing good albums with the Brass, each was a potpourri of things. This album has that same dimension, but with the additional difference of being done several years later. This dimension has different colors to it, colors I've never been in before. 

It has guts. It's very spontaneous. It's not "assembled"from my producing experience; it was recorded live in three days. It's real, it has real things that actually happened, it's much much much freer. 

It's not a compromise. It's purely how I'm feeling today. Good or bad, that's the way it is. I feel like I'm finally getting in there, doing what I can do. When I listen to it, it sounds like a step to me, but I know I have a lot more to say musically before I finish.2

Coney Island remastered digital album released December 4, 2015 on the Herb Alpert Presents label. On September 9, 2016, the CD was released.

 

CONEY ISLAND OFFICIAL VIDEO PERFORMANCES

SONG TITLE SHOW YEAR
Coney Island  The Sentry television special  1974 
Vento Bravo  The Sentry television special  1974 


 

THE CONEY ISLAND TOURING BAND 

Herb Alpert--trumpet 
Nick Ceroli--drums 
Steve Schaeffer--drums 
Bob Edmondson--trombone, percussion, timpani, temple block 
Bob Findley--trumpet, flugelhorn, flugelbone 
Vince Charles--percussion, steel drums 
Ken Kaplan--trumpet, flugelhorn, synthesizer 
Dave Frishberg--piano 
Peter Woodford--guitar 
Papito Hernandez--percussion 
Lani Hall--vocals

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1975: CONEY ISLAND AND JUST YOU AND ME

CONEY ISLAND SESSIONOGRAPHY

JANUARY 7, 1975 GOLD STAR RECORDING STUDIOS
Senor Mouse
Coney Island
Herb Alpert--trumpet
Dave Frishberg--piano
Julius Wechter--marimba
Bob Edmondson--trombone
Bob Findley--trumpet
Orlando Hernandez--drums
Vince Charles--percussion, steel drums
Steve Schaeffer--drums
Anthony DeCaprio
JANUARY 8, 1975 GOLD STAR RECORDING STUDIOS
Casa #1
I Have Dreamed
Herb Alpert--trumpet
Julius Wechter--marimba
Steve Schaeffer--drums
David Frishberg--piano
Orlando Hernandez--drums
Bob Findley--trumpet
Bob Edmondson--trombone
Peter Woodford--guitar
Vince Charles--percussion, steel drums
JANUARY 9, 1975 GOLD STAR RECORDING STUDIOS
One Horse Town
Vento Bravo
Coney Island
Herb Alpert--trumpet
Julius Wechter--marimba
Steve Schaeffer--drums
David Frishberg--piano
Orlando Hernandez--drums
Bob Findley--trumpet
Bob Edmondson--trombone
Peter Woodford--guitar
Vince Charles--percussion, steel drums
JANUARY 10, 1975 GOLD STAR RECORDING STUDIOS
Sleeping Giant
Masquerade
Herb Alpert--trumpet
Julius Wechter--marimba
Steve Schaeffer--drums
David Frishberg--piano
Orlando Hernandez--drums
Bob Findley--trumpet
Bob Edmondson--trombone
Peter Woodford--guitar
Vince Charles--percussion, steel drums
JANUARY 13, 1975 GOLD STAR RECORDING STUDIOS
Sweet Georgia Brown
Hoe Down
Carmine
Herb Alpert--trumpet
Julius Wechter--marimba
Steve Schaeffer--drums
David Frishberg--piano
Orlando Hernandez--drums
Bob Findley--trumpet
Bob Edmondson--trombone
Peter Woodford--guitar
Vince Charles--percussion, steel drums
JANUARY 14, 1975 GOLD STAR RECORDING STUDIOS
Senor Mouse
Michel Colombier Song
One Horse Town
Herb Alpert--trumpet
Julius Wechter--marimba
Steve Schaeffer--drums
David Frishberg--piano
Orlando Hernandez--drums
Bob Findley--trumpet
Bob Edmondson--trombone
Peter Woodford--guitar
Vince Charles--percussion, steel drums
JANUARY 15, 1975 GOLD STAR RECORDING STUDIOS
Carmine
The Crave
Herb Alpert--trumpet
Julius Wechter--marimba
Steve Schaeffer--drums
David Frishberg--piano
Orlando Hernandez--drums
Bob Findley--trumpet
Bob Edmondson--trombone
Peter Woodford--guitar
Vince Charles--percussion, steel drums
JANUARY 17, 1975 GOLD STAR RECORDING STUDIOS
Vento Bravo Herb Alpert--trumpet
Julius Wechter--marimba
Steve Schaeffer--drums
David Frishberg--piano
Orlando Hernandez--drums
Bob Findley--trumpet
Bob Edmondson--trombone
Peter Woodford--guitar
Vince Charles--percussion, steel drums
JANUARY 21, 1975 GOLD STAR RECORDING STUDIOS
Les Choses
Carmine
Peter Matz
Joseph Soldo--reeds
Gerald Vinci--violin
Julius Wechter--marimba
Robert Tricarioc
Bob Edmondson--trombone
Erno Neufeld
Nathan Ross--violin
Jacob Krachmalnick--violin
Ralph Silverman--violin
Joy Lyle--violin
FEBRUARY 13, 1975 GOLD STAR RECORDING STUDIOS
Catfish Herb Alpert--trumpet
Bob Findley--trumpet
Vince Charles--percussion, steel drums
Steve Schaeffer--drums
Orlando Hernandez--drums
Dave Frishberg--piano
Julius Wechter--marimba
Bob Edmondson--trombone
Peter Woodford--guitar
JUNE 12, 1975 A&M STUDIOS
El Bimbo Herb Alpert--trumpet
Bob Findley--trumpet
Vince Charles--percussion, steel drums
Steve Schaeffer--drums
Orlando Hernandez--drums
Dave Frishberg--piano
Julius Wechter--marimba
Bob Edmondson--trombone
Peter Woodford--guitar
AUGUST 6, 1975 A&M STUDIOS
Desert Dance Herb Alpert--trumpet
Bob Findley--trumpet
Vince Charles--percussion, steel drums
Steve Schaeffer--drums
Orlando Hernandez--drums
Dave Frishberg--piano
Julius Wechter--marimba
Bob Edmondson--trombone
Peter Woodford--guitar

 

HERB ALPERT ON CONEY ISLAND

We were playing this nameless tune in concert last Summer. We were playing at Springfield, Illinois at the fair outside. While we were playing the tune there was a carnival going on and somebody in the group said, 'It sounds like Coney Island here.' That gave birth to the title of the song and we even considered putting the sound effects of the carnival over it but decided against it.

We were recording and the drummer started playing a rhythm. The bass player chimed in and 'Sweet Georgia Brown' just came to mind. We had never played it before as a group and since, by the way. I went over to the piano player. Isaid, 'Do you know 'Sweet Georgia Brown'?' He started plunking out some chords. He wasn't quite sure where he was going. The bass player chimed in and I just picked up the horn and started playing. We recorded this whole album live in the studio. 'Sweet Georgia Brown' came out the first time.

When I was producing good albums with the Brass, each was a potpourri of things. This album has that same dimension, but with the additional difference of being done several years later. This dimension has different colors to it, colors I've never been in before.

It has guts. It's very spontaneous. It's not "assembled" from my producing experience; it was recorded live in three days. It's real, it has real things that actually happened, it's much much much freer.

It's not a compromise. It's purely how I'm feeling today. Good or bad, that's the way it is. I feel like I'm finally getting in there, doing what I can do. When I listen to it, it sounds like a step to me, but I know I have a lot more to say musically before I finish.

Coney Island Official Biography

 

JUST YOU AND ME SESSIONOGRAPHY

 

DECEMBER 16, 1975 A&M STUDIOS
Malibu Run Russ Kunkel--drums

 

Top

1976

JUST YOU AND ME SESSIONOGRAPHY

JANUARY 12, 1976 A&M STUDIOS
Central Park Russ Kunkel--drums
FEBRUARY 16, 1976 A&M STUDIOS
One Night with You Russ Kunkel--drums
MARCH 24, 1976 A&M STUDIOS
Anniversary
Grandpa Lou
Jimmie Haskell
Vincent DeRose--horns
Richard Perissi--horn
Arthur Maebe--French horn
Abe Post--clarinet
MARCH 25, 1976 A&M STUDIOS
Anniversary
Grandpa Lou
Jimmie Haskell
Sidney Sharp--violin
William Kurasch--violin
James Getzoff--violin
Joy Lyle--violin
Tibor Zelig--violin
Murray Adler--violin
Stanley Plummer--violin
Lou Klass--violin
Robert Konrad--violin
MARCH 30, 1976 A&M STUDIOS
The Day Will Come Tom Tedesco--guitar
MARCH 31, 1976 A&M STUDIOS
The Day Will Come
Just You and Me
Emil Richards--percussion
APRIL 8, 1976 A&M STUDIOS
Second Avenue Clarence McDonald--piano
Chuck Berghofer--bass
James Beck Gordon

 

Just You and Me New Music On A&M Records

Top

1977: HERB ALPERT & HUGH MASEKELA

HERB ALPERT & HUGH MASEKELA SESSIONOGRAPHY

NOVEMBER 1, 1977 A&M STUDIOS
Moonza
Happy Hanna
Skokiaan
Lobo
Ring Bell
Donald W. Cooke--trombone
George Bohanon--trombone
Sidney Isaac Muldrow--trumpet
Marilyn Robinson--French horn
Maurice Spears--bass trombone
NOVEMBER 2, 1977 A&M STUDIOS
Yours
Ring Bell
Lobo
Moonza
Jimmy Jones
Gerald Vinci--violin
Alfred Breuning--violin
Christine Ermacoff--cello
Selen Hurford--cello
Betty Moor--violin
Thelma Beach--violin
Arnold Belnick--violin
Alex Neiman
Joseph Reilich--viola

 

HERB ALPERT & HUGH MASEKELA HISTORY 

Released: January 1978 on vinyl album, cassette, 8-track tape. Reissued on CD in 1988 

The album was remastered and released as a CD and digital on February 24, 2017.

In June, Herb Alpert received his star on the Hollywood Blvd. Walk of Fame.

Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss won a NARM Award.

On August 8, 1977, New Orleans, LA made Herb Alpert an Honorary Citizen.

Top

1978: HERB ALPERT & HUGH MASEKELA AND MAIN EVENT LIVE

HERB ALPERT ON ALPERT & MASEKELA ALBUM

We were both somewhat turned on by the idea [of playing together], but at the same time we didn't know if it would work out.

[The intent was to] create a dialogue between two musicians. We didn't want it to be a contest, but two people wanting to express themselves and spinning off each other.

I felt there was a meeting ground somewhere. We're both very spontaneous players, which always leads to the unknown. I guess I've always been a frustrated jazz musician and I just reached a point where I really wanted to explore that side of my talent, and meeting Hugh opened a new door for me.

I like the album a lot and I see it as a huge stepping stone. I think if it is valid for people musically, it's just the start of something. We were really just experimenting and exploring, so there are a number of directions we can pursue in the future.

I really feel that I'm onto something, or better yet, let's say I got a lot of satisfaction out of working with Hugh. I really feel good about it and I can have egg all over my face and fall on my ass but I'll get up and do something else and keep at it!

I know a lot of people are asking, 'What the hell are these two guys doing together?' but all I know is that it feels right.

We started rehearsing. It was fun. No formal plan, just fun. We found the musicians we felt were right to work with us and finally went into the studio to do the album. We recorded it in three successive nights. For the most part we did it live right in the studio. It's not one of those battle of the horns things. Hugh and I found that we were really sympathetic to each other's feelings.

SOURCES:
A&M Records press release for Herb Alpert & Hugh Masekela album, 1978.
Alpert Is Back with New Sound and a Partner. Jack Lloyd. Inquirer Entertainment News, 1978.

 

MAIN EVENT LIVE SESSIONOGRAPHY

APRIL 16, 1978 A&M STUDIOS
None listed Herb Alpert--trumpet
Larry Williams--bass
Buddy Williams--drums
Larry Willis--piano
Arthur Adams--guitar
Jeff Sigman--guitar
Manolo Badrena--percussion
Hugh Masekela--trumpet
MAY 15, 1978 ROXY
Skokiaan
Shame the Devil
She-Been
Foreign Natives
Lobo
Moonza
People Make the World Go Round
Grazin' in the Grass
Herb Alpert--trumpet
Larry Williams--bass
Buddy Williams--drums
Larry Willis--piano
Arthur Adams--guitar
Jeff Sigman--guitar
Manolo Badrena--percussion
Hugh Masekela--trumpet
Mosa Jonas Gwangwa--trombone
JUNE 29, 1978 A&M STUDIOS
She-Been Herb Alpert--trumpet
Larry Williams--bass
Buddy Williams--drums
Larry Willis--piano
Arthur Adams--guitar
Jeff Sigman--guitar
Manolo Badrena--percussion
Hugh Masekela--trumpet
Mosa Jonas Gwangwa--trombone
JULY 3, 1978 A&M STUDIOS
Blazin' Trail
Walk on By
Herb Alpert--trumpet
Larry Williams--bass
Buddy Williams--drums
Larry Willis--piano
Arthur Adams--guitar
Jeff Sigman--guitar
Manolo Badrena--percussion
Hugh Masekela--trumpet
Mosa Jonas Gwangwa--trombone
JULY 4, 1978 A&M STUDIOS
Blazin Train
Walk on By
Mama
Herb Alpert--trumpet
Larry Williams--bass
Buddy Williams--drums
Larry Willis--piano
Arthur Adams--guitar
Jeff Sigman--guitar
Manolo Badrena--percussion
Hugh Masekela--trumpet
Mosa Jonas Gwangwa--trombone
JULY 5, 1978 A&M STUDIOS
George Johson Tune
Herb Alpert Tune
Herb Alpert--trumpet
Larry Williams--bass
Buddy Williams--drums
Larry Willis--piano
Arthur Adams--guitar
Jeff Sigman--guitar
Manolo Badrena--percussion
Hugh Masekela--trumpet
Mosa Jonas Gwangwa--trombone
JULY 6, 1978 A&M STUDIOS
Mama Way
Walk on By
Herb Alpert--trumpet
Larry Williams--bass
Buddy Williams--drums
Larry Willis--piano
Arthur Adams--guitar
Jeff Sigman--guitar
Manolo Badrena--percussion
Hugh Masekela--trumpet
Mosa Jonas Gwangwa--trombone
JULY 7, 1978 A&M STUDIOS
Besame Mucho Herb Alpert--trumpet
Larry Williams--bass
Buddy Williams--drums
Larry Willis--piano
Arthur Adams--guitar
Jeff Sigman--guitar
Manolo Badrena--percussion
Hugh Masekela--trumpet
Mosa Jonas Gwangwa--trombone
JULY 13, 1978 A&M STUDIOS
Blazin Trail
George Johnson's Tune
Besame Mucho
Mosa Jonas Gwangwa--trombone
JULY 14, 1978 A&M STUDIOS
Blazin Trail
George Johnson's Tune
Besame Mucho
Mosa Jonas Gwangwa--trombone
Jeff Sigman--guitar
JULY 17, 1978 A&M STUDIOS
People
George Johnson's Tune
Mosa Jonas Gwangwa--trombone
DATE STUDIO
JULY 19, 1978 A&M STUDIOS
She-Been
Mama
Mosa Jonas Gwangwa--trombone
JULY 20, 1978 A&M STUDIOS
Besame Mucho Mosa Jonas Gwangwa--trombone
JULY 24, 1978 A&M STUDIOS
Herb's Tune Mosa Jonas Gwangwa--trombone
JULY 25, 1978 A&M STUDIOS
Besame Mucho
Blazin Trail
Herb's Tune
Larry Williams--bass
Jeff Sigman--guitar
Larry Willis--piano
JULY 26, 1978 A&M STUDIOS
Besame Mucho
Shame the Devil
She-Been
Tom Tedesco--guitar
Manolo Badrena--percussion
JULY 27, 1978 A&M STUDIOS
Besame Mucho
Shame the Devil
She-Been
Michael Boddicker--synthesizer
Larry Willis--piano
JULY 31, 1978 A&M STUDIOS
Besame Mucho Manolo Badrena--percussion

 

MAIN EVENT LIVE HISTORY 

Released in 1978 on vinyl album, cassette and 8-track tape.

Single: Foreign Natives/Mama Way (edited version)

Main Event Live remastered digital album released December 4, 2015 on the Herb Alpert Presents label. On September 9, 2016, the CD was released.

 

ALPERT'S THOUGHTS ON MAIN EVENT LIVE

Hugh and I wanted to continue the spontaneity we experienced on our first album. And because of the concerts and audience response, we didn't feel we could create that same atmosphere in the studio. It seemed natural that we should record a live album.

SOURCE:
A&M Records press release for Main Event Live! album, 1978.

Top

1979: RISE

RISE SESSIONOGRAPHY

FEBRUARY 16, 1979 A&M STUDIOS
Rise
Aranjuez
Abraham Laboriel--bass
Tim May--guitar
Michael Lang--piano
Julius Wechter--marimba
Steve Schaeffer--drums
Michel Colombier--piano
Andy Armer--piano
FEBRUARY 14, 1979 A&M STUDIOS
The Lonely Bull
On Broadway
Abraham Laboriel--bass
Tim May--guitar
Michael Lang--piano
Julius Wechter--marimba
Steve Schaeffer--drums
MARCH 6, 1979 A&M STUDIOS
If
Aranjuez
Herb's Tune
Abraham Laboriel--bass
Steve Schaeffer--drums
Thom Rotella--guitar
Andy Armer--piano
Les McCann--piano
Julius Wechter--marimba
Michel Colombier--piano
MARCH 8, 1979 A&M STUDIOS
Rise
See Me One Last Time
Aranjuez
Abraham Laboriel--bass
Steve Schaeffer--drums
Michel Colombier--piano
MARCH 9, 1979 A&M STUDIOS
Aranjuez Assa Drori--violin
Mari Botnick--violin
Reginald Hill--violin
Douglas Davis--cello
David Williams--bass
MARCH 14, 1979 A&M STUDIOS
Rise Chris Pinnick--guitar
Andy Armer--piano
MARCH 14, 1979 A&M STUDIOS
Aranjuez Emil Radocchia--percussion
John Bergamo--percussion
Tom Tedesco--guitar
Tom Scott--woodwinds
MARCH 21, 1979 A&M STUDIOS
Aranjuez Andy Armer--piano
Pete Jolly--accordion
Manolo Badrena--percussion
MARCH 29, 1979 A&M STUDIOS
Aranjuez Gene Page--strings
Harry Bluestone--violin
Marshall Sosson--violin
Nathan Ross--violin
Paul Shure--violin
Israel Baker--violin
Sheldon Sanov--violin
Stanley Plummer--violin
ssa Drori--violin
Mari Tsumura Botnick--violin
APRIL 3, 1979 A&M STUDIOS
Rise Andy Armer--piano
Chris Pinnick--guitar
APRIL 5, 1979 A&M STUDIOS
Aranjuez Gene Page--violin
William Page--sax
Harry Bluestone--violin
Marshall Sosson--violin
Nathan Ross--violin
Paul Shure--violin
Israel Baker--violin
Sheldon Sanov--violin
Stanley Plummer--violin
Assa Drori--violin
APRIL 13, 1979 A&M STUDIOS
Rise Andy Armer--piano
Chris Pinnick--guitar
JULY 19, 1979 A&M STUDIOS
Love Is
Street Life
Joe Sample--piano
Louis Johnson--bass
Andy Armer--piano
Carlos Rios--guitar
Harvey Mason--drums
JULY 20, 1979 A&M STUDIOS
Angelina Joe Sample--piano
Carlos Rios--guitar
James Jamerson--bass
Andy Armer--piano
JULY 23, 1979 A&M STUDIOS
Angelina Andy Armer--piano
Jay Maness--steel guitar
Randy Alpert
JULY 25, 1979 A&M STUDIOS
Street Life Manolo Badrena--percussion
Julius Wechter--marimba
Louis Johnson--bass
JULY 31, 1979 A&M STUDIOS
Street Life
Behind the Rain
Steve Schaeffer--drums
Tim May--guitar
Julius Wechter--marimba
Andy Armer--piano
Michael Lang--piano
James Jamerson--bass
AUGUST 8, 1979 A&M STUDIOS
Behind the Rain Greg Mathieson--keyboards
AUGUST 13, 1979 A&M STUDIOS "D"
Behind the Rain
Street Life
Thomas Washington--strings
Benjamin Barrett--violin
Paul Shure--violin
Assa Drori--violin
Stanley Plummer--violin
Glenn Dicterow--violin
Nathan Ross--violin
Endre Granat--violin
Mari Tsumura Botnick--violin
Ken Yerke--violin
AUGUST 14, 1979 A&M STUDIOS "D"
Behind the Rain
Street Life
Thomas Washington--strings
Benjamin Barrett--violin
Steven Madaio--trumpet, flugelhorn
Walter Johnson--percussion, steel drums
Ronald King--trumpet
Louis Satterfield--bass trombone
Maurice Spears--bass trombone
Jerome Richardson--sax, flute
Donald Myrick--sax, flute

 

Image
Herb Alpert: Rise #1 on Record Word singles chart

 

 

RISE HISTORY

Released: September 25, 1979 
Original Formats: vinyl album, cassette 
Reissue Formats: vinyl album, cassette, 8-track tape and compact disc 

"Rise" was #19 on the Australia singles chart on December 8, 1979.

"Rise", both album and single, were certified as gold records by the R.I.A.A.

The Rise album was certified platinum by the R.I.A.A.

In 2007, the album was remastered and released as part of the Herb Alpert Signature Series. 

Rise remastered digital album released December 4, 2015 on the Herb Alpert Presents label. On September 9, 2016, the CD was released.

"When I did ‘Rise’ in 1979, and it was used on ‘General Hospital’ (in the infamous Luke and Laura Campus Disco scene). That just catapulted the sales of that song.”

The first running of the Herb Alpert 10-K raised $30,000 for the T. J. Martell Foundation for Leukemia Research.

New York City Public Schools presented Herb Alpert with a Certificate of Dedication for The Herb Alpert Sub School.

HERB ALPERT'S THOUGHTS ON RISE

I asked [my nephew] Randy if he had any of his songwriting material around and he showed me 'Rise,' a dance tune he'd worked up with his friend Andy Amer. Most of those dance records were 120 to 130 beats per minute, but I decided this should be much slower than that. I had this vision of people getting tired of dancing that same groove all night, and moving to something slower like 'Rise' at the end of the evening.

The moment I heard it, I had a special feeling for it. It was a very romantic melody. I was looking for a tune that could compete with disco records. I was looking to make a dance record.

If I got a hit record first, I could go into the studio with a lot more confidence. If 'Rise' didn't happen, there wouldn't have been an album. If things don't go right, you get a little gun-shy.

'Rise' gave me the opportunity to go into the studio and make Herb Alpert music.

'Rotation' was written by Randy and Andy [Alpert and Armer]. I thought it was a very unique song. In fact, I was surprised that Rotation wasn't a big record. It might have been a little bit too outside. It didn't have a bass on it.

[The success of Rise] gives me some confidence I'd lost. The competition is tough in the music business. Last year, 4200 albums were released in America. What's happened with 'Rise' gives me the freedom to explore again.

[The album is] a potpourri. I didn't set out to record eight more 'Rises.'

[Aranjuez] was the B-Side of the 'Rise' single. I didn't have anything ready except this. It was cut as an A-Side but I knew that 'Rise' was the track so to prevent dj's from flipping it over I cheated a little on the single mix of 'Aranjuez.' I didn't want it to stand out too much. I've remixed it for the album the way it was originally intended.

SOURCES:
A&M Records press release for Rise album, 1979.
20/20 television interview, 1979.
Rise Raises Herb Alpert's Recording Posture. Ed Harrison. Billboard, 1979.
Portrait of a Legend television show, 1982.

 

OFFICIAL VIDEO PERFORMANCES OF RISE SONGS

SONG TITLE SHOW YEAR
Rise A&M Video 1979
Rotation A&M Video 1979


 

OFFICIAL BIOGRAPHY:
Alpert_Rise_Bio.pdf
Herb Alpert: Rise

Top

1981       1982       1983       1984      1985       1986       1987       1988       1989      

1980: BEYOND AND MAGIC MAN

BEYOND SESSIONOGRAPHY

JANUARY 16, 1980 A&M STUDIOS
Kamali
That's the Way of the World
Abe Laboriel--bass
Michael Lang--piano
Steve Schaeffer--drums
Tim May--guitar
Julius Wechter--marimba
Chris Pinnick--guitar
Andy Armer--piano
JANUARY 17, 1980 A&M STUDIOS
Kamali
Malismo
Les
Abe Laboriel--bass
Michael Lang--piano
Steve Schaeffer--drums
Tim May--guitar
Julius Wechter--marimba
Chris Pinnick--guitar
Andy Armer--piano
JANUARY 18, 1980 A&M STUDIOS
Creepin'
Interlude
The Continental
Abe Laboriel--bass
Michael Lang--piano
Steve Schaeffer--drums
Tim May--guitar
Julius Wechter--marimba
Chris Pinnick--guitar
Andy Armer--piano
FEBRUARY 4, 1980 A&M STUDIOS
See Me One Last Time Michael Lang--piano
FEBRUARY 7, 1980 A&M STUDIOS
Les Chris Pinnick--guitar
FEBRUARY 15, 1980 A&M STUDIOS
Kamali
The Factory
Peter Frampton--guitar
FEBRUARY 21, 1980 A&M STUDIOS
That's the Way of the World
Malismo
Steve Schaeffer--drums
FEBRUARY 22, 1980 A&M STUDIOS
Kamali
The Factory
That's the Way of the World
Malismo
Johnny Watson--guitar
Ernie Watts--sax
FEBRUARY 26, 1980 A&M STUDIOS
Kamali Michael Boddicker--sync
MARCH 3, 1980 A&M STUDIOS
Kamali Michael Boddicker--sync
MARCH 10, 1980 A&M STUDIOS
Beyond Michael Lang--piano
MARCH 13, 1980 A&M STUDIOS
Beyond
That's the Way of the World
The Factory
Michael Boddicker--sync
MARCH 14, 1980 A&M STUDIOS
The Continental Robert Russell--bass
MARCH 19, 1980 A&M STUDIOS
Beyond Tim May--guitar
APRIL 7, 1980 A&M STUDIOS
250 Ways to Cook a Chicken Michael Lang--piano
APRIL 10, 1980 A&M STUDIOS
Beyond
250 Ways to Cook a Chicken
Abe Laboriel--bass
APRIL 16, 1980 A&M STUDIOS
Orange Tom Tedesco--guitar
APRIL 19, 1980 A&M STUDIOS
Beyond
Kamali
The Continental
250 Ways to Cook a Chicken
Coming Home
Stephen Gadd-drums
APRIL 22, 1980 A&M STUDIOS
Kamali Chris Pinnick--guitar
Keven Calhoun--drums
APRIL 30, 1980 A&M STUDIOS
The Continental Bob Findley--trumpet
William Reichenbach--trombone
MAY 13, 1980 A&M STUDIOS
Kamali Abe Laboriel--bass

 

BEYOND ALBUM HISTORY 

Released: June 25, 1980 as a vinyl album, cassette and 8-track tape. 

Beyond remastered digital album released December 4, 2015 on the Herb Alpert Presents label. On September 9, 2016, the CD was released.

On Billboard's #1 Awards, Herb Alpert was a multiple winner in these categories:
#19 Album Artist for Rise and Beyond;
#26 Soul Single Artist with five singles from the Rise and Beyond albums;
#40 Disco artist;
#10 Jazz Artist;
#7 Male Artist
#23 Soul Artist
#21 Pop Album Artist
#65 Producer

HERB ALPERT'S THOUGHTS ON BEYOND

'Beyond' is an outward expression of my musical adventure.

SOURCE:
A&M Records press release for Beyond album, June 1980.

OFFICIAL BIOGRAPHY:

Alpert_Beyond_Bio.pdf

 

MAGIC MAN SESSIONOGRAPHY

MAY 1, 1980 A&M STUDIOS
I Get It from You Michel Colombier
MAY 4, 1980 A&M STUDIOS
This One's for Me
Magic Man
First Tone
Fantasy Island
Abe Laboriel--bass
Steve Porcaro--synth
Jeremy Lubbock--piano, Rhodes
Wah Wah Watson--guitar

 

Top

1981: MAGIC MAN

MAGIC MAN SESSIONOGRAPHY

MAY 1, 1980 A&M STUDIOS
I Get It from You Michel Colombier
MAY 4, 1980 A&M STUDIOS
This One's for Me
Magic Man
First Tone
Fantasy Island
Abe Laboriel--bass
Steve Porcaro--synth
Jeremy Lubbock--piano, Rhodes
Wah Wah Watson--guitar
MARCH 27, 1981 A&M STUDIOS
This One's for Me Abe Laboriel--bass
David T. Walker--guitar
APRIL 2, 1981 A&M STUDIOS
Besame Mucho
Alicia
Abe Laboriel--bass
APRIL 7, 1981 A&M STUDIOS
I Get It from You
Alicia
First Tone
Abe Laboriel--bass
John Robinson--drums
Nathan East--bass
Michael Lang--keyboards
Andy Armer--piano
APRIL 13, 1981 A&M STUDIOS
#9
First Tone
I'll Find a Way
Yesterday
No. 15
Reginald Burke--keyboards
Steve Lukather--guitar
Clarence McDonald--electric piano
Abe Laboriel--bass
Julius Wechter--vibes
Leon Chancler--drums
Tim May--guitar
APRIL 30, 1981 A&M STUDIOS
Besame Mucho
Fantasy Island
First Tone
Magic Man
You Smile, the Song Begins
This One's for Me
Julius Wechter--marimba, vibes
Steve Lukather--guitar
MAY 1, 1981 A&M STUDIOS
I Get It from You Michel Colombier
MAY 4, 1981 A&M STUDIOS
This One's for Me
Magic Man
First Tone
Fantasy Island
You Smile, the Song Begins
Abe Laboriel--bass
Steve Porcaro--synth
MAY 6, 1981 A&M STUDIOS
Magic Man
First Tone
John Robinson--drums
MAY 7, 1981 A&M STUDIOS
You Smile, the Song Begins
This One's for Me
Besame Mucho
Fantasy Island
John Robinson--drums
MAY 11, 1981 A&M STUDIOS
This One's for Me
Magic Man
Besame Mucho
Fantasy Island
I Get It from You
Steve Forman--percussion
MAY 12, 1981 A&M STUDIOS
You Smile, the Song Begins
Magic Man
Michel Colombier
Fred Washington--guitar
MAY 13, 1981 A&M STUDIOS
Magic Man
First Tone
I Get It from You
Besame Mucho
Michel Colombier
Paulinho DaCosta--percussion
MAY 14, 1981 A&M STUDIOS
Magic Man
Tune #15
I Get It from You
Eddie Brown--keyboards
MAY 18, 1981 A&M STUDIOS
No. 15
I Get It from You
Magic Man
You Smile, the Song Begins
Michel Colombier
Abe Laboriel--bass
David Foster--piano
MAY 21, 1981 A&M STUDIOS
You Smile, the Song Begins
#15
I Get It from You
Steve Lukather--guitar
James Gadson--drums
Paulinho da Costa--percussion
MAY 22, 1981 A&M STUDIOS
Magic Man
You Smile, the Song Begins
#15
Gayle Levant--harp
JUNE 3, 1981 A&M STUDIOS
Magic Man
You Smile, the Song Begins
I Get It From You
Melvin Ragin--guitar
Richard Page--vocals
Steven George--vocals
JUNE 8, 1981 A&M STUDIOS
Manhattan Melody
Secret Garden
Steve Schaeffer--drums
Eddie Brown

 

MAGIC MAN HISTORY 

Released in August 1981 on vinyl album, cassette and 8-track tape. The first CD was rleased in 1988.

NARM created a special award to honor A&M Records 20th Anniversary.

The United Jewish Appeal-Federation of Jewish Philanthropies honored Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss to provide humanitarian aid for all citizens of Israel.

HERB ALPERT'S THOUGHTS ON MAGIC MAN

I've been able to put two art forms together: the making of a record from the producer's standpoint, and the making of a record from the standpoint of the artist.

I'm always trying to hit the ball over the center field wall. That and trying to stretch myself as a musician. That's why I'm enthusiastic about what I'm doing right now. It feels real good again, real comfortable.

The album was remastered and released as digital download on December 4, 2015 on the Herb Alpert Presents label. On September 9, 2016, the CD was released.

SOURCE:
A&M Records press release for Magic Man album, July 1981.

OFFICIAL VIDEO PERFORMANCES OF MAGIC MAN SONGS

SONG TITLE SHOW YEAR
Magic Man A&M Video 1981

 

OFFICIAL BIOGRAPHY:
Alpert_Magic_Man_Bio.pdf

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1982: FANDANGO

FANDANGO SESSIONOGRAPHY

SONGS MUSICIANS
Fandango Abraham Laboriel--bass, guitar
Carlos Vega--drums
Michel Colombier--keyboards, synthesizers
Bill Cuomo--synthesizers
Paulinho DaCosta--percussion
 
Margarita Miguel Pena--guitar
Victor Ruiz Pazos--bass
Carlos Vega--drums
Bill Cuomo--synthesizers, keyboards
Paulinho DaCosta--percussion
Jose Quintana--vocals
 
Push and Pull Freddie Washington--bass
Abraham Laboriel--bass, guitar
Tim May--guitar
Carlos Rios--guitar
Michel Colombier--keyboards
Paulinho DaCosta--percussion
Julius Wechter--marimba
Gayle Levant--harp
 
California Blues Miguel Pena--guitar
Victor Ruiz Pazos--bass
Carlos Vega--drums
Bill Cuomo--synthesizers, keyboards
Herb Alpert--vocoder
 
Quiereme Tal Como Soy Herb Alpert--vocals
Freddie Washington--bass
Abraham Laboriel--guitar
Tim May--guitar
Michel Colombier--keyboards, synthesizer
Carlos Vega--drums
Paulinho DaCosta--percussion
Gayle Levant--harp
 
Route 101 Freddie Washington--bass
Abraham Laboriel--guitar
Tim May--guitar
Carlos Rios--guitar
Carlos Vega--drums
Michel Colombier--keyboards
Greg Mathieson--synthesizers
Paulinho DaCosta--percussion
Herb Alpert--vocals
Mary Hylan--vocals
Darlene Kolden-Hoven--vocals
Marie Cain--vocals
Coco Loco (La Guajira) Miguel Pena--guitar
Victor Ruiz Pazos--bass
Carlos Vega--drums
Bill Cuomo--synthesizers, keyboards
Paulinho DaCosta--percussion
 
Aria Miguel Pena--guitar
Victor Ruiz Pazos--bass
Carlos Vega--drums
Bill Cuomo--synthesizers
Bernadino Santiago Gonzalez--guitarron
Eduardo Magallanes--synthesizers
Michel Colombier--synthesizers
Carlos Macias--horn
Guillermo Espinosa--horn
Gayle Levant--harp
 
Angel Abraham Laboriel--bass
Carlos Rios--guitar
Carlos Vega--drums
Bill Cuomo--synthesizers, keyboards
Paulinho DaCosta--percussion
 
Sugarloaf Abraham Laboriel--bass, guitar
Ralph Humphrey--drums
Greg Mathieson--keyboards, synthesizers
Laudir DeOlivera--percussion
 
Latin Medley Abraham Laboriel--bass, guitar
Carlos Rios--guitar
Carlos Vega--drums
Tim May--guitar
Bill Cuomo--synthesizers
Michel Colombier--keyboards
Juan Carlos Calderon--keyboards
Paulinho DaCosta--percussion
Mary Hylan--vocals
Darlene Kolden-Hoven--vocals
Marie Cain--vocals
Julius Wechter--marimba

 

FANDANGO HISTORY

The recording of Fandango led to the establishment of AyM Discos, A&M Records' Latin division. It was the first Latin division of any major record label. 

Released in May 1982 on vinyl albu, and cassette. The first CD was issued in 1988.

On February 19, 2013, the remastered Herb Alpert Signature Series version of Fandango was reissued by Shout Factory. 

Remastered and released on CD in 2013.

Fandango remastered digital album released December 4, 2015 on the Herb Alpert Presents label. On September 9, 2016, the CD was released.

The recording of Fandango led to the establishment of AyM Discos, A&M Records' Latin division. It was the first Latin division of any major record label.

 

HERB ALPERT'S THOUGHTS ON FANDANGO

I put myself in the hands of marketing consultants...they did a study on the entire [Fandango] album and their consensus was that Route 101 would be the logical first single.

It [was] 20 years since the Lonely Bull. And I wanted to go down to Mexico City and just say thank you for turning me on 20 years ago to this feeling that I have.

I innocently went down to Mexico just to record four sides for Latin America as a thank you. I was at CBS Studios in Mexico City. I was listening to playback of one of these songs and it struck me while listening, I said, 'I think this is the type of music that some of these people [35-50 year-olds who are not buying records and who think I have retired] have been asking me to do. You know, why haven't you made that Tijuana Brass sound?'

I was just very much revved up by this whole idea that maybe I'm on to something. I realized that I had to get out there and try to sell this album like people hustle their books.

I had a great time doing Fandango with [Jose Quintana]. He doesn't have all the 'American techniques'; he's coming from a Latin point of view. He's very musical, and I can work with anyone who's musical. I can't work with people who think too much, or try and analyzed every last detail.

SOURCES:
Larry King Show, June 7, 1982.
A&M Records press release for Blow Your Own Horn, August 1983.

OFFICIAL VIDEO PERFORMANCES OF FANDANGO SONGS

SONG TITLE SHOW YEAR
Route 101 A&M Video 1982

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1983: BLOW YOUR OWN HORN

BLOW YOUR OWN HORN SESSIONOGRAPHY

FEBRUARY 28, 1983 A&M STUDIOS
Oriental Eyes Steve Forman--percussion
Steve Lukather--guitar
APRIL 27, 1983 A&M STUDIOS
Garden Party Gregory Mathieson--keyboard
Abe Laboriel--bass
Carlos Vega--drums
Leonard Castro--percussion
MAY 11, 1983 A&M STUDIOS
Garden Party Paulinho DaCosta--percussion
Nathan East--bass
MAY 19, 1983 A&M STUDIOS
Garden Party Neil Larsen--keyboards
MAY 24, 1983 A&M STUDIOS
Garden Party Ernie Watts--sax
Randall Aldcrroft--trombone
MAY 31, 1983 A&M STUDIOS
Garden Party Carlos Vega--drums
JUNE 10, 1983 A&M STUDIOS
True Confessions Michael Baird--drums
JUNE 17, 1983 A&M STUDIOS
True Confessions Michael Baird--drums
JUNE 29, 1983 A&M STUDIOS
Red Hot Michael Baird--drums

 

BLOW YOUR OWN HORN HISTORY 

Released: August 23, 1983 as vinyl album and cassett. The first compact disc was released in 1988. 

The album was remastered and released as a CD and digital on February 24, 2017. It was on the Herb Alpert Presents label.

Blow Your Own Horn Official Biography

 

HERB ALPERT ON BLOW YOUR OWN HORN

Blow Your Own Horn has a broader meaning to me than for this album alone. It has a connection to that 'Rise' concept, which is simply that if you want something, go get it. Nobody knows what you can do unless you hang it out there-so blow your own horn.

SOURCE:
A&M Records press release for Blow Your Own Horn, August 1983.

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1984

BULLISH SESSIONOGRAPHY

MARCH 15, 1984 A&M STUDIOS
Maniac John Barnes--synth
Derek Nakamoto--programmer
Brian Malouf--drums
MARCH 16, 1984 A&M STUDIOS
Maniac John Barnes--synth
Derek Nakamoto--programmer
Brian Malouf--drums
MARCH 19, 1984 A&M STUDIOS
Maniac John Barnes--synth
Derek Nakamoto--programmer
MARCH 20, 1984 A&M STUDIOS
Maniac John Barnes--synth
Derek Nakamoto--programmer
Brian Malouf--drums
MARCH 22, 1984 A&M STUDIOS
Maniac John Barnes--synth
Derek Nakamoto--programmer
MARCH 26, 1984 A&M STUDIOS
Maniac John Barnes--synth
Derek Nakamoto--programmer
Bob Findley--trumpet
MAY 14, 1984 A&M STUDIOS
Make a Wish John Barnes--synth
Derek Nakamoto--programmer
MAY 15, 1984 A&M STUDIOS
Make a Wish John Barnes--synth
Derek Nakamoto--synth
Daniel Marfisi--drums
MAY 16, 1984 A&M STUDIOS
Make a Wish John Barnes--synth
Derek Nakamoto--synth
Daniel Marfisi--drums
JUNE 1, 1984 A&M STUDIOS
Always Have a Dream John Barnes--keyboards
Jules Chaikin--trumpet
Israel Baker--violin
Stuart V. Canin--violin
Alexander Horvath--violin
Gordon Marron--violin
Wilbert Nuttycombe--violin
Jay Rosen--violin
Robert Sanov--violin
Mari Botnick--violin
SEPTEMBER 13, 1984 A&M STUDIOS
Make a Wish Bob Findley--trumpet
Sal Macaluso--piano
James Imperial--guitar
John Patitucci--bass
Kenneth Kaplan--trumpet
John Pisano--guitar
Julius Wechter--marimba

 

BULLISH HISTORY 

Released: August 1984 on vinyl album and cassette. The first compact disc was issued in 1988.

The album was remastered and released on CD and as digital download on February 24, 2017 on the Herb Alpert Presents label.

Asked to perform for the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, Herb Alpert decided to reform the Tijuana Brass. Original members Nick Ceroli, Bob Edmondson, John Pisano signed on as did Julius Wechter. They were joined by Bob Findley (trumpet), Sal Macaluso (piano), Jimmy Imperial (guitar), John Pattitucci (bass), Ken Kaplan (trumpet). The Los Angeles date was expanded into a tour. Lani Hall also sang a short set during the show.

Bullish Official Biography

 

HERB ALPERT'S THOUGHTS ON BULLISH

I don't think of this album as a backward-looking record. It's very contemporary.

SOURCE:
Alpert Back at Bandstand--for a Bit. Jon Pareles. New Yrk Times, 1984.

 

OFFICIAL VIDEO PERFORMANCES OF BULLISH SONGS

SONG TITLE SHOW YEAR
Red Hot A&M Video 1984

 

THE BULLISH TOURING BAND

Herb Alpert--trumpet
Nick Ceroli--drums
Bob Edmondson--trombone, percussion, timpani, temple block
Bob Findley--trumpet, flugelhorn, flugelbone
Jimmy Imperial--guitar
Ken Kaplan--trumpet, flugelhorn, snthesizer
Sal Macaluso--piano
John Patitucci--guitar
John Pisano--guitar
Julius Wechter--marimba, synthesizer, percussion

Lani Hall sang a medley of Brasil '66 hits and selections from her solo albums
Aria Alpert choreopgrahed and danced to "Bullish"

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1985: WILD ROMANCE

WILD ROMANCE SESSIONOGRAPHY

MAY 6, 1985 A&M STUDIOS
No Time for Time John Barnes--keyboards
MAY 16, 1985 A&M STUDIOS
It's All for You Frederick Johnson--snare
Romeo Williams--bass, vocals
John Barnes--keyboards
Charles Fearing--guitar
Paulinho da Costa--percussion
Brenda Russell--vocals
David Lasley--vocals
MAY 17, 1985 A&M STUDIOS
No Time for Time Steve Forman--percussion
Romeo Williams--bass
John Barnes--acoustic piano, synthesizers
Michel Colombier--Forte MIDI piano with DX7
Lani Hall--vocals
Herb ALpert--vocals
MAY 21, 1985 A&M STUDIOS
Wild Romance Joe Lala--percussion
Romeo Williams--bass
John Barnes--keyboards
Brenda Russell--vocals
David Lasley--vocals
MAY 23, 1985 A&M STUDIOS
Wild Romance Quentin Dennard--drums
"8" Ball Romeo Williams--bass
John Barnes--keyboards
Paulinho da Costa--percussion
 
You Are the One Romeo Williams--bass, vocals
John Barnes--keyboards
Charles Fearing--guitar
Brenda Russell--vocals
 
Lady Love Romeo Williams--bass, DMX programming
John Barnes--keyboards, DMX programming
Carlos Rios--guitar
Frank Hamilton--keyboards
 
Catch Me Romeo Williams--bass, vocals
John Barnes--keyboards
Charles Fearing--guitar
Brenda Russell--vocals
 
African Flame John Barnes--keyboards
Paulinho da Costa--percussion
 
Dancing in the Light Herb Alpert--emulator
Romeo Williams--bass, DMX programming
John Barnes--keyboards
Paulinho da Costa--percussion
Lani Hall--vocals
Brenda Russell--vocals
Marva King--vocals
Petsye Powell--vocals

 

WILD ROMANCE HISTORY 

Released on July 16, 1985 on vinyl album, CD and cassette.

The New York Brass Conference held a "Salute to Herb Alpert" to raise funds for scholarships for struggling brass students.

On May 30, 1986, the State of California honored Herb Alpert for his musical talents, business acumen and community contributions.

On June 13, 1986, Los Angeles County commended Herb Alpert for his dedication to community service.

On June 13, 1986. Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss were the guests of honor at a tribute dinner benefiting the City of Hope National Pilot Medical Center in Los Angeles.

OFFICIAL VIDEO PERFORMANCES OF WILD ROMANCE SONGS

SONG TITLE SHOW YEAR
8 Ball A&M Video 1985


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1986: KEEP YOUR EYE ON ME

KEEP YOUR EYE ON ME SESSIONOGRAPHY

JUNE 24, 1986 A&M STUDIOS
Stranger on the Shore Steve Schaeffer--drums
Michael Landau--guitar
Chuck Domanico--bass

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1987: KEEP YOUR EYE ON ME

KEEP YOUR EYE ON ME SESSIONOGRAPHY

JUNE 24, 1986 A&M STUDIOS
SONGS MUSICIANS
Stranger on the Shore  Steve Schaeffer--drums 
Michael Landau--guitar 
Chuck Domanico--bass 

 

KEEP YOUR EYE ON ME HISTORY 

Released: February 23, 1987 on vinyl album, cassette, compact disc. 

The Keep Your Eye on Me album was certified gold by the R.I.A.A.

Keep Your Eye On Me remastered digital album released December 4, 2015 on the Herb Alpert Presents label. On September 9, 2016, the CD was released.

On November 18, 1987, Herb Alpert received the City of Los Angeles Commendation.

HERB ALPERT ON KEEP YOUR EYE ON ME

I usually produce or co-produce my own records, so it was a different experience for me. Jimmy and Terry [Jam and Lewis] also get turned on by experiencing new things. I asked them if they'd ever produced an instrumental record. They said no, but they thought it would be an exciting challenge. That sparked it.

They generally start with a rhythm or a bass line. They'll groove on that then gradually develop the chords and melodic structure. It all comes out of the gut.

As it turned out the trumpet and Janet's [Jackson] beautiful voice textures are wonderful together.

In the past, I've usually looked at the voice mainly as another instrumental color; I've salted and peppered my music with vocals. But 'Pillow,' 'Diamonds' and 'Making Love in the Rain' are full-fledged vocal tunes with trumpet as part of the environment. That's what Jimmy and Terry felt that the album needed in order to connect with more people.

I try and let the effect be me. I know I have an identifiable sound with the horn, and my challenge has been to surround it with the elements of today while keeping the trumpet acoustic and honest.1

Keep Your Eye On Me 1986 A&R Presentation

SOURCE:
A&M Records press release for Keep Your Eye on Me, 1987.

 

OFFICIAL VIDEO PERFORMANCES OF KEEP YOUR EYE ON ME SONGS

SONG TITLE SHOW YEAR
Diamonds A&M Video 1987
Keep Your Eye on Me A&M Video 1987
Our Song A&M Video 1987

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1988: UNDER A SPANISH MOON

UNDER A SPANISH MOON SESSIONOGRAPHY

FEBRUARY 25, 1988 A&M STUDIOS
I Want You Michael Landau--guitar
MARCH 14, 1988 A&M STUDIOS
I Want You Alex Acuna--drums
MARCH 15, 1988 A&M STUDIOS
The Suite Alex Acuna--drums
MARCH !6, 1988 A&M STUDIOS
My Song Nathan East--bass
Sal Macaluso--piano
MARCH 17, 1988 A&M STUDIOS
Zamba Por la Nina Yolanda Alex Acuna--drums
John Pena--bass
MARCH !8, 1988 A&M STUDIOS
My Song Alex Acuna--drums
APRIL 4, 1988 A&M STUDIOS
My Song
I Want You
Dan Huff--guitar
APRIL 6, 1988 A&M STUDIOS
Ancient Source
Fragile
Alex Acuna--drums
Dan Huff--guitar
APRIL 13, 1988 A&M STUDIOS
Suite #3
Ancient Source
Abe Laboriel--bass
APRIL 18, 1988 A&M STUDIOS
Suite Ralph Humphrey--drums
APRIL 19, 1988 A&M STUDIOS
Ancient Source Ralph Humphrey--drums
APRIL 26, 1988 A&M STUDIOS
Ancient Sources Steven Tavaglione--sax
APRIL 28, 1988 A&M STUDIOS
The Suite George DelBarrio
Alexander Horvath--violin
Endre Granat--violin
Robert Schumitzky--violin
Stephen Erdody--cello
Dorothy Remsen--harp
Lisa Johnson--violin
MAY 9, 1988 A&M STUDIOS
#2 Abe Laboriel--bass
MAY 25, 1988 A&M STUDIOS
The Suite (First Part) Abe Laboriel--bass

 

UNDER A SPANISH MOON HISTORY 

Released on August 2, 1988 on vinyl album, CD and cassette tape.

On December 9, 1988, the City of Los Angeles honored Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss for their contributions to the Los Angeles Free Clinic.

HERB ALPERT ON UNDER A SPANISH MOON

Sting was mixing his album at A&M and I have a lot of respect for him as a musician and an artist and I asked him if he could write a song for me if he had a chance to think about instrumental music or was there a song that he'd written in the past that for whatever reason he couldn't attach a lyric to. About two weeks later he came back with this song 'Fragile.' I didn't realize it was part of his album as well. He said, 'I have this song and I think trumpets would be nice on it with the melody.' I had a real good feeling for the song, the melody, so I tried doing it several different ways and took some liberties with the chords structure in the bridge. When I came across the arrangement we were using I called him. I told him I was going to rearrange the chord structure on the bridge just a little bit. Does he have a problem with it? And he says, 'No, man. You're Herb Alpert. You can do whatever you like,' 'No man, it's your song. I don't want to do it unless it feels right for you.' But he was real accommodating and I think it's a real sensual song.

Last Summer I played a series of concerts with major symohony orchestras across the country and the composition Under a Spanish Moon was the centerpiece of those concerts. I just thought it would appropriate to put it into an album.

When I hear that first movement, its called Rumba Flamenca...you know hearing it in the studio over and over and then mixing it and hearing it over and over--it's strange like when you hear a piece of music that much like when you do on radio when it becomes a hit, all of a sudden it feels right. To me, I know it's far out upon the first listen, but it sounds a hit record.

SOURCE:
Herb Alpert Today. M. G. Kelly. Westwood One/Mutual Broadcasting System, September 12, 1988.

OFFICIAL BIOGRAPHY:

Spanish Moon Official U.S. Bio.pdf
Spanish Moon UK Press Release
Symphony Tour Plan

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1989: MY ABSTRACT HEART

 

MY ABSTRACT HEART SESSIONOGRAPHY

MAY 22, 1989A&M STUDIOS
KalimbaGeorge Bohanon--trombone
Nolan Smith--trumpet
Oscar Brashear--trumpet
John Bolivar--sax
Ernie Fields--sax
Mike Lang--keyboards, synthesized bass
Herb Alpert--drum programming
Eric Gale--guitar
Wish You Were HereGeorge Bohanon--trombone
Nolan Smith--trumpet
Oscar Brashear--trumpet
John Bolivar--sax
Ernie Fields--sax
Mike Lang--keyboards
Eddie del Barrio--synthesized strings and voices and bass
Eric Gale--guitar
Harvey Mason--drums
ShuffleGeorge Bohanon--trombone
Nolan Smith--trumpet
Oscar Brashear--trumpet
John Bolivar--sax
Ernie Fields--sax
3 O'clock JumpEddie del Barrio--keyboards, bass synthesizer
Waddy Wachtel--guitar
Harvey Mason--drums
Paulinho da Costa--percussion
Shorty Rogers--flugelhorn
Romance DanceEddie del Barrio--piano, synthesized bass
Michael Landau--guitar
Harvey Mason--drums
Herb Alpert--percussion
My Abstract HeartAbraham Laboriel--guitars, bass
Eddie del Barrio--keyboards, synthesized bass, drum programming
Harvey Mason--drums
Fun HouseMike Lang--synthesized bass, keyboards
Alex Acuna--percussion
Paulinho da Costa--percussion
LegsEddie del Barrio--keyboards
Mike Miller--guitar
Alex Acuna--percussion
Paulinho da Costa--percussion
When the Lights Go Down LowTom Canning--piano
Harvey Mason--drums
Jimmy Haslip--bass
Paulinho da Costa--percussion
Michael Landau--guitar
Dore Alpert--vocals
Herb Alpert--vocals
Lani Hall--vocals
Just a Dream AwayMichael Landau--guitar
Gerald Albright--bass
Harvey Mason--drums
SohoPaulinho da Costa--percussion
Harvey Mason--drums
Mike Lang--keyboards
Eddie del Barrio--keyboards

 

MY ABSTRACT HEART HISTORY

Released in August 1989 on vinyl album, compact disc and cassette.

 

OFFICIAL VIDEO PERFORMANCES OF MY ABSTRACT HEART SONGS

SONG TITLESHOWYEAR
3 O'clock JumpA&M Video1989
Jump StreetA&M Video1989
My Abstract HeartA&M Video special1989

 

OFFICIAL BIOGRAPHY:

Alpert_Abstract_Bio.pdf
My Abstrract Heart Canada press release
My Abstract Heart Publicity Plan

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1991     1992       1993       1994       1996       1997       1999      

1990: NORTH ON SOUTH ST.

NORTH ON SOUTH ST. SESSIONOGRAPHY

DECEMBER 27, 1990A&M STUDIOS
Passion LadyTroy Staton--bass
Marc Goodman--keyboards
Mike Schlesinger--programmer
DECEMBER 28, 1990A&M STUDIOS
Jump Street
It's the Last Dance
North on South Street
Na Na Na
Herb Alpert--trumpet

Herb Alpert Marketing Plan

1991: NORTH ON SOUTH ST.

NORTH ON SOUTH ST. SESSIONOGRAPHY

JANUARY 2, 1991 A&M STUDIOS
Where's Tommy?
City Terrace
I Can't Stop Thinking About You
Herb Alpert--trumpet
JANUARY 3, 1991 A&M STUDIOS
Paradise 25 Robert Jerald--programmer
JANUARY 4, 1991 A&M STUDIOS
Funky Reggae
Passion Lady
Paradise 25
Herb Alpert--trumpet
Jimmy Bangura--drum programmer
Kenneth McCloud--guitar
Anthony Sapp--bass
Eduardo Loyo--keyboard
Raymond Chevis--bass

 

NORTH ON SOUTH ST. HISTORY

Released February 12, 1991 on CD and cassette.

The album was remastered and issued as a CD on September 9, 2016. The digital download was released on January 6, 2017.

The University of Southern California's School of Music presented Herb with its Dickens Award.

The Herb Alpert Foundation founded its Excellence In Action program that gave grants to young minority musicians for lessons, tuition or better instruments based on their auditions.

North On South Street Official Biography

 

HERB ALPERT ON NORTH ON SOUTH ST.

I was interested in seeing if I could blend in with some of those sounds I was hearing--rap artists, hit-hop. I thought that jazz would mix nicely with that kind of music, where you'd get this incessant groove going on and then this free-ish feeling on top. For the most part, that's what we did; combine those two elements.

I'm really excited about it. Every now and then, I listen to my own things for pleasure, and I'm listening to this a lot.

I think that doing something different than what you've done before is the pursuit of any artist. You're not going to reinvent the C-scale--that's already been done. So you try to scramble it up in different ways. I've always been conscious of trying to keep the acoustic properties of the trumpet intact. I'm playing a brass horn--I just try to change what's happening behind me. Rather than pretending to be something I'm not, I just try to respond to what I hear. If what I play touches me, I accept it. If it doesn't touch me, I try something else.

SOURCE:
A&M Records press release for North on South St. album, March 1991.


OFFICIAL VIDEO PERFORMANCES OF NORTH ON SOUTH ST. SONGS

SONG TITLE SHOW YEAR
North on South St. A&M Video 1991

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1992: MIDNIGHT SUN

MIDNIGHT SUN SESSIONOGRAPHY

JANUARY 22, 1992 A&M STUDIOS
On Broadway
Taste of Honey (a)
We'll Be Together Again
Herb Alpert--trumpet
Eddie DelBarrio--synth
James Johnson--bass
Barry Zweig--guitar
Frank Taglieri--piano
Harvey Mason--drums
JANUARY 23, 1992 A&M STUDIOS
Midnight Sun
Eddie's Ballad
Someone to Watch Over Me
I've Grown Accustomed to Your Face
All the Things You Are
Herb Alpert--trumpet
Eddie DelBarrio--synth
Monty Budwig--bass
Barry Zweig--guitar
Frank Taglieri--piano
Harvey Mason--drums
JANUARY 24, 1992 A&M STUDIOS
Taste of Honey (a)
We'll Be Together Again
Eddie's Ballad
Herb Alpert--trumpet
Eddie DelBarrio--synth
Monty Budwig--bass
Barry Zweig--guitar
Frank Taglieri--piano
Harvey Mason--drums
JANUARY 28, 1992 A&M STUDIOS
Someone to Watch Over Me
Mona Lisa
A Taste of Honey
In the Wee Small Hours
I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face
Herb Alpert--trumpet
Eddie DelBarrio--synth
Monty Budwig--bass
Barry Zweig--guitar
Frank Taglieri--piano
Harvey Mason--drums
FEBRUARY 5, 1992 A&M STUDIOS
Lotus Blossom
Eddie's Ballad
All the Things You Are
Herb Alpert--trumpet
Frank Taglieri--piano
FEBRUARY 6, 1992 A&M STUDIOS
Eddie's Ballad
Someone to Watch Over Me
In the Wee Small Hours
Eddie DelBarrio--keyboards
Bill Hughes--guitar
Robert Adcock--cello
Murray Adler--violin
Israel Baker--violin
Brenton Banks--violin
Chuck Berghofer--bass
Samuel Boghossian--viola
Jacqueline Brand--violin
Denyse Buffum--viola
Mari Tsumura Botnick--violin
FEBRUARY 7, 1992 A&M STUDIOS
Taste of Honey (a)
All the Things You Are
I've Grown Accustomed to Your Face
Midnight Sun
Eddie DelBarrio--keyboards
Bill Hughes--guitar
Murray Adler--violin
Israel Baker--violin
Brenton Banks--violin
Robert Adcock--cello
Samuel Boghossian--viola
Bruce Dukov--violin
Denyse Buffum--viola
Ronald Cooper--cello
Brian Denbow--viola
FEBRUARY 8, 1992 A&M STUDIOS
Mona Lisa
Smile
Eddie DelBarrio--keyboards
Bill Hughes--guitar
Murray Adler--violin
Israel Baker--violin
Brenton Banks--violin
Chuck Berghofer--bass
Samuel Boghossian--viola
Mari Tsumura Botnick--violin
Denyse Buffum--viola
Ronald Cooper--cello
Brian Denbow--viola
FEBRUARY 12, 1992 A&M STUDIOS
Lullaby
Midnight Sun
Mona Lisa
All the Things You Are
John Pisano--guitar
Jim Hughart--bass
Jeffrey Hamilton--drums
Frank Taglieri--piano
FEBRUARY 21, 1992 A&M STUDIOS
Friends
In the Wee Small Hours
A Taste of Honey
Someone to Watch Over Me
All the Things You Are
Larry Carlton--guitar
Frank Taglieri--piano
Monty Budwig--bass
FEBRUARY 25, 1992 A&M STUDIOS
Eddie's Ballad
Mona Lisa
I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face
Larry Carlton--guitar

 

MIDNIGHT SUN HISTORY

Released on April 23, 1996 on compact disc.

By mid-October, Midnight Sun had sold nearly 100,000 copies and had been on the Billboard's Top Contemporary Jazz Album Chart for nearly three months. 

Midnight Sun remastered digital album released December 4, 2015 on the Herb Alpert Presents label. The CD was released on September 9, 2016.

Herb Alpert made his first foray into producing Broadway shows with Jelly's Last Jam. It ran from April 1992 until September 1993. The show was nominated for 11 Tony Awards and won in three categories. At the Drama Desk Awards it won in six of its 11 nominatons.

Midnight Sun Official Biography

 

HERB ALPERT'S THOUGHTS ON MIDNIGHT SUN

It started with my need to hear songs that have broader melodies. I'm a radio scanner, and it's hard to find songs that have full melodies these days. I was thinking of the songs that stuck to me through the years, the melodies that kept surfacing for whatever reason. Those are the songs we recorded.1

SOURCE:
A&M Records press release for Midnight Sun album, June 1992.

 

OFFICIAL VIDEO PERFORMANCES OF MIDNIGHT SUN SONGS

SONG TITLE SHOW YEAR
Midnight Sun A&M electronic press kit 1992

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1993: HERB ALPERT HIGHLIGHTS

As a broadway producer, Alpert's "Angels In America"won the Tony Award for best play.

The Herb Alpert Foundation funded programs to improve attendance, grades and self-esteem for students at Locke High School in Los Angeles.

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1994: HERB ALPERT HIGHLIGHTS

Part two of "Angels In America: Perestroika" won the Tony Award for best play.

The Herb Alpert Foundation and the California Institute of the Arts created the annual Alpert Awards in the Arts. Fellowships of $50,000 were awarded to five artists, one each in dance, theater, music, visual artis and film or video.

Herb Alpert recieved an award during the fourth annual "Celebrate the Soul of American Music"in Los Angeles.

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1995: SECOND WIND

SECOND WIND SESSIONOGRAPHY

NOVEMBER 14, 1995 ALMO SOUNDS
Andrea
Six/Eight
Flamingo
James Johnson--bass
NOVEMBER 16, 1995 ALMO SOUNDS
Jazzy
Dreamy
Bone More
Funky
Break Beat
African
Nathaniel Phillips--bass
NOVEMBER 17, 1995 ALMO SOUNDS
Bosh
Six/Eight
Andrea
My Funny Valentine
Flamingo
Nathaniel Phillips--bass
NOVEMBER 21, 1995 ALMO SOUNDS
African
Jazzy
Funky
Bone More
Bosh
John Robinson--drums
NOVEMBER 22, 1995 ALMO SOUNDS
Spanish
Can't Stop Thinking About You
Break Beat
Bosh
African
Funky
Bone More
Luis Conte--percussion
NOVEMBER 24, 1995 ALMO SOUNDS
Jazzy
Funky
Six/Eight
Dreamy
Break Beat
African
John Robinson--drums
NOVEMBER 28, 1995 ALMO SOUNDS
Andrea
Dreamy
Six/Eight
Flamingo
Harvey Mason--drums
NOVEMBER 29, 1995 ALMO SOUNDS
Spanish
Funky
Bone More
Dreamy
Jazzy
African
Paul Pesco--guitar
NOVEMBER 30, 1995 ALMO SOUNDS
Dreamy
My Funny Valentine
Flamingo
Bosh
Can't Stop Thinking About You
Spanish
Six/Eight
Michael Fisher--percussion
Paul Pesco--guitar
DECEMBER 1, 1995 ALMO SOUNDS
Andrea
Bone More
Flamingo
Paul Pesco--guitar
DECEMBER 4, 1995 ALMO SOUNDS
Flamingo
Andrea
Six/Eight
My Funny Valentine
John Robinson--drums
DECEMBER 13, 1995 ALMO SOUNDS
Can't Stop Thinking About You
My Funny Valentine
Flamingo
Blow It Out
Capetown
Dreamy
Herb Alpert--trumpet
Jeff Lorber--keyboard
DECEMBER 14, 1995 ALMO SOUNDS
Off Limits
Across the Bridge
Creepin' In
42nd Street
Flirtation
Jupiter
Herb Alpert--trumpet
Jeff Lorber--keyboard

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1996: SECOND WIND AND PASSION DANCE

SECOND WIND SESSIONOGRAPHY

JUNE 29, 1996 ALMO SOUNDS
The Lonely Bull Herb Alpert--trumpet
Jeff Lorber--keyboard
John Pena--bass
Joel Taylor--drums
Gary Meek--sax
Tony Maiden--guitar

 

SECOND WIND HISTORY

Second Wind released on April 23, 1996.

Alpert toured Britain to support the album. It was his first concert appearance there in 22 years. 

Billboard ranked Second Wind 23 on its list of Top Contemporary Jazz Albums.

The University of Southern California gave its Asa V. Call Achievement Award to Herb Alpert. The award is granted to an alumnus whose achievement brought great honor to the university.

HERB ALPERT'S THOUGHTS ON SECOND WIND

Between A&M and my next project, I wanted some space. I was with the same label for so many years, and I was pigeonholed, which was a problem...I had these ideas of things I didn't want to do. I didn't want to repeat the past or to be corny. I didn't want to feel like some guy who's coming off the canvas and trying to make a hit record. The album is called Second Wind. I just liked the sound of it. I feel like I've kicked into a new gear.

 

PASSION DANCE SESSIONOGRAPHY

DECEMBER 5, 1996 ALMO SOUNDS
Slinky
Passion Dance
Goodbye Angel
Boulevard Strut
Bomb (the)
Quiereme Tal Como Soy
Tal Bergman--drums
Marc Quinones--percussion
Joe Rotondi--piano
Mitchell Sanchez--percussion
DECEMBER 6, 1996 ALMO SOUNDS
Creepin'
Route 101
Until We Meet Again
Baila Conmigo
Tal Bergman--drums
Marc Quinones--percussion
Joe Rotondi--piano
Mitchell Sanchez--percussion
DECEMBER 10, 1996 ALMO SOUNDS
Bomb (the)
Boulevard Strut
Route 101
Hunter's Paradise
Tal Bergman--drums
Francisco Aguabella--percussion
Humberto Hernandez--percussion
DECEMBER 13, 1996 ALMO SOUNDS
Slinky
Bomb (the)
Boulevard Strut
Passion Dance
Hunter's Paradise
Goodbye Angel
Walter Rodrigues--drums
DECEMBER 17, 1996 ALMO SOUNDS
Creepin
Route 101
Slinky
Until We Meet Again
Baila Conmigo
Quiereme Tal Como Soy
Ramon Stagnargo--guitar
Walter Rodrigues--drums
Tal Bergma--drums

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1997: PASSION DANCE

 

PASSION DANCE SESSIONOGRAPHY

JANUARY 10, 1997ALMO SOUNDS
Until We Meet Again 
Creepin 
Boulevard Strut 
Hunter's Paradise 
Baila Conmigo 
Quiereme Tal Como Soy
Justo Almario--sax 
Arturo Velasco--trombone 
Harry Kim--trumpet
JANUARY 15, 1997ALMO SOUNDS
Passion Dance 
Slinky 
The Bomb 
Until We Meet Again 
Hunter's Paradise 
Boulevard Strut
Justo Almario--sax
JANUARY 17, 1997ALMO SOUNDS
Creepin 
Slinky 
The Bomb 
Route 101 
Passion Dance 
Goodbye Angel
Otmaro Ruiz--piano
JANUARY 23, 1997ALMO SOUNDS
Creepin 
Slinky 
Boulevard Strut 
Passion Dance 
Goodbye Angel 
Baila Conmigo
Herb Alpert--trumpet 
Oscar Cartaya--bass
JANUARY 24, 1997ALMO SOUNDS
Creepin 
Slinky 
Boulevard Strut 
Passion Dance 
Goodbye Angel 
Baila Conmigo
Herb Alpert--trumpet 
Oscar Cartaya--bass

 

PASSION DANCE HISTORY

Released on April 29, 1997 on compact disc. 

Passion Dance was released in Great Britain in April 1997. Alpert toured Britain and Europe to support the album.

Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss won the Grammys' Trustee Award.

Herb Alpert won the Billboard El Premio Award for his contribution to the expansion of Latino music around the world. He also performed a Tijuana Brass medley at Billboard's fourth annual Latin Music Awards on April 30. 

The song "Rise"was sampled by Notorious B.I.G. which went to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Singles Chart.

 

OFFICIAL VIDEO PERFORMANCES OF PASSION DANCE SONGS

SONG TITLESHOWYEAR
BebaALMO Sounds Video1997

 

Passion Dance U.S. press release 
Passion Dance Tour Itinerary  
Passion Dance German Press Release

 

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1999: HERB ALPERT & COLOURS

HERB ALPERT & COLOURS SESSIONOGRAPHY

JANUARY 27, 1999 SANDBOX STUDIOS
I Want You
Look of Love (the)
Lady in My Life
Libertango
Magic Man
Dorita
Paulinho DaCosta--percussion
William Calhoun--drums
Doug Wimbish--bass
George Worrell--keyboards
FEBRUARY 3, 1999 CAPITOL RECORDS
Libertango
Look of Love (the)
George DelBarrio--keyboards
Bill Hughes--guitar
Murray Adler--violin
Eun-Mee Ahn--violin
Marilyn Baker--violin
Chuck Berghofer--bass
Douglas Davis--cello
Joel Derouin--violin
Kirstin Fife--violin, viola
Armen Garabedian--violin
Berj Garabedian--violin
FEBRUARY 4, 1999 SANDBOX STUDIOS
Libertango Jorge delBarrio
FEBRUARY 6, 1999 SANDBOX STUDIOS
I Want You
Look of Love (the)
Michael Lang--keyboards
William Calhoun--drums
Doug Wimbish--bass
FEBRUARY 19, 1999 SANDBOX STUDIOS
I Want You
Look of Love (the)
Paul Jackson--bass
George Worrell--keyboards
Courtney Branch--drums, percussion
Gregory D. Smith--sax
MARCH 3, 1999 SANDBOX STUDIOS
Lady in My Life
Colors
Dorita
Look of Love (the)
Slow Train
Libertango
Magic Man
I Want You
Love at First Glance
Think About It
Herb Alpert--trumpet

 

HERB ALPERT & COLOURS HISTORY 

Released: June 15, 1999 on compact disc. 

Herb Alpert's version of "The Look of Love"was nominated for the Best Pop Instrumental Perforamnce Grammy Award.

 

OFFICIAL BIOGRAPHY:
Alpert_Colours_Bio.pdf

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2001       2004      2005       2006       2007      2008       2009      

2000: HERB ALPERT HIGHLIGHTS

Berklee School of Music grants an honorary docorate to Herb Alpert in 2000.

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2001: DEFINITIVE HITS

Definitive Hits press release

Alpert established the Alpert Professorship at Berklee in 2001 to allow students to interact with masters of the music industry.

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2004: HERB ALPERT SIGNATURE SERIES

Herb Alpert Signature Series Press Release October 2004

 

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2005: HERB ALPERT HIGHLIGHTS

Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 13, 2005.

Herb Alpert began reissuing the Tijuana Brass catalog. They were released through Almo Properties via Shout! Factory.

 

Herb Alpert Signature Series press release
Lost Treasures press release
Whipped Cream press release
Christmas Album press release

Herb Alpert Official Biography 2005

 

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SHOUT! FACTORY CONTINUES THE 
HERB ALPERT SIGNATURE SERIES 
WITH THREE '60s CHART-TOPPING ALBUMS 

GOING PLACES -- WHAT NOW MY LOVE? -- S.R.O

IN STORES JUNE 7TH

LOS ANGELES, CA --- In 1966, four albums - that's right, four different albums - from Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass hit the Top 10, setting an astounding record that still stands to this very day. On the heels of their iconic Whipped Cream & Other Delights (originally released in 1965) followed a trio of hits in rapid succession, pushing Alpert's album sales ahead of every other artist that decade, including The Beatles. On June 7th, these three albums, Going Places, What Now My Love and SRO, will be reissued via Shout! Factory's Herb Alpert Signature Series.

Going Places had the daunting task of following the success of Alpert's notorious Whipped Cream & Other Delights (reissued on April 19th) in 1965. But apprehension was short-lived and the album validated its own title by sticking out six weeks at #1. Going Places revisited the Tijuana Brass' love of mariachi and all things Mexican with songs like "Tijuana Taxi,""Felicia"and "Cinco de Mayo,"but also had a little fun incorporating sounds from other corners of the world including their exuberant "Zorba the Greek."The album's "Spanish Flea"became the highly recognizable bachelor's theme on television's "The Dating Game."

In 1966, What Now My Love held the #1 spot for nine weeks, longer than any of Alpert's other albums. The band expanded their repertoire to include Broadway show tunes and songs from recent films including "If I Was A Rich Man"(from Fiddler On The Roof) and "The Shadow Of Your Smile"(the love theme from the film The Sandpiper).

Later that year, Alpert released SRO, his fourth album to sit in the Top 10 in 1966. SRO found the band experimenting more with classic pop, from the Burt Bacharach/Hal David-penned "Don't Go Breaking My Heart"to "Our Day Will Come."And for the first time, Alpert's jazz flair took center stage on songs like "The Work Song"and "Flamingo."

Alpert went on to sell over 75 million albums, win six Grammy® Awards, and built the legendary A&M Records (home to Sheryl Crow, Sting, Janet Jackson and The Carpenters). In total, Alpert has released over 30 albums, fourteen certified platinum, fifteen gold, and five #1 hit singles. Earlier this year, he partnered with Shout! Factory to create The Herb Alpert Signature Series, dedicated to remastering and reissuing the iconic recordings he made with the Tijuana Brass. Thus far, the series has released The Lonely Bull, South Of The Border, Whipped Cream & Other Delights and Lost Treasures, a compilation of rare and previously unreleased songs.

HERB ALPERT AND SHOUT! FACTORY REVISIT 1967 WITH A TRIO OF REISSUES

SOUNDS LIKE... -- HERB ALPERT'S NINTH -- 
BEAT OF THE BRASS 

      Third Set Of CDs From The Herb Alpert Signature Series In Stores August 16th 

The Brookes Company 
Jolyn Matsumuro 
(310) 558-3000 x202 
jolyn@brookescompany.com 

Annissa Mason 
(310) 558-3000 x204 
annissa@brookescompany.com 

Shout! Factory 
Stacey Studebaker 
(310) 979-5602 
sstudebaker@shoutfactory.com 

LOS ANGELES, CA Shout! Factory rides the next wave of reissues from the Herb Alpert Signature Series with a set of three hit albums from the late 1960s, all due in stores August 16th. Alpert's distinctive Ameriachi compositions shaped Sounds Like..., Herb Alpert's Ninth, and The Beat of the Brass which each attained Gold status by the end of the decade. This trio of albums is the latest to be released via the Herb Alpert Signature Series, launched earlier this year to re-release a line of the most popular albums by Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass.

In May of 1967, Alpert released the first of his two albums that would dominate the pop charts that year. Finally breaking the Monkees' 31-week stint at #1, Sounds Like... spent one week at the top of the Billboard album charts before Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band took over the world. Sounds Like... became a testament of Alpert's enduring popularity; his mariachi compositions held their own alongside the biggest pop and rock phenomena of the decade. 

At the close of 1967, Alpert issued Herb Alpert's Ninth,revealing his sense of humor as well as artistic depth by incorporating new musical elements into the Tijuana Brass' trademark sound. With dramatic string sections and his reworking of "Carmen,"the album playfully moves back and forth between creative brilliance and outright fun. His cover of The Beatles' "With A Little Help From My Friends"and the Dozier-Holland penned "The Happening"are lively and exuberant romps.

 

SOUNDS LIKE...
Catalog Number: DK 32995
Price: $13.98 SRP
Release Date: August 16, 2005

HERB ALPERT'S NINTH
Catalog Number: DK 33466
Price: $13.98 SRP
Release Date: August 16, 2005

HERB ALPERT SIGNATURE SERIES CHRISTMAS ALBUM

MAKING A LIST?... 
BETTER CHECK IT TWICE 

Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass' 
CHRISTMAS ALBUM 

The Holiday Favorite Arrives In-Stores Via Shout! Factory October 18th

LOS ANGELES, CA - Just in the Saint Nick of time, Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass' long out-of-print Christmas Album makes a holly-jolly comeback with a deluxe reissue from Shout! Factory as part of the acclaimed Herb Alpert Signature Series. First released in 1968, this spirited holiday LP originally shot straight to #1 on Billboard's pop album chart and delivered the #1 single, "The Christmas Song,"TJB's inimitable version of the hearth-warming classic. Brimming with good cheer and timeless charm -- and now wrapped in shiny new Signature Series packaging -- TJB's collection of Yuletide favorites is primed to be one of the year's favorite stocking stuffers. In the spirit of the season, it's priced to fit everyone's twice-checked lists and gift-buying budgets at a very merry $13.98 SRP, in stores October 18th.

On the Christmas Album, the Tijuana Brass' signature sound is embellished with resonant vocals and striking voice and string arrangements from jazz great Shorty Rogers, known for his work with Maynard Ferguson. In addition to TJB's hit version of "The Christmas Song,"the album features sparkling renditions of holiday gems including "Winter Wonderland"and "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" as well as festive takes on "Las Mananitas" and "My Favorite Things." Boasting a jovial album cover with Alpert as a horn-tooting Santa, Christmas Album remains a holiday party perennial with longtime fans and retro-swingers alike. 

In his extraordinary career, Alpert has sold over 75 million albums, won eight GRAMMY® Awards, and built the legendary label A&M Records (home to Sheryl Crow, Sting, Janet Jackson, The Carpenters, and many more stars). In total, as an artist Alpert has released over 30 albums, fourteen certified platinum, fifteen gold, and five #1 hit singles. Earlier this year, he partnered with Shout! Factory to create The Herb Alpert Signature Series, dedicated to remastering and reissuing the iconic recordings he made with the Tijuana Brass. Thus far, the series has released The Lonely Bull, South of the Border, Whipped Cream & Other Delights and Lost Treasures, a compilation of rare and previously unreleased songs. Going Places, SRO and What Now My Love were reissued on June 7th, with Beat of the Brass, Sounds Like and Herb Alpert's Ninth following on August 16th. 

About Shout! Factory:
Shout! Factory is a broad-based audio and home video entertainment company whose cofounders - Richard Foos, Bob Emmer and Garson Foos - share a passion for pop culture of the 20th century and beyond. Video and DVD projects include television programming spanning 75 years, live music concerts, animation and sports collections and special interest documentaries. Audio products from Shout! Factory consist of GRAMMY®-nominated box sets, anthologies and "best of" collections, as well as new music, soundtrack releases, deluxe album reissues and quirky compilations. Shout! Factory's catalog features vintage and legendary performances from some of the greatest - and most eccentric - artists of our time. Shout! Factory products are distributed by Sony BMG Music Entertainment Inc. www.shoutfactory.com

# # # 

CONTACT:
The Brookes Company                  Shout! Factory  
Jolyn Matsumuro                           Stacey Studebaker 
(310) 558-3000 x202                   (310) 979-5602 
jolyn@brookescompany.com             sstudebaker@shoutfactory.com 

Annissa Mason 
(310) 558-3000 x204 
annissa@brookescompany.com 

HERB ALPERT & THE TIJUANA BRASS: CHRISTMAS ALBUM
Catalog Number:   DK 34411 
Price:                     $13.98 SRP 
Release Date:         October 18, 2005 
Territories:             U.S./Canada (Cadiz Music Limited/Europe & King Record Co./Japan) 

Printed with permission of Shout! Factory.

2006: REWHIPPED

REWHIPPED HISTORY

On March 7, 2006 Rewhipped was released. "Some of [the tracks] worked even better than they did on the original album. I just feel that there is a good, insteresting album here."

Rewhipped remastered digital album released June 3, 2014 on the Shout! Factory label.

 

HERB ALPERT'S THOUGHTS ON REWHIPPED

"Some of [the tracks] worked even better than they did on the original album. I just feel that there is a good, insteresting album here."

 
OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE

Rewhipped_Press_Release.pdf

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2007: HERB ALPERT HIGHLIGHTS

OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE

RISE: HERB ALPERT SIGNATURE SERIES: 1/18/2007

LOS ANGELES, CA - Shout! Factory, in partnership with music legend Herb Alpert, expands the label's historic Herb Alpert Signature Series reissue program with the fully restored and remastered release of Alpert's disco-infused 1979 masterpiece, RISE.

Alpert's second artistic journey started with the release of "Rise," a down-tempo dance single departing from Alpert's signature Tijuana Brass sound. It climbed to number one on the Billboard charts and became the biggest hit of his career. Alpert also has the distinction of being the only recording artist to have a number one record as a vocalist and a number one record as an instrumentalist. Alpert and his talented nephew Randy (Badazz) Alpert who also co-wrote Rise, and co-produced and created an entire album around the new laid back sound, and RISE - the album - was born, topping the charts and adding to Alpert's already decades-long career.

Every album in the Herb Alpert Signature Series has been meticulously remastered under Alpert's personal supervision, and the expanded CD booklets include new liner notes with reflections from Alpert himself. The 11 previous releases in the series include Whipped Cream & Other Delights, The Lonely Bull, Going Places, rarities collection Lost Treasures and many more, RISE joins the Herb Alpert Signature Series on CD May 29, 2007 with two previously unreased tracks, for the suggest list price of $13.98.

Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss, co-founders of A&M Records, will be honored with the President's Merit Award by the National Academy of Recording Arts & Scoences for their contributions to popular music. The ceremony will take place at a post-Grammy reception on February 11, 2006 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

ABOUT HERB ALPERT

Herb Alpert's celebrated career in music began over four decades ago, with early--and extraordinary--success including his 1958 co-write with Lou Adler and Sam Cooke of the evergreen hit "Wonderful World." Today, 75 million+ in record sales down the road, Alpert's versatile talent is legendary. His myriad credits encompass triumphs as a superstar trumpeter and bandleader, label founder, producer, composer, arranger and vocalist...the latter, most notably for his 1968 #1 single with the now-classic track "This Guy's In Love With You," which was also the first #1 hit for the songwriting team of Burt Bacharach and Hal David. Among Alpert's many music awards garnered over the years are seven GRAMMYs, including Record of the Year/Best Instrumental Performance (Non-Jazz) for the '65 Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass smash "A Taste of Honey," as well as Best Pop Instrumental Performance wins for the 1966 TJB hit "What Now My Love" and Herb's 1979 solo masterpiece "Rise." Alpert has also been honored with the prized GRAMMY Trustees Award for Lifetime Achievement, which he and longtime music business partner Jerry Moss received jointly in 1997.

In 1962, Alpert and Moss co-founded A&M Records, long the world's leading--and largest--independently owned record label. The company was revered internationally for its artist-driven agenda, and acts that over seceral decades included The Police, Sting, Janet Jackson, Joe Jackson, The Brothers Johnson, Joe Cocker, Bryan Adams, Soundgarden, Supertramp, Sergio Mendes and Brasil '66, Cat Stevens, The Carpenter, Sheryl Crow, Barry Whilte and Quincy Jones.

In many ways, though, in addition to being one of its founding fathers, Alpert was A&M's signature artist. Immediately after forming the label, he introduced the Tijuana Brass phenomenon, which propelled him, and the A&M name, to global fame. By putting the trumpet out front, Alpert revolutionized the instrumental as a pop radio staple with a trademark sound fusing Latin influences, jazz instincts, and unerring pop sensibilities.

Overall, Alpert recorded over thirty albums for A&M, with the Brass and solo, fourteen of them certified platinum, fifteen gold. He's amassed five #1 Billboard Pop singles, and three of his recordings number among the historic GRAMMY Awards Archive Collegion: All Time Winners ("Whipped Cream," "What Now My Love," and "Rise"). Alpert has produced albums for artists including Stan Getz, The Baja Marimba Band, Gato Barbieri, Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66, and his GRAMMY-winning wife, Lani Hall. He's still as passionate as ever about his music, and Shout! Factory's 2005 launch of The Herb Alpert Signature Series, presenting deluxe remastered editions of his classic albums, is both a salute to the past and inspiration for the future.

Herb Alpert has also proved himself as a true Renaissance man with endeavors in other realms. The same passion driving his musical genius equally informs Alpert's incarnation as a visual artist, which for 35 years has paralleled his life in the recording and performing arenas. His color-saturated, abstract expressionist paintings have been shown in museums and galleries around the world, and his bold, fluid sculptures, from the minniature to the monumental, are becoming equally acclaimed. On Broadway, Alpert has produced celebrated works including Jelly's Last Jam, Arthur Miller's Broken Glass, and Tony Kushner's Pulitzer Prize-winning Angles In America. Alpert's ongoing philanthropy has garnered a host of awards, and for almost two decades, The Herb Alpert Foundation has underwritten funding in the areas of the arts, and education.

Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss have donated a number of business papres, photos, promotinoal items, and recordings from the A&M years to UCLA, along with funds to catalog them, preserve them, and make them avalable to researches as The A&M Archives.

© 2007 by Shout! Factory. Reproduced with permission of Shout! Factory.

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2008: ANYTHING GOES

Anything Goes was Herb Alpert's first album in ten years; the first full album with Lani Hall, and the first album for a record label he did not own.

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2009: ANYTHING GOES

ANYTHING GOES SESSIONOGRAPHY

DATE CITY MUSICIANS
April 3-4, 2008 
May 7-10, 2008 
May 12-13, 2008 
May 15, 2008 
May 20-21, 2008 
May 23, 2008 
May 24-25, 2008 
Los Angeles, CA 
New York, NY 
Washington, DC 
Boston, MA 
Seattle, WA 
Napa, CA 
San Francisco, CA
Herb Alpert--trumpet, vocals 
Lani Hall--vocals, percussion 
Bill Cantos--piano, vocals 
Hussain Jiffry--bass, vocals 
Michael Shapiro--drums, percussion, vocals 


 

ANYTHING GOES HISTORY

Released August 25, 2009.

The album was remastered and released on CD September 9, 2016 from the Herb Alpert Presents label.

 

HERB ALPERT & LANI HALL ON ANYTHING GOES

[Alpert asked his engineer to record the 2009 concert tour.] When I heard it back, I thought, 'Hmm, this might make a good CD. That was the concept.... I wanted to have some fun playing and doing some small venues with my wife, and that was it. When we got this tremendous feedback that we were getting from the audience, we decided to put out 'Anything Goes.' 

We heard that Irving Berlin wrote “Let’s Face The Music And Dance” as a reflection of the ‘30s. And the Depression. So when you look at it with that in mind, it’s different. There’s an irony about the lyrics that you didn’t see before. Or at least I didn’t. We wanted that sense of drama and irony in the whole mood of the piece, and it came out very much like a cabaret song. It’s very powerful - I could see the questioning on people’s faces in the audience when we started. It’s really powerful. It’s a powerful arrangement.

SOURCES: 
Herb Alpert Savoring the . Christina Fuoco-Karasinski. SoundSpike, February 10, 2011. 

An Interview with Herb Alpert & Lani Hall. Tony Sachs. Huffington Post, March 18, 2010.

 

SET LISTS FROM THE ANYTHING GOES TOUR 

SET LIST 1 (2008) SET LIST 2
Bermimbau 
Night and Day/What Now My Love 
Pararaio 
Besame Mucho 
That Old Black Magic
Let's Face the Music and Dance 
Morning Coffee 
I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face/
This Guy's In Love with You 
A Taste of Honey 
Dinorah/Morning
I've Got You Under My Skin 
Laura 
Paper Moon 
You Go to My Head/Like a Lover 
Antonio Carlos Jobim Medley 
Fascinating Rhythm 
Pararaio 
Besame Mucho 
Blackbird 
Let's Face the Music and Dance 
Berimbau 
Paper Moon 
That Old Black Magic 
Morning Coffee 
I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face 
Dinorah 
Anything Goes 
'Til There Was You 
Who Are You? 
O Pato 
I've Got You Under My Skin 
Laura 
Antonio Carlos Jobim Medley 


 

SET LIST 3 SET LIST 4
Bermimbau 
Night and Day/What Now My Love 
Pararaio 
Besame Mucho 
That Old Black Magic
Let's Face the Music and Dance 
Morning Coffee 
I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face/
This Guy's In Love with You 
A Taste of Honey 
Dinorah/Morning
I've Got You Under My Skin 
Laura 
Paper Moon 
You Go to My Head/Like a Lover 
Antonio Carlos Jobim Medley 
Bermimbau 
Pararaio 
That Old Black Magic
Morning Coffee 
I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face 
Dinorah/Morning 
Just Like a Star/
A Taste of Honey 
I've Got You Under My Skin/Rise 
Paper Moon 
Jobim Medley You Go to My Head/Like a Lover 
Laura

 

HERB ALPERT OFFICIAL BIOGRAPHY

March 11, 2009

Herb Alpert Program Bio--Approved by Herb Alpert

Musician. Artist. Producer. Composer. Music executive.

To multitudes of music fans, Herb Alpert is the trumpet-playing icon whose name instantly brings to mind memorable songs that he recorded either as the leader of the legendary Tijuana Brass or as a solo artist yielding 5 #1 hits, 8 Grammy awards, 14 Platinum and 15 Gold albums--totaling 72 million albums sold worldwide.

To a global circle of musicians Alpert's distinct, relaxed instrumental sound makes him a favorite. Trumpet players are especially aware of his unique musical expression. "You hear 3 notes and you know it's Herb Alpert"said Miles Davis. "He gets right to the point of what he's playing,"remarked Wynton Marsalis, "very melodic and nothing extraneous."

To the entire music business A&M Records was the most successful independent record label in the world founded by Herb and his partner Jerry Moss. In 1990 they sold the company as a tide of corporate takeovers swept the industry.

A lover of jazz since childhood Alpert has added his unique style and sound to many of his solo jazz albums over the years. He has worked with such notable musicians as Hugh Masekela, Shorty Rogers and Pete Jolly and has played with the legendary Louis Armstrong. Alpert has also produced and played with Gato Barbieri and the great Stan Getz.

All of these high profile achievements only begin to define the generous extent of Alpert's creative spirit. The litany of Alpert's accomplishments also include:

Abstract expressionist artist of respect and critical renown: his canvases and sculptures are praised for defining a flowing, visual vocabulary of their own.

Broadway producer with a talent for choosing prize-winning theater: He has helped bring to Broadway Tony Kushner's "Angels in America,"Arthur Miller's "Broken Glass,"August Wilson's "Seven Guitars,"and Gregory Hines's "Jelly's Last Jam."

Philanthropist with a hands-on approach: The Herb Alpert Foundation funds arts and education programs and activities selected by Alpert and his wife Lani for their effectiveness and creative spirit.

Tracing Alpert's career a consistent creative imperative serves as the logic and link between a diverse and vast range. When recently asked about his musical inspiration he says, "My love for jazz is rooted in its spontaneity and its never ending search for personal truth and creative freedom. It is with that freedom that we're doing these tours, playing original arrangements of classic American standards with the color of Brasilian music scattered throughout, hopefully creating an exciting and unique musical blend without ever closing the space for spontaneity."

Alpert is a creative force with the spirit of imagination and curiosity that inspires and lifts us to feel the joy and depth of his incomparable musical signature.

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2012       2013       2014       2015       2016       2017       2018       2019

2011: I FEEL YOU

Herb Alpert & Lani Hall

 

I FEEL YOU HISTORY

Released February 8, 2011 Recorded at Sandbox Studio 2

The album was remastered and released on CD September 9, 2016 from the Herb Alpert Presents label.

HERB ALPERT & LANI HALL ON I FEEL YOU 

One of our goals is to take recognizable songs and do them in our unique way. We always try to put a different spon on songs and make them our own. 

...we try to stay very conscious of the original melody. Basically, what happens is, Lani establishes the song and then everything that's happening behind her, even when we're recording, is pretty much improv. We have the chord structure, the harmonic structure and the general form of the song, but everything that happens within that is up for grabs. It works when you're honest. If you're trying to affect it, trying to be hip or corny or whatever, it's lost. But if you're just trying to be authentic, it works."

This album is filled with a lot of young energy. We recorded it exactly the way we wanted to. We wanted to present songs in a way they haven't been heard before. You can't trample on the Beatles [on 'Blackbird'], for example, because their renditions are the ones to listen to. But you can add a little something here or there and make it just a little different that it becomes something new.

I told the drummer Michael [Shapiro], and he stared at me in disbelief, ‘don’t play any backbeats. I don’t want any backbeats.’ The only place we did use [them] was on one part of “Moondance.”

Our drummer Michael Shapiro came up with this groove, and Lani had an idea how to play it, and all of a sudden [it]"What Now My Love"] felt right. It didn’t sound anything like the TJB recording, which I certainly didn’t want to recreate, so it just kinda fell into place.

Lani Hall: "Sometimes when we’re rehearsing, Michael Shapiro our drummer or Bill Cantos our pianist will start playing an abstract rhythm or a random chord, and suddenly a song will pop into our heads. That’s what happened with “Blackbird.” Bill was playing these unrelated chords, and I suddenly started singing “Blackbird.” As for “Here Comes the Sun,” we had this rhythm we were using on another song, and decided we didn’t like the song but wanted to save the rhythm. Then Michael started playing it one day and we just started doing “Here Comes the Sun.” And, as you can hear on the album, the rhythm never lets up. It’s like a train going through, and just keeps building and building. It’s almost relentless. I thought it was so fitting for that song."

There’s something about June Christy’s version [of "Something Cool"] I always loved, and I adore the melody. We kind of played around with the gender so it would work. Lani produced it. We recorded it three different ways, and the last version we [got in one take].

SOURCES: 
A Man of Many Talents Herb Alpert Follows His Many Artisitic Passions. Aaron Leibel. Washington Jewish Week, February 9, 2011. 
'Creativity is what we need more of, if we're going to survive in this world.' Paul Freeman. San Jose Mercury News, August 17, 2011. 
Alpert Thrives AFter 50 Years of Hit-Making. Miriam Di Nunzio. Chicago Sun-Times, June 9, 2011.
  Herb Alpert & Lani Hall: Together Again for the First Time. Christopher Loudon. JazzTimes.com, February 14, 2011.

SET LISTS FROM THE 2011 TOUR 

SET LIST 1 SET LIST 2
Besame Mucho 
Pararaio 
Moondance 
Fever 
Viola Fora De Moda 
Medley: Rise/The Lonely Bull/ 
      Tijuana Taxi/A Taste Of Honey 
Let's Face The Music and Dance 
Morning Coffee 
I've Grown Accustomed To Her Face 
Blackbird 
'Til There Was You 
That Old Black Magic/Anything Goes 
I've Got You Under My Skin 
Laura 
Antonio Carlos Jobim Medley: 
      Agua De Beber/Corcovado/
      One Note Samba/Spanish Flea 
What Now My Love 
Night And Day 
Besame Mucho 
Pararaio 
Moondance 
Fever 
Viola 
Let's Face the Music and Dance 
TJB Medley 
Anything Goes 
O Pato 
Morning Coffee 
Paper Moon 
Blackbird/Berimbau 
Cast Your Fate to the Wind 
I've Got You Under My Skin 
Laura 
Night and Day/What Now My Love 
Antonio Carlos Jobim Medley 

Construction began on the Performance Arts and Leadership Center at the Herb Alpert Educational Village. The Village is dedicated to educational advancement and social justice.

The album Herb Alpert Presents Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66, produced by Herb and Jerry Moss, was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

 

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2012: HERB ALPERT HIGHLIGHTS

Herb and Lani performed at the Cafe Carlyle in the Carlyle Hotel in New York, NY from February 28 through March 10.

During the 2012 performances at the Cafe Carlyle were: 

This Guy's in Love with You 
The Lonely Bull 
A Taste of Honey 
Besame Mucho 
Let's Face the Music and Dance 
Laura (sometimes with If I Were a Rich Man) 
La Vie En Rose 
Anything Goes 
Violo Fora de Moda 
Para Raio 
O Pato 
The Look of Love 
Whipped Cream 
Tijuana Taxi 
Moondance 
I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face 
The Trolley Song 
I've Got You Under My Skin 
Fever 
Night and Day (sometimes with If I Were a Rich Man) 
Rise 
Agua de Beber 
Til There Was You 
Push and Pull

Herb Alpert & Lani Hall Flyer
Herb Alpert & Lani Hall Poster

 

The Alpert Foundation became a sponsor of the Turnaround Initiative, a new program from The President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities to integrate arts education into some of the nation's worst-performing schools.

On June 13, Herb received the first UCLA Arts Award to recognize his accomplishments and his contributions to the arts and music that actively support the university.

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2013: STEPPIN' OUT

STEPPIN' OUT HISTORY

On June 25, 2013 the single "Puttin' On the Ritz" was released. It was supported by a video and was immediately used as the opening number of "So You Think You Can Dance" as performed by the televion show's cast. 

The album Steppin' Out was released on November 19, 2013. Alpert told the New York Times the album "[is] primarily me. My wife is featured on a couple of songs. They are songs I've always wanted to play, and I used an orchestra."

"Puttin' on the Ritz" peaked at #26 on the Billboard Smooth Jazz Songs chart. 

Steppin' Out remastered digital album and CD were released December 4, 2015 on the Herb Alpert Presents label. 

SOURCE:  
New York Times Engages the Renaissance Man Herb Alpert, About Life, Music and His Cafe Carlyle Gig. James C. McKinley, Jr. New York Times (web site), March 4, 2013.

Herb Alpert Advert

 

PRESS RELEASES:

Steppin' Out press release 
Steppin' Out press release

Grammy Winner HERB ALPERT to Release New Jazz Album STEPPIN' OUT, 11/19

Grammy-winning jazz great Herb Alpert is Steppin' Outon November 19 with a new album on Shout! Factory. Combining pop instrumentals and timeless jazz along with Latin-influenced rhythms reminiscent of the Tijuana Brass, Steppin' Out explores standards from the American Songbook as well as Alpert's own catalog, and features his wife, the Grammy-winning vocalist Lani Hall, on several tracks. The album will also be made available on digital platforms on September 24.

Steppin' Out includes 16 songs, including a contemporary version of Irving Berlin's "Puttin' on the Ritz,"a video for which has just been released. The music has an undeniable charm coupled with an energetic and intricate dance routine choreographed by the Emmy award-winning team from So You Think You Can Dance, Napoleon & Tabitha D'umo, creating a magical pied piper-like scene. The video features musicians Lani Hall, Bill Cantos, Hussain Jiffry, Michael Shapiro and dancer Vincent Noiseux alongside corps dancers like Kherington Payne and others from So You Think You Can Dance USA, America's Best Dance Crew, Dancing with the Stars, This is It, and Step Up. The video follows the lead dancer in one single seamless camera shot, without any edits, on a musical journey, motivating everyone he passes to join the promenade. The video can be seen here: "Puttin on the Ritz".

Also featured on Steppin' Out is Alpert and Jeff Lorber's "Jacky's Place,"with lyrics by Bill Cantos, featuring vocals by Lani Hall, Art Pepper's ballad "Our Song,"the chill Alpert/Lorber/Cantos composition "Green Lemonade,"Harry Warren and Al Dubin's "I Only Have Eyes For You,"featuring vocals by Hall, Ruben Fuentes Gasson's "Good Morning Mr. Sunshine,"from the Tijuana Brass' 1969 album The Brass Are Coming, the commanding ballad "Oblivion,"written by Astor Piazzolla, Irving Berlin's "What'll I Do,"featuring vocals by Hall, the Alpert/Lorber/Cantos composition "Cote d'Azur,"a fresh version of Edith Piaf's perennial favorite "La Vie En Rose,"Carl Sigman and Charles Dawes' "It's All In The Game"featuring Hall, Carlos Santana and Thomas J. Coster's "Europa,"Ziggy Elman and Johnny Mercer's "And The Angels Sing,"which originally appeared on Alpert's Going Places, Johnny Mercer and Hoagy Carmichael's "Skylark,"and Alpert and Jeff Lorber's "Migration,"with lyrics written by Bill Cantos and vocals by Hall. Closing out the album is the 50th Anniversary version of "The Lonely Bull,"composed by Sol Lake and first released on Alpert's debut album on A&M Records.

HOLLYWOOD BOWL SET LIST

 

Herb Alpert & Lani Hall Poster

 

Moondance  
Para-raio  
Besame Mucho  
Fever  
Fly Me To The Moon  
Let's Face the Music and Dance  
Tijuana Brass Medley: This Guy's In Love With You/ 
      Rise/Whipped Cream/Lonely Bull/ 
      Mexican Shuffle/Tijuana Taxi/A Taste of Honey  
Viola/It Might As Well Be Spring  
La Vie En Rose/In the Game  
Puttin' On The Ritz  
I've Got You Under My Skin  
Jobim Medley: Agua de Beber/Corcorvado/  
      Waters of March/One Note Samba 


 

NEW SONGS IN THE 2013 TOUR

Puttin' on the Ritz 
Fly Me to the Moon (Lani Hall vocal) 
It's All in the Game (Lani Hall vocal) 
And the Angels Sing 
It Might As Well Be Spring 

MUSIC LEGEND HERB ALPERT RECEIVES  
GRAMMY NOMINATION FOR NEW ALBUM AND  
ANNOUNCES NEW YORK ART EXHIBITS 

For Immediate Release: 
Caroline Graham, C4 Global Communications  
December 10, 2013 

     

Herb Alpert: Steppin' Out U.S. CD

 

Los Angeles, CA December 10, 2013 -- Eight-time Grammy winning music icon Herb Alpert was just honored with a fresh Grammy nomination, "Best Pop Instrumental Album," for his latest album Steppin' Out which explores standards from the American Songbook and features his wife, the Grammy-winning vocalist Lani Hall. The album introduces a contemporary version of Irving Berlin's Puttin' on the Ritz for which a popular dance video was released choreographed by the Emmy award-winning team from So You Think You Can Dance, Napoleon & Tabitha D'umo. The video also features dancers from So You Think You Can Dance, America's Best Dance Crew, Dancing with the Stars, This is It, and Step Up. Viewers are invited on a musical journey in which dancers encourage everyone who passes to join the promenade. Since Herb Alpert first introduced the Tijuana Brass with its signature sound, it has grown into a global phenomenon. He has sold over 75 million records. He is the only artist in history to have a #1 record as a singer and as an instrumentalist.

Watch video of "Puttin' On The Ritz." Alpert is also honored by the Grammys this year as a talented songwriter for his the classic "Wonderful World," which has been named to the GRAMMY Hall of Fame. "Wonderful World," written in 1959 by Alpert, Sam Cooke and Lou Adler and often referred to as its opening line "Don't Know Much About History" was a hit for Sam Cooke (1960), Herman's Hermits, Otis Redding, Art Garfunkel and in 2004 picked by Rolling Stone Magazine as one of the 500 Greatest songs of all times.

 

Herb Alpert
Herb Alpert

    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Herb Alpert will add to his numerous artistic achievements early next year when he opens two exhibits in New York City, January 2013. Celebrating the New Year, three of Alpert’s tall black bronze totems, “Spirit Totems,” will be on exhibit in Dante Park mid–January 2014. “I spent time looking all over New York City for the ideal place for the ‘Spirit Totems.’ I fell in love with Dante Park because it is an open thoroughfare where the sculptures are visible with a connection to jazz at Lincoln Center,” says Herb Alpert. The large totems being transported by truck to Manhattan from Malibu, California, for the exhibition in Dante Park are: Grace 2006 — 15 feet 8 inches, Freedom 2011 — 16 feet 9 inches, and Gratitude 2009 — 17 feet 2 inches.

“The black totem sculptures” says Alpert “are pieces made of bronze with a black patina coating, that began life as 12 inch hand–sculpted clay forms. Gigantic–sized incarnations were then shaped by hand as well, before being molded and cast in bronze. Each piece takes as long as 3 months to complete.” Alpert began work on the series back in 2000, originally inspired by the totem poles of the indigenous tribes of the Pacific Northwest. The totems aesthetic has been described as “frozen smoke,” with Alpert himself comparing the freedom of spontaneity of their design to his improvisational work as a jazz musician.

Herb Alpert

 

Herb Alpert

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On June 25, 2013 the single "Puttin' On the Ritz" was released. It was supported by a video and was immediately used as the opening number of "So You Think You Can Dance" as performed by the television show's cast.

The Herb Alpert Center in Harlem, the Harlem School of the Arts was dedicated.

On July 10, Herb Alpert received the National Medal of the Arts from President Obama.

On January 16th the ACA Galleries, High Line, New York, presented a large selection, 14 total, of smaller bronze totems 3 — 4 feet tall, and bronze maquettes created by Herb Alpert. The ACA Galleries exhibit was titled “Totems and Deities” and was a joint exhibit with artist Anita Huffington. The exhibit closed on March 1st, 2014.

The ACA Galleries opened its doors 80 years ago, establishing many giants of American art who were guided by social passion and modern spirit. Alpert’s totems are inspirational works of art, created by an artist who takes the same improvisational approach to his modern art pieces as he does to music.

Herb Alpert’s philosophy as an artist has generally been to create from a purely internal place; “the feel,” as he calls it. “For art to appear,” Alpert likes to say, “the artist must disappear.”

 

Herb Alpert Biography - Art 2013 Biography by C4 Global Communications

 

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2014: IN THE MOOD

IN THE MOOD HISTORY 

On July 31, 2014 "Chatanooga Choo Choo"debuted.

On September 30, 2014In the Mood was released.

The album was remastered and reissued on CD and digital download on December 4, 2015 from the Herb Alpert Presents label.
 

SONGS FROM THE 2014 TOUR 

Moondance 
Chattanooga Choo-Choo 
Let's Face the Music and Dance 
Paper Moon/Blue Moon 
Don't Cry 
Fly Me to the Moon 
Tijuana Brass Medley (Rise, Tijuana Taxi, Mexican Shuffle, Whipped Cream, The Work Song, The Lonely Bull, A Taste of Honey)
Up on the Roof/The Look of Love/Fool on the Hill/Never Say Never Again/Mas Que Nada 
Besame Mucho 
Viola (Viola Fora de Moda) 
La Vie en Rose 
Begin the Beguine 
This Guy's In Love With You 
I've Got You Under My Skin 
Puttin' On the Ritz 
Night and Day 
What Now My Love 
Jobim Medley (Agua de Beber, Quiet Night of Quiet Stars)

 

From January 16 through March 1, Alpert had a shared exhibition of totems at the ACA Galleries, 529 West 20th Street, New York, NY.

From January 23 through April 15 three Spirit Totems went on display in New York City's Dante Park across from Lincoln Center at West 64th Street and Broadway.

January 26, Herb Alpert won the Grammy for Best Instrumental Pop Album for Steppin' Out."

On March 15, Alpert received the 2014 REDCAT Award for "individuals who exemplify the generosity and talent that define and lead the field of contemporary arts and culture." REDCAT is the acronym for Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater.

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2015: COME FLY WITH ME

On September 17, Chicago's Field Museum opened an exhibit with eight of Herb Alpert's Spirit Totems. The sculptures would remain on display for one year.

 

COME FLY WITH ME OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE

HERB ALPERT'S 'COME FLY WITH ME': MIX OF BRAND NEW MUSIC AND BELOVED
CLASSICS OUT SEPTEMBER 25

Herb Alpert's legendary career includes five decades of unprecedented breakthroughs as an artist, record executive and philanthropist. In the past two years alone, he won his ninth GRAMMY for 2013's Steppin' Out and received the National Medal of Arts from President Obama. As impressive as those accolades are, they may soon be overshadowed. Come Fly With Me, his latest studio album (to be released on September 25 via his own label, Herb Alpert Presents) is some of the best work of Herb Alpert's career, rivaling his classic Tijuana Brass output. In the past year, Alpert composed seven original songs for the album, drawn from a diversity of musical influences, with inventive arrangements and lush orchestrations. His stirring new material is wonderfully complemented by fresh interpretations of some of the most indelible melodies of the 20th century.

The exciting original compositions on Come Fly With Me were inspired by everything from a Tito Puente rhythm Alpert fell in love with (the propulsive "Night Ride") to jamming with his world class band in between shows on tour (the fun, reggae-infused "Cheeky"was born of these sessions). On "Walkin' Tall", another track with a punchy reggae beat, Alpert's trumpet melody slinks and slides. Herb's take on one of Frank Sinatra's most famous recordings, "Come Fly With Me,"is set to a groovy bossa nova beat with the surprising addition of a steel drum. His sparse take on George Harrison's "Something" includes the use of an electronic instrument known as an EVI, to play the signature guitar lick from the original recording.

Alpert was always fond of the infectious melody in "Something", and of George Harrison as a person, who recorded on Alpert's A&M Records in the seventies. Alpert co-founded A&M in 1962 and headed the label for thirty years. In that time he mentored generations of pop icons, from The Carpenters and Cat Stevens to Sting and Janet Jackson.

A 2006 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, Alpert's albums have sold over 72 million copies, and 29 of his records have reached the Billboard 200. Herb has also dedicated his life to philanthropy, funding music education programs across the country. Through his personal foundation, Herb has helped establish music programs at UCLA and the California Institute of Arts. Both schools have named their programs the Herb Alpert School of Music in his honor. Alpert has also established the Herb Alpert Scholarships for Emerging Young Artists, which help provide tuition to twenty young musicians each year.

Herb and his band will be on tour through January, including dates at the Smothers Theatre in Los Angeles on September 25th and City Winery in Chicago on October 1st.

'Come Fly With Me' track list:
1. Come Fly With Me
2. Blue Skies
3. Got A Lot of Livin' To Do
4. Cheeky
5. Take The A Train
6. Love Affair
7. Windy City
8. Sweet and Lovely
9. Walkin' Tall
10. Night Ride
11. Something
12. On the Sunny Side of the Street
13. Danny Boy

 

COME FLY WITH ME HISTORY 

CD released on September 25, 2015. Vinyl album released November 20, 2015.

The first album released on the Herb Alpert Presents label.

 

HERB ALPERT'S 'COME FLY WITH US' TOUR OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE

The “Come Fly With Us” concert tour takes off around the USA, with Herb and his wife, the Grammy award–winning singer Lani Hall, and their three–piece band.

Herb Alpert’s legendary career includes five decades of unprecedented breakthroughs as a musician, painter, sculptor, and record executive and philanthropist. In the past two years alone, he won his ninth GRAMMY® for 2013’s Steppin’ Out and received the National Medal of Arts from President Obama.

Come Fly With Me, the latest album on his own label, Herb Alpert Presents, is some of the best work of Herb Alpert’s career, rivaling his classic Tijuana Brass output. In the past year, Alpert composed seven original songs for the album, drawn from a diversity of musical influences, with inventive arrangements and lush orchestrations. His stirring new material is wonderfully complemented by fresh interpretations of some of the most indelible melodies of the 20th century.

The exciting original compositions on Come Fly With Me were inspired by everything from a Tito Puente rhythm Alpert fell in love with (the propulsive “Night Ride”) to jamming with his world class band in between shows on tour (the fun, reggae–infused “Cheeky” was born of these sessions). On “Walkin’ Tall,” another track with a punchy reggae beat, Alpert’s trumpet melody slinks and slides. Herb’s take on one of Frank Sinatra’s most famous recordings, “Come Fly With Me,” is set to a groovy bossa nova beat with the surprising addition of a steel drum. His sparse take on George Harrison’s “Something” includes the use of an electronic instrument known as an EVI, to play the signature guitar lick from the original recording.

Alpert was always fond of the infectious melody in “Something,” and of George Harrison as a person, who recorded on Alpert’s A&M Records in the seventies. Alpert co–founded A&M in 1962 and headed the label for thirty years with his partner Jerry Moss.

A 2006 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, Alpert’s albums have sold over 72 million copies, and 29 of his records have reached the Billboard 200. Herb has also dedicated his life to philanthropy and funding music education programs across the country. Herb has also dedicated his life to philanthropy and funding music education programs across the country. Herb has also dedicated his life to philanthropy, funding music education programs across the country. Through his personal foundation Herb is dedicated to the arts and the spirit of giving back.

Herb and his Grammy award–winning wife, vocalist Lani Hall, and their band will be on tour through March, 2016.

Tour dates:
December 2 — Saratoga, CA – Montalvo
December 3 — Saratoga, CA – Montalvo
December 5 — Oakland, CA – Yoshi’s Oakland
December 6 — Oakland, CA – Yoshi’s Oakland
December 7 — Oakland, CA – Yoshi’s Oakland
January 26 — Seattle, WA – Jazz Alley
January 27 — Seattle, WA – Jazz Alley
January 28 — Seattle, WA – Jazz Alley
January 30 — Spokane, WA – Spokane Symphony
February 20 — Arcadia, CA – Arcadia Performing Arts Center
February 29 — Vienne, VA – The Barns at Wolf Trap
March 1 — Vienne, VA – The Barns at Wolf Trap
March 3 – Melbourne, FL – King Center for Performing Arts
March 4 – Jacksonville, FL – Florida Theatre
March 5 — Clearwater, FL – The Capitol Theater
March 6 — Boca Raton, FL – Boca Raton Festival
April 2 — Dallas, TX – Majestic
April 5 — Phoenix, AZ – MIM Music Theater
April 6 — Phoenix, AZ – MIM Music Theater

 

2015 SET LISTS 

MARCH JUNE
Moondance 
Chattanooga Choo-Choo 
O Pato 
Besame Mucho 
Don't Cry 
Fly Me to the Moon 
Tijuana Brass Medley (Rise, Whipped Cream, The Work Song, The Lonely Bull, Mexican Shuffle, Tijuana Taxi, A Taste of Honey)
This Guy's In Love With You 
Up on the Roof/The Look of Love/Fool on the Hill/Like a Lover/Mas Que Nada 
La Vie en Rose 
Viola (Viola Fora de Moda) 
Begin the Beguine 
I've Got You Under My Skin 
Puttin' On the Ritz 
Jobim Medley (Agua de Beber, Quiet Night of Quiet Stars, Waters of March, One Note Samba-Spanish Flea) 
Night and Day 
What Now My Love/Bittersweet Samba 
Moondance 
Chattanooga Choo-Choo 
O Pato 
Besame Mucho 
Don't Cry 
Fly Me to the Moon 
Tijuana Brass Medley (Rise, Whipped Cream, The Lonely Bull, Mexican Shuffle, Tijuana Taxi, A Taste of Honey)
This Guy's In Love With You 
Up on the Roof/The Look of Love/Fool on the Hill/Scarborough Fair/Like a Lover/Mas Que Nada 
Bittersweet Samba 
La Vie en Rose 
Viola (Viola Fora de Moda) 
Begin the Beguine 
I've Got You Under My Skin 
Puttin' On the Ritz 
Jobim Medley (Agua de Beber/Quiet Night of Quiet Stars/Waters of March/One Note Samba-Spanish Flea) 
Night and Day 
If I Were a Rich Man/What Now My Love 

 

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2016: HUMAN NATURE

Herb Alpert Returns With Electronic And Dance-Infused 'Human Nature' September 30 - Brand New Collection Of Original Works + Classics Reimagined By The Iconic Musician

Herb Alpert's new album 'Human Nature' finds the iconic musician delving into dance grooves and elements of electronic music in a way he has never done before. The new album, his fourth new release in just three years, is out September 30 and features five original compositions and Herb's signature reimagining of classics like Michael Jackson's "Human Nature,"Burt Bacharach's "Alfie"and "Don't Go Breaking My Heart,"and Bacharach and Elvis Costello's "Look Up Again."Herb's legendary career includes five decades of unprecedented breakthroughs as an artist, record executive and philanthropist. In the past three years alone, he won his ninth GRAMMY for 2013's Steppin' Out and received the National Medal of Arts from President Obama.

Lead single and original track "Doodles"is propelled by a deep pocket groove and Herb's iconic phrasing, an earworm melody in his breathless style. "Human Nature,"a Michael Jackson smash hit, gets a Latin tinge, the song stripped to its essentials to let the rhythm and melody shine. The album artwork, of a figure playing the trumpet, is an original sculpture that Herb crafted.

'Human Nature' is available for pre-order on August 5. Fans will receive an immediate download of "Doodles"with each order through iTunes or Amazon MP3.

In September, Herb will also re-release 24 classic albums from his illustrious career on CD with 4 titles to be released on LP. Each title has been remastered from the original analog tape mixes by GRAMMY-winning engineer Bernie Grundman, who was the original mastering engineer for many of these recordings. Several have been out of print for a number of years.

A 2006 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, Alpert's albums have sold over 72 million copies, and 29 of his records have reached the Billboard 200. Herb has also dedicated his life to philanthropy, funding music education programs across the country. Through his personal foundation, Herb has helped establish music programs at UCLA and the California Institute of Arts. Both schools have named their programs the Herb Alpert School of Music in his honor. Alpert has also established the Herb Alpert Scholarships for Emerging Young Artists, which help provide tuition to twenty young musicians each year.

TRACK LIST: 

1. Human Nature 

2. Shake It 

3. Alfie 

4. Thalia 

5. Look Up Again 

6. Incognito 

7. Don't Go Breaking My Heart 

8. Mystery Man 

9. Doodles 

For more information, contact Chris Taillie (ctaillie@shorefire.com), Max Lefkowitz (mlefkowitz@shorefire.com) or Matt Hanks (mhanks@shorefire.com) at Shore Fire Media, (718) 522-7171.


 

SONGS FROM THE SPRING 2016 TOUR

Bittersweet Samba 
Moondance 
Chatanooga Choo Choo 
O Pato 
Fever 
Fly Me to the Moon 
MEDLEY: Rise/Whipped Cream/The Lonely Bull/Spanish Flea/Tijuana Taxi/A Taste of Honey 
This Guy's In Love With You 
Up On the Roof 
MEDLEY: The Look of Love/Upa, Neguinho/The Fool On the Hill/Like a Lover/Mas Que Nada 
Something 
Come Fly With Me 
On the Sunny Side of the Street 
Never Never Land 
Begin the Beguine 
I've Got You Under My Skin 
Puttin' On the Ritz 
Besame Mucho 
MEDLEY: Agua de Beber/Corcovado/So Danco Samba/The Girl From Ipanema/Waters of March/One Note Samba

The Tijuana Brass Medley could also include The Mexican Shuffle and Casino Royale


SONGS FROM THE FALL 2016 TOUR

What Now My Love 
Human Nature 
Moondance 
O Pato 
Besame Mucho 
Fly Me to the Moon 
Medley: Rise/ Whipped Cream/The Lonely Bull/Casino Royale/Spanish Flea/Mexican Shuffle/Tijuana Taxi/A Taste of Honey 
Up On the Roof 
Medley: The Look of Love/Upa, Neguinho/Fool On the Hill/Like a Lover/Mas Que Nada 
Something 
On the Sunny Side of the Street 
Never Never Land 
Come Fly With Me 
Alfie

 

Human Nature was nominated for the Best Contemporary Instrumental Grammy.

Herb Alpert and Lani Hall donated $10.1 million to the Los Angeles City College to provide all music majors a tuition-free education.

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2017: MUSIC VOLUME 1 AND THE CHRISTMAS WISH

On June 16, Herb Alpert was presented UCLA's highest honor, the UCLA Medla.

Catalog Reissue Press Release

OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE

Joyful, romantic sounds that stir the soul: that’s the overarching theme of Herb Alpert’s ‘Music Vol. 1,’ the trumpeter and composers’ new work out July 28 (via Herb Alpert Presents).  Alpert’s passion for timeless melodies takes the listener on a voyage that spans genres and generations with surprising twists and turns.  Always exploring and bursting with creativity, he teamed with GRAMMY-winning producer Jochem van der Saag (whose credits include Andrea Bocelli and Destiny’s Child) for the first time, crafting ‘Music Vol. 1’ at van der Saag’s home studio over the past year.

‘Music Vol. 1’ arrives with a brand new song written by Alpert, the infectiously funky “Sugarfoot.”  The euphoric album unfurls with tasteful twists on iconic songs, such as turntable scratches and electronic flourishes on “Unforgettable” and “Cheek to Cheek.”  The inclusion of both “Michelle” and “Imagine” point to the near-endless inspiration that Alpert draws from the music of John Lennon and The Beatles.  In his hands, “Michelle” starts with lush strings and effortlessly shifts into a swinging, Parisian-inspired jazz motif.  Alpert’s lifelong love of Django Reinhardt led him to the classic “C’est Si Bon” and further takes the listener on a trip straight to France, the smell of tulips in the air, lovers walking hand in hand.  Herb also puts a fresh, breezy spin on “Flamingo,” a song he first recorded for 1966’s chart-topper ‘SRO.’

‘Music Vol. 1’ finds Herb Alpert as you’ve never heard him before, and arrives at a busy time.  Last year’s ‘Human Nature’ LP earned him yet another GRAMMY nomination.  He also won a GRAMMY for Best Pop Instrumental Album in 2014 for ‘Steppin’ Out.’  A holiday album will also arrive later this year, with more details to be announced.
* Billboard recently listed Herb at #7 on their Greatest Of All Time Billboard 200 Artists list.
* He remastered and reissued 28 of his classic albums for the first time and released them fall 2016, 13 of which simultaneously debuted in the Top 50 of Billboard’s Catalog Jazz charts.
* Herb is a 2006 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee and nine-time GRAMMY winner.
* His albums have sold over 72 million copies, and 29 of his records have reached the Billboard 200.

* In 2013, Alpert received the National Medal of Arts from President Obama.

‘MUSIC VOL.1’ TRACKLIST:
1. Flamingo
2. Unforgettable
3. Michelle
4. C’est Si Bon
5. I’m Yours
6. Cheek to Cheek
7. Just a Gigolo
8. Witchcraft
9. Sugarfoot
10. Strike Up The Band
11. You Stepped Out of a Dream
12. Imagine

Herb Alpert Image

 

OFFICIAL VIDEO PERFORMANCES OF MUSIC VOLUME 1 SONGS

I'm Yours

 

THE CHRISTMAS WISH HISTORY

"White Christmas" was nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella.

 

Christmas Wish digital booklet
 

HERB ALPERT'S THOUGHTS ON THE CHRISTMAS WISH

When it felt right I struck and I found the right orchestrator and person to work with, Chris Walden, and I got excited about it....I didn’t want to make just another album, I wanted to make something that I thought was special.

The orchestra we had is all professional musicians, and the thirty-two piece choir is all people who work in town and read music. That’s their livelihood.

The album was recorded at Capitol Records Tower in [the] main studio there, the one that Sinatra recorded in. It has a huge history and it’s a really excellent studio.

SOURCE:
The Christmas Wish: A Conversation With Herb Alpert. Mike Ragogna. Huffington Post, December 1, 2017.


 

THE CHRISTMAS WISH OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE

Get In The Holiday Spirit With Herb Alpert's First Seasonal Record In Five Decades, 'The Christmas Wish'

Alpert Kicks Off The Most Wonderful Time Of Year On The Hallmark Channel's 'Home & Family' This Friday November 3
 

'The Christmas Wish' Lands Alpert On Billboard's Contemporary Jazz Chart Top 3 For The Second Time This Year

Herb Alpert will cap off a remarkable 2017 with perhaps his finest moment of the year: a return to holiday music for the first time in five decades. 'The Christmas Wish' features Alpert and a stunning 77-piece symphony and choir lending fresh interpretations to more than a dozen holiday hits. ‘The Christmas Wish’ was tracked at the hallowed Capitol Studios in the heart of Hollywood.

Alpert is supported by a host of legendary friends and collaborators on ‘The Christmas Wish,’ including Richard Carpenter (who joins Herb on celesta for his "Merry Christmas, Darling”), Paul Williams (who penned original lyrics for the brand-new title track), composer/arranger Chris Walden (Aretha Franklin, Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder) and engineer Al Schmitt (Frank Sinatra, Elvis, Michael Jackson, Madonna). Herb’s wife and bandmate Lani Hall joins him for lead vocals on the album’s title track. 'The Christmas Wish' follows up 1968's chart-topping 'Christmas Album,' recently named one of the 15 Greatest Holiday Albums of All Time by MOJO.

'The Christmas Wish' will make its national television debut this Friday November 3 on The Hallmark Channel's 'Home & Family' morning show, where Herb will perform "Santa Baby." The 'Home & Family' performance comes on the heels of a #3 debut on Billboard's Contemporary Jazz Album Chart, marking Herb's second top three debut of the year (after his 'Music Vol. 1' topped the same chart this summer). Earlier this year, Alpert was nominated for yet another GRAMMY (his second nomination in three years), interviewed on the Tonight Show by Jimmy Fallon and profiled by the LA Times. His 'Music Vol. 1' record was hailed as "life affirming" by AllMusic and "a new classic" by the Huffington Post, as Billboard dubbed Alpert “more prolific than most artists a fraction of his age.”

Herb and his band are touring through the end of the year, including holiday stands at Yoshi's in the Bay Area and the Blue Note in Honolulu. A full list of dates is below.

NOV 3 – Cerritos Performing Arts Center – Cerritos, CA
NOV 6 – City Winery – Chicago, IL
NOV 7 – City Winery – Chicago, IL
NOV 8 – The Kent Stage – Kent, OH
NOV 10 – Kiawah Island Weekend of Jazz – Kiawah Island, SC
NOV 11 – Manchester Craftsmen Theater – Pittsburgh, PA
NOV 12 – Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts – Annapolis, MD
NOV 13 – Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts – Vienna, VA
NOV 14 – Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts – Vienna, VA
NOV 15 – Sellersville Theater – Sellersville, PA
DEC 5-7 – Yoshi’s – Oakland, CA
DEC 14-17 – Blue Note – Honolulu, HI

‘THE CHRISTMAS WISH’ TRACKLIST:
Joy To The World – Silver Bells (Medley)
Let It Snow – Rudolph (Medley)
Santa Baby
Carol Of The Bells - We Wish You A Merry Christmas (Medley)
I’ll Be Home For Christmas
Silent Night
Winter Wonderland
Merry Christmas Darling
Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
The Christmas Wish
Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
The Christmas Song
White Christmas
What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve
Jesu Joy Of Man’s Desire

For more information please contact Chris Taillie (ctaillie@shorefire.com), Mark Satlof (msatlof@shorefire.com) or Max Lefkowitz (mlefkowitz@shorefire.com) at Shore Fire Media, (718) 522-7171

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2018: MUSIC VOLUME 3

Herb Alpert Image

 

WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD PRESS RELEASE

Herb Alpert Reminds Us Of Louis Armstrong's Enduring Optimism In Troubled Times With New "What A Wonderful World" Video

Listen To Alpert's Take On The American Classic Via Billboard

Herb Alpert has unveiled an imaginative visual component to his recent cover of good friend and American legend Louis Armstrong’s “What A Wonderful World.” In a Q&A with Billboard, Alpert explains he was galvanized to put his own spin on the ubiquitous classic as a reminder of Armstrong’s overpowering positivity in uncertain times.

Struggling with all the ugliness and divisiveness he saw around him, Herb found comfort in an answer Louis Armstrong gave when questioned on the unapologetic optimism of “What A Wonderful World.” Armstrong would say: "it ain't the world that’s so bad, but what we’re doin’ to it. All I’m saying is what a wonderful world it would be if only we’d give it a chance. Love baby, love. That’s the secret." Alpert echoes Louis' exact sentiment in spoken-word form on the front of his “What A Wonderful World” cover. Love baby, love. That's the secret.

Herb’s unique spin on the track incorporates instruments from around the world – Trinidad to Turkey and Japan to Bolivia – as well as an angelic children's choir. Children are particularly important to Alpert, who will donate 100% of proceeds to the Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation.

The accompanying video intersperses clips from the recording process with everyday reminders of the beauty in the world and appeals for kindness, honesty and compassion. On his 2018 tour dates, Alpert has been opening his shows with the “What A Wonderful World” video to rave reviews. To experience it in a live setting, check out Alpert’s upcoming show schedule (more to be announced soon).

Herb Alpert Tour Dates

April 28 – Infinity Hall – Hartford, CT

April 29 – Birchmere – Alexandria, VA

April 30 – Diana Wortham Theater – Asheville, NC

May 1 – McGlohon Theater – Charlotte, NC

May 2 – Carolina Theatre – Durham, NC

May 4 – Florida Theater – Jacksonville, FL

May 5 – City Winery – Atlanta, GA

May 24 – Bakersfield College Amphitheater – Bakersfield, CA

May 25 – Harris Center – Folsom, CA

June 13 – San Diego Country Fair – San Diego, CA

August 12 – San Jose Summer Jazz Fest – San Jose, CA

September 15 – Rio Theatre – Santa Cruz, CA

For more information please contact Mark Satlof or Max Lefkowitz at Shore Fire Media, (718) 522-7171
 

Herb Alpert Image

Released to media on July 10, 2018, and to the public on July 23, 2018

Wade In the Water and Tour Press Release

 

Herb Alpert's 'Music Volume 3: Herb Alpert Reimagines The Tijuana Brass' Out Now, Debuted At #1 On Apple Music Jazz, Top 5 At Amazon Jazz

Herb Alpert's iconic career continues with release of 'Music Volume 3: Herb Alpert Reimagines The Tijuana Brass' – which is out now. The album opened at #1 on Apple Music's jazz chart and is currently in the Top 5 on Amazon’s jazz best-sellers list. This is a continuing trend for Alpert: his two 2017 album releases both hit #1 on Apple Music and Amazon and also debuted at #1 on Billboard's jazz chart.

For ‘Music Vol. 3,’ Herb has revisited some of his legendary songs with the Tijuana Brass, and transformed them. This reinvention of historic recordings like “A Taste Of Honey,” “Lonely Bull,” “Spanish Flea” and many more were “scrambled up,” as Herb says. He explored new arrangements, production, new studio takes and in some case even samples of the originals to make them fresh and surprising, and a way for Herb to continue sharing positivity with a world in need of it. The project finds Herb continuing his partnership with producer Jochem van der Saag. 

Several of the songs on ‘Music Vol. 3’ appeared on albums during an unprecedented run in 1966, when four Herb Alpert and Tijuana Brass releases were on the Billboard Top 10 at the same time. ‘Music Vol. 3’ begins appropriately with "The Lonely Bull” and includes a surprising mash-up of "Spanish Flea" into "Rise," two famous songs blended together here for the first time. 

Since 2014 Herb has won a GRAMMY (his 9th), and was nominated for an additional two. Herb also performed "A Taste of Honey" as a tribute to Hal Blaine on PBS' Great Performances show, ‘GRAMMY Salute To Music Legends.’ The program aired nationally earlier this month.

Herb will wrap 2018 with a run of holiday shows in December, where he will play selections from ‘The Christmas Wish,’ which he released last year for the holiday season, his first holiday album since 1968. 

 

DECEMBER HOLIDAY SHOWS

December 6 – Ft. Lauderdale, FL – Parker Playhouse 

December 7 – West Palm Beach, FL – Kravitz Center – Dreyfoos Hall 

December 8 – Clearwater, FL – Capitol Theatre – w/ Manhattan Transfer 

December 9 – Naples, FL – Hayes Hall - w/ Manhattan Transfer 

December 20 – Los Angeles, CA – Disney Hall w/ Manhattan Transfer 

January 26 – San Luis Obispo, CA - Christopher Cohan Performing Arts Center

 

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2019: OVER THE RAINBOW

 

Japanese Distributor Press Release
August 23, 2019

Herb Alpert, a heavyweight trumpeter/producer of the American music world, who continues to enthusiastically continue to release new works at a pace of one every year even now at the age of 84, is active. Known as one of the founders of A&M Records, he had a great influence on the music scene, and he is familiar with the theme song "Bittersweet Samba" of "All Night Nippon" here in Japan, but "Rise", "A Taste Of Honey", "This Guy's In Love With You", "The Lonely Bull" etc. With nine Grammy awards and 72 million album sales worldwide, he is a legend in the American music scene. 

His latest work "OVER THE RAINBOW". The album contains 1 original number and 12 songs that are widely known standard numbers covered in a sophisticated arrangement unique to Herb Alpert. Recorded over eight months in the herb studio and in the studio of engineer/arranger/mix engineer Jochem Van Der Saag. The preceding single from the album is the original number "Skinny Dip". Produced by herbs themselves. 

As a cover, he picked up Bill Withers' "Ain't No Sunshine", title track "Over The Rainbow", Barry Manilow's "Copacabana", and Billy Preston's "You Are So Beautiful", EW&F's "Fantasy", etc. In choosing these standard numbers, Herb says: "Original songs have to be playable and have a fun melody, for example a little noisy but fun, like "Skinny Dip". There's a great definitive version of Judy Garland (and other great versions). It's always dangerous to pick up "Somewhere Over The Rainbow," but Michael Shapiro sings the opening refrain and loves the current version of Eduardo del Barrio's beautiful orchestration.)

He also talks about the songs. "Jochem Van Der Saag arranged "Nature Boy" is one of my favorite songs. I personally knew Eden Abez who wrote the song and had an interesting time together. "All Love" by Babic Reichart is a beautiful tribute to the great father, Django Reinhardt, who established his unique gypsy guitar style. And "You Are So Beautiful" is a feeling for Lani (Hall), my wife and my "angel". "Always On My Mind" is a country song that everyone knows, but it feels just as comfortable with the new instrumental arrangement, made by Maurice White and Eduardo del Barrio, "Fantasy" arranged by Eddie has been my favorite song. And "Ain't No Sunshine" has a wonderful version of Bill Withers, but with the song of Hussain Jiffry and his wife, Lani Hall, I added herb alpertishness." 

Perhaps the brightest of the covers is "Wonderful World", a tribute to the jazz trumpet giant Louis Armstrong. When playing this song, herbs do not cover Louis as it is, but rather the influence that song has on the world and the music that would bring light to the world and a tool to better understand each other. He said he wanted to shed light on his power. Herb Alpert's latest work, "OVER THE RAINBOW," sings hymns on life and love, the power of peace and music, and all that. It is one piece that is full of charm that goes beyond generations.

OVER THE RAINBOW PRESS RELEASE

HERB ALPERT
CELEBRATES LIFE, LOVE & MUSIC WITH HIS NEW ALBUM
OVER THE RAINBOW
SET FOR RELEASE ON SEPTEMBER 20, 2019

Malibu, CA: On September 20, 2019, legendary and Grammy winning musician, producer, creator and artist Herb Alpert will release his newest album Over The Rainbow, a 12 song collection that includes one original track and a cadre of classic and well known interpreted tunes performed in a way that only Alpert can deliver.

The pre-order for the album begins today (July 24th) and the first single, “Skinny Dip,” is available as an instant download when you pre-order (on iTunes and Amazon). The second single, “Fantasy,” will be available on August 23rd.

As one of the worlds most renowned and celebrated trumpet players, Alpert has once again broken the mold with a collection of songs that spans decades. “This project started like all of the other albums that I have recorded throughout the years, including the Tijuana Brass projects. I am always looking for good melodies to play and if it is a familiar song that I am working on, I’ll try to do it in a way that it’s never been heard before,” says Alpert. “When choosing songs, I look for something that makes you feel good, I have learned to become an audience to my own music and listen to what creates feelings that stop and call you.”

Recorded at both Alpert’s studio and at famed Grammy winning and multi-nominated engineer, arranger and mixer Jochem van der Saag’s studio, Over The Rainbow was recorded in eight months and boasts a roster of pop, classic and international hits that are familiar to all ages. The first song on the album is “Skinny Dip,” an original co-written and produced by Alpert, followed by 11 others including “Ain’t No Sunshine,” “All Love,” “Fantasy,” “Over The Rainbow,” “Copacabana,” “With You I’m Born Again,” “You Are So Beautiful” “Nature Boy,” “Always On My Mind,” “South Of The Border,” and “What A Wonderful World.”

Reflecting on the choice of songs for the new release, Alpert says, “Original songs must have a melody that is fun for me to play, like ‘Skinny Dip,’ a little quirky, but fun. It’s always a bit dangerous to tackle a song like ‘Somewhere Over The Rainbow,’ that has the iconic Judy Garland recording (and many other great recordings,) but I like this version and the way that it starts with Michael Shapiro singing part of the opening refrain and the beautiful orchestration by Eduardo del Barrio.”

“The song ‘Nature Boy’ arranged by Jochem Van der Saag, is also close to my heart, having personally known and spent some interesting times with the composer, Eden Abez, who lived his life as the real nature boy. ‘All Love,’ was written by Babik Reinhart, a beautiful tribute to his incredibly talented father, Django Reinhardt, who had his own, unique, Gypsy guitar style. ‘You Are So Beautiful,’ is how I feel about my wife and ‘angel,’ Lani.

‘Always on my Mind,’ was taking a chance on a familiar country song that just feels good to me in its new setting as an instrumental and ‘Fantasy,’ is a song that I’ve always liked that was written by Maurice White and Eduardo Del Barrio and also arranged by Eduardo. ‘Ain’t No Sunshine,’ is that iconic recording by Bill Withers and I tried to put the Herb Alpert spin on it, with Hussain Jiffry singing along with my wife, Lani Hall.

‘Wonderful World,’ is a tribute to the great, Louis Armstrong. My intention was not to cover his record, but to show how it had an international impact and to highlight the power of music as a tool to help us understand each other and bring more light into the world, so that peace will have a much better chance to survive.”

Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass propelled his sound into the pop music limelight at one point outselling the Beatles two to one. In 1966, they achieved the since-unmatched feat of simultaneously having four albums in the Top 10– and five in the Top 20. Herb Alpert also has the distinction of being the only artist in history who has scored a #1 instrumental and a #1 vocal single on the charts.

Some of Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass’ fourteen Top 40 singles include; “The Lonely Bull,” “Mexican Shuffle,” “Spanish Flea,” GRAMMY®-winners “A Taste Of Honey” and “What Now My Love,” and the #1 hits “This Guy’s In Love With You” and “Rise.” In 2016 the Herb Alpert Presents record label released 30 deluxe re-masters of the entire TJB catalogue plus all of Herb’s solo albums from the ‘70s, ‘80s, ‘90s. In all, Alpert has recorded over forty albums and produced for many other artists, including Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66, Stan Getz, Michel Colombier, Gato Barbieri and Alpert’s wife, GRAMMY winning vocalist Lani Hall, to name a few.

As an industry leader, Alpert’s commitment to artists with personal vision guided A&M Records (with partner Jerry Moss) from a Hollywood garage operation into one of the most successful independent record labels in music history that started in 1962 with Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass. Stars including Janet Jackson, Quincy Jones, Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66, Stan Getz, Cat Stevens, Supertramp, The Carpenters, Carole King, Sheryl Crow, Peter Frampton, The Police and scores of others that are evidence of the consistent quality and diversity of the A&M Records family.

In 2006, Alpert and Moss were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in recognition of their accomplishments and are a part of the Grammy Museum’s ”Icons of the Music Industry” series. In 2013 Herb Alpert was awarded The National Medal of Arts Award by President Barack Obama for his musical, philanthropic and artistic contributions.

Over The Rainbow will available on all digital outlets on September 20, 2019.

1. Skinny Dip
2. Ain't No Sunshine
3. All Love
4. Fantasy
5. Over the Rainbow
6. Copacabana
7. With You I'm Born Again
8. You Are So Beautiful
9. Nature Boy
10. Always On My Mind
11. South of the Border
12. What a Wonderful World

Herb Alpert: Over the Rainbow US promotional poster
Herb Alpert Over the Rainbow on Billboard

 

 

 

 

 

FANTASY

Release date: September 9, 2019

Herb Alpert brings you his new single, “Fantasy” from his upcoming album Over The Rainbow (available everywhere September 20)!

“Fantasy”, which was written by Maurice White and Eduardo Del Barrio and famously recorded by Earth, Wind, and Fire, was a long-time favorite of Herb’s and he took the opportunity to record a version for his new album. “I am always looking for good melodies to play and if it is a familiar song that I am working on, I’ll try to do it in a way that it’s never been heard before,” says Alpert. “When choosing songs, I look for something that makes you feel good, I have learned to become an audience to my own music and listen to what creates feelings that stop and call you.”

Recorded at both Alpert’s studio and at famed Grammy winning and multi-nominated engineer, arranger and mixer Jochem van der Saag’s studio, Over The Rainbow was recorded in eight months and boasts a roster of pop, classic and international hits that are familiar to all ages. The first song on the album is “Skinny Dip,” an original co-written and produced by Alpert, followed by 11 others including “Ain’t No Sunshine,” “All Love,” “Fantasy,” “Over The Rainbow,” “Copacabana,” “With You I’m Born Again,” “You Are So Beautiful” “Nature Boy,” “Always On My Mind,” “South Of The Border,” and “What A Wonderful World.”

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2021       2022      2023

2020: HERB ALPERT IS...

“I think the ups and downs of my life can inspire others.”

-Herb Alpert

Herb Alpert is a multi-faceted man, a man of many passions.

 

Short Synopsis

With his trumpet he turned the Tijuana Brass into gold, earning 15 gold and 14 platinum records; He has won nine Grammys Awards between 1966 and 2014, and received the National Medal of Arts from President Barack Obama in 2012.

Herb co-founded the indie label, A & M Records with his business partner, Jerry Moss, which recorded artists as varied as Carole King, Cat Stevens, The Carpenters, Janet Jackson, Peter Frampton, Joe Cocker, Quincy Jones, Sergio Mendes, and The Police. A&M would go on to become one of the most successful independent labels in history. He has shown his striking work as an abstract painter and sculptor, worldwide. And through the Herb Alpert Foundation, he has given significant philanthropic support of educational programs in the arts nationwide, from the Harlem School of the Arts and Los Angeles City College to CalArts and UCLA.

John Scheinfeld’s documentary Herb Alpert is... profiles the artist, now 85, mostly from the perspective of colleagues like Questlove, Sting, and Bill Moyers. In their words, the shy, unassuming trumpeter is a musical, artistic and philanthropic heavyweight.

 

Long Synopsis

Herb Alpert was a shy third grader when his music appreciation teacher arranged instruments on a table and encouraged her students to experiment. The 8-year-old picked up a trumpet and effectively found his voice. In 1966, Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass outsold the Beatles two to one. Between 1966 and 2014, the musician who wed Dixieland and mariachi styles with jazz and pop, won nine Grammys, a testament to his virtuosity and enduring appeal.

In 1962 he co-founded the indie label, A & M Records with business partner, Jerry Moss, which introduced artists as varied as Carole King, Cat Stevens, The Carpenters, Janet Jackson, Peter Frampton, Joe Cocker, Quincy Jones, Sergio Mendes and The Police. A&M would go on to become one of the most successful independent labels in history. His work as an abstract painter and sculptor has been shown worldwide. Through the Herb Alpert Foundation, he has given significant philanthropic support of educational programs in the arts nationwide, from the Harlem School of the Arts and Los Angeles City College to CalArts and UCLA.

With his #1 record, “Rise” (1979) and romantic ballad “This Guy’s in Love With You” (1968), Alpert is the only solo artist to have number-one singles on both the instrumental and vocal charts. With the Tijuana Brass, Alpert had nine consecutive Gold albums. After it disbanded, he earned six more. In all, he has a total of 15 gold and 14 platinum records.

John Scheinfeld’s Herb Alpert is... paints a portrait of the sensitive artist and self-described “card-carrying introvert” as someone who prefers to let his music, painting and sculpture speak for him.
Thus, Scheinfeld relies on the likes of Burt Bacharach, Richard Carpenter, Bill Moyers, Questlove, and Sting to talk about Alpert’s achievements as a musician and record producer. Others, like Richard Lariviere, president of Chicago’s Field Museum, praises the musician’s expressionistic sculptures that permanently stand in the museum’s gardens, and Eric Pryor, head of The Harlem School of the Arts, testifies to the impact of Alpert’s philanthropy.

Among the other people interviewed are Jerry Moss, Alpert’s long-time partner in A & M Records, (Alpert is the “A,” and Moss the “M”); Lou Adler, legendary producer of Carole King and The Mamas and the Papas, who collaborated with Alpert on songwriting early in their careers, and worked together with the legendary Sam Cooke

and 2 time Grammy Award winning singer, Lani Hall, who first met Alpert when he produced Sergio Mendes and Brasil ’66, for which she was the lead vocalist. She wed Alpert in December 1973 and aside from her own, solo, singing career, she has been a vocalist on many of his subsequent albums. He calls her his muse. For the 72 million albums he has sold, Alpert ranks #7 on Billboard’s Top 200.

 

Herb Alpert Is Film Poster

 

Director’s Statement

As a young man, seeing my mother dance around the house to the music of Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass turned me on to this incredible music maker and I became a fan of his upbeat and very cool sound. It just made you feel good.

So, when given the opportunity to make a film about Herb I certainly knew the music, but what of the man himself? What I came to learn is that Herb is different things to different people: Artist, Performer, Producer, Entrepreneur,

Philanthropist and so much more.

Whether it’s producing a new album every year, conceiving innovative and thoughtful music videos, displaying his artistry on the canvas or in clay, or finding ways to enhance the lives of those less fortunate, he is a true Renaissance man whose passion is to be creative and make a difference in the world each and every day.

In Herb Alpert is... I wanted to create a portrait of a singular artist who does things the right way, achieves success on his own terms, and brings positivity to the world in the process.

Most important, as a counterpoint to the polarizing political stories currently dominating the cultural landscape, I wanted to make a film that would celebrate a creative and influential life well lived in a way that would uplift, inspire and bring the audience together the way that Herb’s music and philanthropy has done for decades.

- John Scheinfeld

 

About Herb Alpert

Herb Alpert was born in 1935 in the ethnically diverse neighborhood, Boyle Heights, located between downtown and East Los Angeles.

Herb was the youngest of three in a musical family. Father Louis emigrated from the U.S.S.R. and was a tailor, clothing manufacturer and he also played the mandolin. His mother, Tillie, played the violin and hailed from the lower East side of New York, with Romanian roots. Brother David was a professional drummer; sister Mimi played piano.

In 1937, the family moved to LA’s Fairfax neighborhood where Herb started school at Melrose Elementary. In 1943, in a music appreciation class, with a table full of musical instruments, Herb picked out the trumpet. This was to be a decisive moment in his life. Recalling himself as a tongue-tied youngster, he said, “As soon as I started to make a noise that made sense, man, this trumpet was talking for me. It was saying things I couldn’t get out of my mouth.” From that moment, making music and art defined his life.

Alpert was classically trained and played in junior symphonies. In 1948 Ben Klazkin, first trumpet of the San Francisco Symphony, became his tutor, and before long, an admirer of the 13 year old. But classical trumpet wasn’t in his future. In high school Alpert fell under the sway of Harry James, the trumpet-playing Big Band leader, and Rafael Mendez, known as “The Heifetz of the horn” and the great, Clifford Brown, “so great he made me want to put down my trumpet.”

Though far from East 52nd Street, New York’s jazz Mecca, Los Angeles in the 1950s boasted a thriving jazz scene anchored by Gerry Mulligan and Chet Baker who the young man would see -- and meet -- at local clubs.

Alpert attended Fairfax High, receiving his diploma in 1953. While at Fairfax, Alpert was part of “The Colonial Trio.” He was on trumpet, and his classmates, Fred Santo, on piano and Norm Shapiro, on drums. For eight consecutive weeks the trio won the local TV competition “High Talent Time.” The exposure led to bookings for Bar Mitzvahs, high school dances and weddings.

Following graduation, Alpert enrolled at the University of Southern California as a music major and played trumpet with the university’s celebrated Trojan Marching Band. He stayed until 1954 when he was drafted into the army. In basic training he was sent to Band School in Fort Knox Kentucky, where he met trumpet players that were better than him.

While to the public in the 1960s Alpert seemed an overnight success, he had practiced the horn for 18 years and was equally disciplined about breaking into the music business. At 21, he married his high-school sweetheart, Sharon Lubin, and had a son, Dore and a daughter, Eden. Alpert had other defining partnerships with business partners, Lou Adler, with whom they co-wrote with Sam Cooke, the hit song, “Wonderful World,” and in 1962 he founded A & M Records with Jerry Moss.

A chance visit to the bullfights in Tijuana triggered the idea for “The Lonely Bull,” the first instrumental hit for Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass. Despite the band’s name, neither Alpert nor its band members were of Mexican heritage.

The success of “The Lonely Bull” brought financial security both to Alpert and A & M Records. With subsequent tracks like, “Mexican Shuffle,” “A Taste of Honey,” and “Spanish Flea,” Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass were everywhere on the airwaves and TV during the 1960s. Herb contributed to movie scores, performing the title tune for Casino Royale (1967), written by Burt Bacharach, a member of the A & M family.

“I realized that if I didn’t come up with a style of my own, I was never going to become a professional. It wasn’t enough that the trumpet spoke, it had to speak with my voice.” He was sent to the Sixth Army Band at the Presidio in San Francisco.

In 1969, as A & M solidified its reputation as an artist-friendly label, it looked to the world like the trumpeter/music exec had it all together. But things were falling apart. Alpert was onstage with the band in Munich when he had an out-of-body experience. He remembers playing and watching himself play. The Alpert in the audience wondered why the Alpert onstage was seemingly so happy while the one in the audience was uncomfortable.

Soon after, he picked up the trumpet and his smooth, optimistic sound was now an anxious stutter. Was this transient existential panic or a career-ending episode?

He consulted both a trumpet guru and a psychologist. Before long he recognized his issues were symptomatic of his marriage breaking up and his family was breaking with it. He also didn’t know how to deal with being in the spotlight and not having a normal life to depend on. And creatively, was he repeating his successes as a pop instrumentalist rather than exploring new musical ideas? He disbanded The Tijuana Brass in 1969. Increasingly, Alpert found himself confiding in Lani Hall, lead vocalist for Sergio Mendes and Brasil ’66, likewise members of the A & M family. After his divorce they would marry in 1973 and have a daughter, Aria. His breakdown led ultimately led to both personal and artistic breakthroughs.

“Everyone is looking for a life of purpose and meaning,” observes the trumpeter, who worked through his performing problems and with his returning ability to play the horn, continued to record. Notable among his 1970s releases were memorable collaborations with producer Quincy Jones (You Smile, the Song Begins, 1974) and South African trumpet player, Hugh Masekela (Herb Alpert and Hugh Masekela, 1978). In 1979 he scored another number- one hit with the Grammy-winning “Rise,” co-written by his nephew, Randy Badazz Alpert. During that decade he spent more time as an A & M producer, and began painting lyrical abstraction and expressionist works, giving himself more creative outlets. In 1980 he began to sculpt as well. “Painting and sculpture give me that same rush that playing the horn does, that feeling of being in the moment.”

If Alpert exhibited a renewed musical purpose in the 1970s, in 1988, with the founding of the Herb Alpert Foundation, he was equally committed & motivated in his philanthropy as well as his art. Much of his giving is focused on arts education in Southern California -- endowing the music school, at UCLA and supporting multiple musical initiatives at Cal Arts (California Institute of the Arts), and ensuring that music students at Los Angeles Community College have tuition-free educations. When the Harlem School of the Arts, in New York City, was on the brink of closing, he made a sustaining contribution to keep it thriving.

“I believe the best chance we have of creating responsible and productive kids is through the arts, and it has to be developed just like literacy," he says. "I have been compensated way beyond my dreams and wanted to give back. I wanted other kids to have a creative experience at an early age.”

Since its inception, the Herb Alpert Foundation has awarded approximately $190 million to hundreds of organizations providing support in the arts as well as organizations promoting well-being and compassion.

For his music as well as his philanthropy, Alpert received the National Medal of Arts from President Barack Obama in 2012.

Rona Sebastian, president of the Herb Alpert Foundation, acknowledges that although Alpert’s philanthropy is wide-ranging, it all comes from one source. “Herb was a shy kid who at age eight picked up a trumpet and found his voice,” says Sebastian. “Now he’s trying to help others find theirs.”

 

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About the Filmmakers

JOHN SCHEINFELD (Director, Writer, Producer)

From pop culture to politics, sports to world religions, Venice and Toronto film festivals to PBS, Emmy®, Grammy® and Writers Guild Award nominee John Scheinfeld is a critically acclaimed documentary filmmaker with a broad range of subjects and productions to his credit.

In addition to directing, writing and producing Herb Alpert Is..., Scheinfeld is in post-production on a primetime documentary special about comedy legend Garry Marshall that will air on ABC in the Spring of 2020.

Another Scheinfeld feature documentary, Sergio Mendes: In The Key of Joy, had its World Premiere at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival in January 2020 and will be released worldwide on multiple media platforms later in the year.

Previously, his feature documentary, Chasing Trane: The John Coltrane Documentary, was an official selection of the Telluride Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival before playing on 175 theater screens worldwide during the spring of 2017. In November 2017 it was the season premiere of Independent Lens, the largest showcase for independent documentary film on television.

Scheinfeld is best known for two widely acclaimed feature documentaries: The U.S. vs. John Lennon, which tells the true story of the US government’s attempt to silence the beloved musician and iconic advocate for peace and Who Is Harry Nilsson (And Why Is Everybody Talkin' About Him)?, a compelling yet wildly entertaining documentary about one of the most talented and uncompromising singer-songwriters in pop music history.

The U.S. vs. John Lennon was an official selection of the Venice, Telluride, London and Toronto International film festivals and was released worldwide by Lionsgate. Born out of his love for the music of the Beatles and a keen interest in freedom of speech and personal courage in the face of significant obstacles, Scheinfeld earned the trust of Yoko Ono and was given access to her extraordinary archive.

For Who Is Harry Nilsson...? Scheinfeld was nominated for the prestigious Writers Guild Award and USA Today named him one of the Top 100 People of 2010 in their pop culture poll. Lauded as “close to genius” by novelist Stephen King, the film was a true passion project for Scheinfeld and he skillfully balanced the tantalizing, dramatic, tragic and hilarious aspects of Nilsson’s life with the many challenges involved in clearing more than 60 Nilsson songs for inclusion in the film.

Scheinfeld received a B.A. in Communications and Sociology from Oberlin College and holds an M.F.A. in Radio/Television/Film from Northwestern University.

DAVE HARDING (Producer)

Dave Harding is an award-winning film and television producer and production executive associated with the Academy Award nominated “Encounters At The End of the World.” He is also known for his work on The Grizzly Man, The U.S. vs John Lennon, Leonard Cohen - I’m Your Man, and Cave of Forgotten Dreams.

Since teaming up with John Scheinfeld, the two have produced the feature docs, I Hope You Dance, Chasing Trane: The John Coltrane Documentary, Sergio Mendes In The Key of Joy, and the forthcoming Herb Alpert Is... In addition, the team collaborated on This Is Bob Hope for and Dick Cavett’s Vietnam and Dick Cavett’s Watergate, all for PBS.

Honored with three Emmy nominations for his work in television, and one Emmy win for Wage Slaves - Not Getting By in America, Harding has produced or supervised more than 1000 hours of documentary and non-fiction programs for television while the Exec VP of indie powerhouse Creative Differences.

Harding received a B.S in Radio/TV/Film and a B.A. in Economics, from Northwestern University and returned for an M.S.J. from the University’s esteemed Medill School of Journalism.

PETER S. LYNCH II (Editor, Co-Producer)

In an entertainment career spanning nearly 20 years, Peter S. Lynch, II has served as the editor and co-producer of numerous critically acclaimed documentaries. He is currently putting finishing touches on thes oon-to-be-released, Herb Alpert Is..., an intimate portrait of the renowned music icon.

In 2017 Peter’s work was featured on the prestigious, long-running PBS series American Masters with the bio-doc, This Is Bob Hope... In 2016 Lynch edited Chasing Trane: The John Coltrane Documentary, which premiered as an “official selection” of the Telluride Film Festival, went on to screen at TIFF, DOC NYC, IDFA and numerous other film festivals around the world, and also enjoyed a prominent specialty theatrical run in the U.S.

Peter’s other feature documentaries include: I Hope You Dance: The Power and Spirit of Song, Who Is Harry Nilsson (And Why Is Everybody Talkin’ About Him?), the GRAMMY®

About Abramorama

Abramorama is the preeminent global theatrical distribution and rights management partner for documentary and music films and is recognized for the consistent high quality of its work on award winning feature films. An innovator in the focused, personalized form of film marketing, promotion, distribution and event cinema, Abramorama provides invaluable alternatives to filmmakers while continuing to trail-blaze exciting new pathways for filmmakers to find their audience.

Over the course of nearly 20 years, Abramorama has successfully distributed and marketed hundreds of films, including Ron Howard’s Grammy Award®-winning The Beatles: Eight Days A Week – The Touring Years; Stanley Nelson’s Miles Davis: Birth of The Cool; Atlantic Records and Melanie Martinez’ K-12; John McDermott’s Jimi Hendrix: Electric Church; Amir Bar-Lev's Long Strange Trip – The Untold Story of the Grateful Dead; Tabbert Fiiller’s The Public Image Is Rotten; Danny Clinch and Pearl Jam’s Let’s Play Two; Corbett Redford and Green Day’s Turn It Around: The Story of East Bay Punk; John Scheinfeld’s Chasing Trane – The John Coltrane Documentary; Roberta Grossman and Nancy Spielberg’s Who Will Write Our History; Brett Bern's BANG! The Bert Berns Story; Brett Morgen and National Geographic’s seminal Jane; Charles Ferguson’s Time To Choose; Asif Kapadia’s Senna; Neil Young’s vast catalog of Bernard Shakey Productions; Cameron Crowe’s Pearl Jam Twenty; Sacha Gervasi’s Anvil! The Story of Anvil; Banksy’s Academy Award® nominated Exit Through the Gift Shop; the surprise indie hit Awake: The Life of Yogananda; Laurie Anderson’s astonishing New York Times critics’ pick, Heart of a Dog; National Board of Review Winner Listen to Me Marlon; 2016 Documentary Academy Award®-nominee and IDA Best Documentary Winner The Look of Silence; and the episodic multi-platform series Deconstructing The Beatles. Abramorama is a founding partner of The Seventh Art Stand program, an act of cinematic solidarity against Islamophobia, that ran in more than 50 theaters across the United States in May of 2017. Abramorama recently launched a conscious films imprint, Mangurama, alongside its music-centric film fund, focused on the global release of iconic music documentaries.

Featuring
LOU ADLER
ARIA ALPERT
EDEN ALPERT
HERB ALPERT
LANI HALL ALPERT
>RANDY BADAZZ ALPERT
BURT BACHARACH
BILL CANTOS
RICHARD CARPENTER
CHLOE FLOWER
KARA DIO GUARDI
JIMMY JAM
QUINCY JONES
HUSSAIN JIFFRY
RICHARD LARIVIERE
TERRY LEWIS
KRISTAN MARVELL
SERGIO MENDES
JERRY MOSS
BILL MOYERS
JOHN PISANO
ERIC PRYOR
AHMIR ‘QUESTLOVE’ THOMPSON
SIR KEN ROBINSON
MICHAEL SHAPIRO
STING
BILLY BOB THORTON
CHIP TOM
PAUL WILLIAMS

The Tijuana Brass
NICK CEROLI
BOB EDMONDSON
TONNI KALASH
LOU PAGANI
JOHN PISANO
PAT SENATORE

 

With affection and respect
Thank You, Herb Alpert!

The Most Creative Consultant
Lani Hall Alpert

© 2019 Rubber Duck, LLC
All Rights Reserved.

 

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DOCUMENTARY FILM HERB ALPERT IS…
SET FOR WORLD PREMIERE OCTOBER 1
 
NATIONWIDE VIRTUAL CINEMA RELEASE AND ON DEMAND WORLDWIDE AVAILABILITY OCTOBER 2
 
CAREER-SPANNING AUDIO BOXED SET
TO BE RELEASED OCTOBER 2

 

Los Angeles, CA / New York, NY - August 17, 2020 -- On October 1st, preeminent global theatrical distributor Abramorama will host the world premiere of the documentary Herb Alpert Is…. The global event will take place via Facebook LIVE and will feature a Q&A with Herb Alpert and director John Scheinfeld moderated by the Grammy Museum’s Artistic Director Scott Goldman immediately following. October 2nd the film will be available via a nationwide virtual cinema release and globally on demand through Amazon, iTunes and other video-on-demand providers. The film will also be available on Blu-Ray and DVD via Amazon. Today, the artist has announced the release of a companion box set of the same name. Herb Alpert Is... will also be available on October 2nd, digitally, in LP format featuring a coffee table book and a five-piece 180 gram vinyl set, and on CD as a 3-disc set.  Both physical formats will feature 63 songs spanning 5 decades, 180 pages of vintage photos, liner notes and an essay from music journalist Bud Scoppa.

One of the most accomplished artists in the music industry, Alpert has sold over 72 million records and co-founded A&M Records, one of the most successful independent music labels in history and home to such artists as Janet Jackson, The Police, Cat Stevens and Peter Frampton. Herb Alpert Is…  celebrates the life and work of Herb Alpert and the impact he has had on American culture.  His latest album, “Over the Rainbow” was released in October 2019 and debuted at #1 on the Billboard Jazz and Contemporary Jazz album charts.

Filmmaker John Scheinfeld’s (Chasing Trane: The John Coltrane Documentary, The US vs John Lennon) documentary Herb Alpert Is a passionate and inspiring exploration of Alpert’s personal and creative journey that reveals the critical events, experiences and challenges that have shaped an extraordinary life and instilled deep within the Grammy-winning trumpeter the desire to make a difference each and every day.  Colleagues ranging from Questlove to Sting to Bill Moyers bring their unique voices and perspectives to telling this remarkable story.

In all, Herb Alpert has earned 15 gold and 14 platinum records; won nine Grammys between 1966 and 2014 and received the National Medal of Arts from President Obama in 2012. In 1962 Herb co-founded the indie label, A & M Records (with Jerry Moss) which recorded artists as varied as Carole King, Cat Stevens, The Carpenters, Janet Jackson, Peter Frampton, Quincy Jones, Sergio Mendes, and The Police. A&M would go on to become one of the most successful independent labels in history. Less known is his striking work as an abstract painter and sculptor. Mostly below-the-radar is his significant philanthropic support of educational programs in the arts nationwide, from the Harlem School of the Arts and Los Angeles City College to CalArts and UCLA.

Says Scheinfeld, “Herb is a true artist who did things the right way, achieved success on his own terms, and brought much joy to the world in the process. I wanted to make a documentary that would reflect this and, most importantly, to be a “Feel Good” film that will uplift, inspire and bring audiences together exactly as does Herb’s music.”

Herb Alpert Is... Vinyl Album Box Set

 

Herb Alpert Is
Box Set - Track List

1. The Lonely Bull - from the album The Lonely Bull
2. Winds Of Barcelona - from the album Volume 2
3. Mexican Corn - from the album Volume 2
4. South Of the Border - from the album South Of The Border
5. Mexican Shuffle - from the album South Of The Border
6. All My Loving - from the album South Of The Border
7. A Taste Of Honey - from the album Whipped Cream & Other Delights
8. Green Peppers - from the album Whipped Cream & Other Delights
9. Bittersweet Samba - from the album Whipped Cream & Other Delights
10. Whipped Cream - from the album Whipped Cream & Other Delights
11. Tijuana Taxi - from the album !!Going Places!!
12. I’m Getting Sentimental Over You - from the album !!Going Places!!
13. Spanish Flea - from the album !!Going Places!!
14. 3rd Man Theme - from the album !!Going Places!!
15. Zorba The Greek - from the album !!Going Places!!
16. What Now My Love - from the album What Now My Love
17. Memories Of Madrid - from the album What Now My Love
18. So What’s New? - from the album What Now My Love
19. Magic Trumpet - from the album What Now My Love
20. Brasilia - from the album What Now My Love
21. If I Were A Rich Man - from the album What Now My Love
22. The Work Song - from the album S.R.O.
23. Mame - from the album S.R.O.
24. Flamingo - from the album S.R.O.
25. Bo-Bo - from the album Sounds Like…
26. Town Without Pity - from the album Sounds Like…
27. Treasure Of San Miguel - from the album Sounds Like…
28. Casino Royale - from the album Sounds Like…
29. A Banda - from the album Herb Alpert’s Ninth
30. Panama - from the album The Beat Of the Brass
31. Slick - from the album The Beat Of the Brass
32. This Guy’s In Love With You - from the album The Beat Of the Brass
33. The Sea Is My Soil - from the album Warm
34. Hurt So Bad - from the album Summertime
35. Jerusalem - from the album Summertime
36. You Smile--The Song Begins - from the album You Smile--the Song Begins
37. Up Cherry Street - from the album You Smile--the Song Begins
38. Skokiaan - from the album Herb Alpert/Hugh Masekela
39. Rise - from the album Rise
40. Rotation - from the album Rise
41. Beyond - from the album Beyond
42. The Factory - from the album Beyond
43. Fandango - from the album Fandango
44. Route 101 - from the album Fandango
45. Keep Your Eye On Me - from the album Keep Your Eye On Me
46. Diamonds - from the album Keep Your Eye On Me
47. My Abstract Heart - from the album My Abstract Heart
48. Just A Dream Away - from the album My Abstract Heart
49. I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face - from the album Midnight Sun
50. Second Wind - from the album Second Wind
51. Sneakin’ In - from the album Second Wind
52. Magic Man - from the album Colors
53. Puttin’ On the Ritz - from the album Steppin’ Out
54. La Vie En Rose - from the album Steppin’ Out
55. Night Ride - from the album Come Fly With Me
56. Human Nature - from the album Human Nature
57. I’m Yours - from the album Music Vol. 1
58. Strike Up the Band - from the album Music Vol. 1
59. The Lonely Bull - from the album Music Volume 3: Herb Alpert Reimagines The Tijuana Brass
60. Whipped Cream - from the album Music Volume 3: Herb Alpert Reimagines The Tijuana Brass
61. A Taste Of Honey - from the album Music Volume 3: Herb Alpert Reimagines The Tijuana Brass
62. Wade In the Water - from the album Music Volume 3: Herb Alpert Reimagines The Tijuana Brass
63. What A Wonderful World - from the album Over The Rainbow

Herb Alpert Is... CD Box Set

Photo Credit: Dewey Nicks

About Herb Alpert
A 2006 Rock N Roll Hall Of Fame Inductee, Alpert’s albums have sold over 72 million copies and 29 of his albums have reached the Billboard Top 200. Billboard also listed Herb as #7 on their Greatest of All Time Billboard 200. In 2012 Alpert was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Obama. In 2010 Herb Alpert and his foundation came to the rescue of the Harlem School For The Arts as the doors were about to be closed for good. Now, with a new board of directors and management, the school is a flourishing beacon for kids all around the NY area. “If you want to see a feel good program,” says Alpert, “check it out.”

About The Herb Alpert Foundation
The Herb Alpert Foundation envisions a world in which all young people are blessed with opportunities that allow them to reach their potential and lead productive and fulfilling lives. Over the past few years the Foundation has focused on core areas such as “The Arts,” a broad category that includes arts education, a focus on jazz, and support to professionals. This also includes programs that seek to use the arts to help meet the needs of underserved youth and to build competencies that will enable them to become successful adults. The other area is “Compassion and Well-Being,” which celebrates the positive aspects of human psychology and seeks to bring more empathy and compassionate behavior into our society.

The Herb Alpert Award in the Arts, a program of The Herb Alpert Foundation, is an unrestricted prize of $75,000 given annually to five risk-taking, mid-career artists working in the fields of dance, film/video, music, theatre and the visual arts. The prize was initiated and funded by the Herb Alpert Foundation and has been administered by the California Institute Of The Arts since 1994. The Award honors and supports artists respected for their creativity, ingenuity and bodies of work, at a moment in their lives when they are poised to propel their art in new unpredictable directions.

About Abramorama
Abramorama is the preeminent global theatrical distribution and rights management partner for documentary and music films and is recognized for the consistent high quality of its work on award winning feature films. An innovator in the focused, personalized form of film marketing, promotion, distribution and live and traditional event cinema, Abramorama provides invaluable alternatives to filmmakers while continuing to trail-blaze exciting new pathways for filmmakers to find their audience.   Over the course of nearly 20 years, Abramorama has successfully distributed and marketed hundreds of films, including Ron Howard’s Grammy Award®-winning The Beatles: Eight Days A Week – The Touring Years; Stanley Nelson’s Miles Davis: Birth of The Cool; Atlantic Records and Melanie Martinez’ K-12; John McDermott’s Jimi Hendrix: Electric Church; Amir Bar-Lev's Long Strange Trip – The Untold Story of the Grateful Dead; Tabbert Fiiller’s The Public Image Is Rotten; Danny Clinch and Pearl Jam’s Let’s Play Two; Corbett Redford and Green Day’s Turn It Around: The Story of East Bay Punk; John Scheinfeld’s Chasing Trane – The John Coltrane Documentary; Roberta Grossman and Nancy Spielberg’s Who Will Write Our History; Brett Bern's BANG! The Bert Berns Story; Brett Morgen and National Geographic’s seminal Jane; Asif Kapadia’s Senna; Neil Young’s vast catalog of Bernard Shakey Productions; Cameron Crowe’s Pearl Jam Twenty; Sacha Gervasi’s Spirit Award-winning Anvil! The Story of Anvil; Banksy’s Academy Award® nominated & Spirit Award-winning Exit Through the Gift Shop; Laurie Anderson’s New York Times critics’ pick, Heart of a Dog; Showtime’s National Board of Review Winner Listen to Me Marlon; Academy Award®-nominee and IDA Best Documentary Winner The Look of Silence; and the episodic multi-platform series Deconstructing The Beatles. Abramorama is a founding partner of The Seventh Art Stand program, an act of cinematic solidarity against Islamophobia, that ran in more than 50 theaters across the United States in May of 2017. Abramorama recently launched a conscious films imprint, Mangurama, alongside its music-centric film fund focused on the global release of iconic music documentaries.  In January of 2019 the company launched the live multicast streaming enterprise ABCinemaNOW.com with the global live intro, interstitial programming, and Q&A from Paris, France for the 55-country release of Who Will Write Our History. For more information visit abramorama.com.

 

The COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of these concerts with Lani Hall, Bill Cantos, Hussain Jeffry and Michael Shapiro: 

DATE CITY VENUE
2020-04-06 Victoria, Canada McPherson Playhouse
2020-04-07 Nanaimo, Canada Port Theatre
2020-04-09 Vancouver, Canada Chan Centre for the Performing Arts
2020-01-24 Phoenix, AZ Musical Instrument Museum
2020-01-25 Phoenix, AZ Musical Instrument Museum
2020-01-27 Palm Desert, CA McCallum Theatre
2020-02-26 Prescott, AZ Yavapai College Performing Arts Center
2020-02-27 Orange, CA Musco Center for the Arts
2020-02-28 Santa Barbara, CA Granada Theatre
2020-02-29 Napa, CA Uptown Theatre
2020-04-11 Calgary, Canada Bella Concert Hall
2020-04-12 Edmonton, Canada Myer Horowitz Theatre
2020-04-14 Winnipeg, Canada Burton Cummings Theatre
2020-05-19 Alexandria, VA Birchmere
2020-05-17 Annapolis, MD Maryland Hall for the Arts
2020-05-20 Saybrook, CT Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center
2020-05-21 Saybrook, CT Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center
2020-05-22 Red Bank, NJ Hackensack Meridian Health Theatre
2020-06-01 London, England Ronnie Scott's
2020-06-02 London, England Ronnie Scott's
2020-06-03 London, England Ronnie Scott's
2020-06-04 London, England Ronnie Scott's
2020-06-05 London, England Ronnie Scott's
2020-06-06 London, England Ronnie Scott's
2015-04-17 Tokyo, Japan Blue Note
2015-04-18 Tokyo, Japan Blue Note
2015-04-19 Tokyo, Japan Blue Note
2015-04-20 Tokyo, Japan Blue Note

 

The eSingle of "Slick" was released on June 22.

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2021: CATCH THE WIND

The eSingle "Zoo Train 21" was released on March 25, 2021. "Dance With Me" dropped on April 22, 2021.

CD or download album Catch the Wind arrived on September 17.

 

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2022: SUNNY SIDE OF THE STREET

Indeed 2022 was the sunny side of the street for Herb Alpert. It marked the 60th anniversary of his first recording for A&M Records, The Lonely Bull.

"Rise" was included on the soundtrack of the film "Spiderhead." It was 42 years after the song's inital release and the song climbed to the top of the charts in 2022.

As the COVID-19 pandemic eased, Herb Alpert resumed touring with Lani Hall in the spring. Bill Cantos and Hussain Jiffrey of the original touring group were still with him. Tiki Pasillas joined as the drummer, percussionist and background vocalist replacing the late Mike Shapiro.

The first single from the upcoming album "Pata Pata" was released on August 26, 2022.  "‘Pata Pata' was by Miriam Makeba and when I first heard it I thought it was a really interesting record. Miriam was married to Hugh Masekela who I did an album with. I liked the melody a lot and always had it in the back of my mind that one day I’d love to try to do a version of it."

The single "Here She Comes" was released on September 22, 2022. "I wanted to do something sexy and upbeat. This track is vibrant, fun and kind of has a bit of that happy TJB flavor." 

On September 30 Sunny Side Of the Street arrived. From the press release:

Herb Alpert, the prolific Tijuana Brass titan, returns with Sunny Side Of The Street. This new set of 11 songs contains gentle ballads like "Childhood" and "Time After Time", upbeat romps like "Pata Pata" and "Tickle Time" and covers of classic songs like "I'll Remember You" and Louis Armstrong's "On The Sunny Side Of The Street". Few artists in the history of American music have been able to stay relevant decade after decade like the 87-year-old Alpert. So, put on your shades and take a walk with Herb on the Sunny Side Of The Street.

"All I Want For Christmas Is You" video was released on November 4, 2022.

 

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2023

The year began with Herb Alpert appearing at Live at The Music Center: Concert Celebrating Jerry Moss, Co-Founder of A&M Records, an evening to celebrate the extraordinary achievements of Jerry Moss, a longtime patron of the performing arts center and a leading figure in the music industry as the co-founder of A&M Records. Herb told Jerry, “We didn’t have a (contract) that we were legally partners. Am I right, Jerry? It was unbelievable. We took this company from two people to 500 people, and I never had a (written) agreement with Jerry because I trusted him and Jerry trusted me. When we sold the company, that was the first time we put our names down on a contract, that we were agreeing to this sale. … I got lucky to have a partner and a dear friend like Jerry Moss. Jerry’s an unforgettable person, because he’s real… I adore you, man.”

Herb and Lani Hall undertook tours in the U.S., Canada and England. Some shows had been postponed for three years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On September 15, Alpert released the album Wish Upon a Star.

Wish Upon a Star Official Press Release

 

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HERB ALPERT ON A&M RECORDS

A&M Studios

Best Records

Environment

How Alpert Records

Instinct

Jerry Moss

Overdubbing

Philosophy

Record Executive

Signing Artists

TJB Acceptance

TJB Feeling

TJB Sound

Time Off

Trumpet As Friend

A&M STUDIOS

We used some of our profits to build a custom studio. Anyone was welcome to use it, and a lot of artists recorded there. Elvis Presley did some of his movie soundtrack albums there. I never went to the sessions myself. I don't want people to feel like I'm eavesdropping or trying to cop their songs, so I purposely stay out of the studio if it's an outside client, unless I'm invited in. We try to make it as comfortable for the artist as possible, so they don't have to wade through a bunch of people gaping at them.

SOURCE:
Dan Nooger Profiles A&M Records Head Herb Alpert. Goldmine, April 1980.

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A&M Studios A&M Studios
A&M Studios A&M Studios

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

See A&M Studios History

 

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A&M RECORDS BEST RECORDS

We were not concerned with the beat of the week. Some of the best records we ever made were not necessarily the ones that were the most successful...The Flying Burrito Brothers, Joan Armatrading, David + David...We could name so many.1

If I had to start out today, I wouldn't make it. Radio is not the same as it used to be when I started in the business. Music is not the same. Labels are not the same. At A&M we were all about letting the artists make music how they wanted to make it. I don't know if that's even part of the business anymore these days. One of the things I'm very blessed with in my career is timing. I was in the right place at the right time, and bingo!2

 

SOURCES:
1. 6 Questions with Herb Alpert & Jerry Moss. Brian Garrity. Billboard, February 24, 2007.
2. Alpert Thrives After 50 Years of Hit-Making. Miriam Di Nunzio. Chicago Sun-Times, June 9, 2011.

 

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A&M RECORDS ENVIRONMENT

We've always tried to make the environment right for the artist to do what they have to do, and if you try to do that with too many restrictions, you don't really get the best results. But I've always been surrounded by a tremendous group of people that make me look good. I certainly can't do it alone. I'm not a businessman by background, so I don't have that expertise or that desire to get into the everyday workings of the company. But I was very fortunate in being able to follow my bliss and nourish my spirit by doing the music that was coming out of me. And to have a partner like Jerry Moss, who understood that was the best thing for me. It allowed us to gradually surround ourselves with people who were sensitive to what we started. And it's been a beautiful trip.

Jerry and I formed this label on a handshake. We admire and respect each other, and people that work with us feel that as well. That's been the key. If you treat people with kindness and respect it just comes back to you.

It doesn't surprise me that this company has been so successful. If I was to explore that side of it, the formula seems rather easy. Of course, luck plays a part in it, too. And timing. To be at the right place at the right time and to be prepared when you get there.1

We always felt like if we had something special and treated people fairly, it would come back to us. We could smile and sleep well at night and we'd be very successful. That's what happened.2

The thing that keeps coming up to me is the idea that out of a piece of brass came a song, 'The Lonely Bull': and that Jerry and I got together and released a record, and how it has touched thousands upon thousands of people's lives. Not only the people that work for us, left us, married and divorced, distributors, offshoots of that: it just spools out, you know, incredibly long.

I mean, I'm a musician, and I think about music. I wake up and dream about it. It's in my head. And Jerry was able to take that record and really turn it into what we have today.3

SOURCES:
1. Horn of Plenty. Joe Medwick. HITS, November 23, 1992.
2. Herb Alpert Tries a Taste of Symphonic Music. Richard Warner. Atlanta Constitution-Journal, July 1, 1988.
3. A&M Records press release for Under a Spanish Moon album, 1988.

 

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HOW HERB ALPERT MAKES A RECORD

To me, the idea in the recording studio is not to try to be anything other than yourself, and then let whatever happens happen. It's not a left-brain endeavor. The key is to free yourself to the point where you can let it out and feel good about what you're hearing. 'Cause you know when you're b.s.-ing. Your neck starts feeling weird.

When you do well with a lot of records, people start looking at you like you're making buttons or something. But I did all the music I did from my heart whatever happened. I can't say every song I ever recorded was coming from a deep source, but for the most part I tried to make them all special. I tried to ring my own bell, that's for sure.1

I go into making a record knowing what I don't want. If a certain direction starts to feel good, I'll pursue it. If it doesn't, I let it go, and may come back to it. I've found the best songs are the ones that come back to haunt me.2

I always wonder, when it's time to make a record, what will give me a feeling of growth. If a certain direction feels good, I'll pursue it. If it doesn't, I'll let it go. I'm not interested in understanding it intellectually. I just press three valves, and for some unknown reason, something real happens.3

Making records is a passion for me. I love to do them, and there's always a bit of a letdown when the process is over. I keep playing because of a personal need. When I go for months without going into the studio, my energy level starts waning. I just can't imagine my world without making music.4

SOURCES:
1. Jazzing It Up. Don Heckman. Los Angeles Times Calendar, June 7, 1992.
2. A&M Records press release for Magic Man album, July 1981.
3. Bullish Tour Book 1984.
4. Almo Sounds press release for Colors album, 1997.

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INSTINCT

I'm a right-brain animal. I'm not a businessman in the traditional sense. And I do a lot of buckshotting and I rely on my gut reaction. When my shoulders feel tight, I know something is off. I use my body as a barometer.I try to listen like a piece of Silly Putty when someone plays me a song. I try to let my biases just blow in the breeze. For the most part, I'm listening for the feeling.

SOURCE:
1. On Becoming a Leader. Warren Bennis. Addison-Wesley, 1989.

A&M Records

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JERRY MOSS

Jerry [Moss] was, and still is, a very charming guy. He's not a musician, but he listens like one. He closes his eyes and gets that vicarious look in his eyes like he's playing. We pooled our resources and we've been partners ever since.1

Herb Alpert

Kentucky Derby Winner's Circle 2005 with Giacomo's trainer John Sheriffs, jockey Mike Smith and owners Jerry and Ann Moss. Photo by Ed Reinke/AP

 

And the beautiful part of the whole company was that it was started on a handshake. My partner, Jerry Moss, and I had a handshake on our deal, and that was it. There was no contract signed, no nothing until we sold the company many years later. That was the first time we ever signed anything. I was very fortunate to have a partner like Jerry Moss.

There were a couple of times when we'd disagree. But that was OK. We were always friends, and we were always upfront with each other. And there was nothing that could have caved us in because we both loved the business and loved making great records and giving people something for the money that they were putting out.2

SOURCES:
1. Herb Alpert Albums Remastered and Reissued, Rarities Revisited and Released. Gillian G. Garr, Discoveries, January 2006.
2. A Conversation with Herb Alpert. Michael Fagien. Jazziz, August 2009, 17.

 

A&M Records

 

2009 Breeders Cup Winner's Circle with Zenyatta, jockey Mike Smith, groom Mario, Ann Moss, trainer John Sheriffs and Jerry Moss

 

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OVERDUBBING

I was intrigued by the technique of overdubbing and I started doing that with my trumpet in the studio in my home. My studio, I mean it was a wire recorder. But I was just able to check out that sound and there was something there for me. It felt like I was on to something.1

There were quite a few singers who were experimenting with overdubbing their own voice on top of their voice, singing harmony, singing background or whatever it was. So I started doing this with the trumpet. And I noticed when I started detuning the instrument by pulling the slide out a little bit to make it a little flatter sometimes make it a little sharper I would get this odd modulation, this odd quality. That was the sound I was pursuing. Essentially that's the sound of the Tijuana Brass.2

I can take any tune, take anyone's tracks, and record the Brass over it, and make it sound like the Tijuana Brass.3

SOURCES:
1. Midnight Special Salute to Herb Alpert television show 1978.
2. Larry King Show, June 7, 1982.
3. Drummer Boy with a Horn, 1968.

 

 

A&M RECORDS PHILOSOPHY

If I ever have [a record company] it will give more importance to the artist, because the whole thing centers on the artist.1

Jerry and I started A&M in my garage in '62. We tried to make records we would buy ourselves and pick out artists that we had a feeling for. We weren't really thinking in terms of hitting the middle of the bullseye because most of the time we were looking for what was not on the radio. We thought, little by little, the audience would get used to our records if they were made with the right integrity, which we tried to do, and packaged appropriately. We knew, if a record was good, eventually there would be an audience for it.2

The idea of A&M was to make every record, all 12 tunes count. We didn't want the customer to end up buying just the hit and have 11 throwaway songs as a bonus. We wanted to give people their money's worth.3

The real motor of this company is in the basic trust that Jerry, Gil and I have for each other, and the trust that artists have for us. They say they're more comfortable and more inspired because our people care about what they're doing.4

SOURCES:
1. Alpert: the Thrill Is Back!
2. Horn of Plenty. Joe Medwick. HITS, November 23, 1992.
3. Herb Alpert Nice Guy at Top. Zan Stewart. Windplayer, January 1986.
4. On Becoming a Leader. Warren Bennis. Addison-Wesley, 1989.

 

Herb Alpert

 

 

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RECORD EXECUTIVE

I want my employees to see me as an average guy who loves music. I think of myself as a musician primarily. I use my body as a barometer. If the music moves me and I can feel it, my musical instincts instantly tell me what a record executive must know.

My main asset as an executive is, any of our artists can come into my office and sit down and discuss music. I know their feelings and frustrations. At some point in my career I probably experience what they're going through.1

My viewpoint from the record company is [to make decisions from the gut]. I choose not to get too involved into reading all the trades and seeing what all the research tells you and what the trends are. I think that bogs you down. And the only way I can operate is if I hear a group I like, I like them. I don't know why. If I hear a song I like, that's it.2

SOURCES:
1. Alpert: Top Brass in the Music Industry. Craig Modderno. USA Today, 1984.
2. Larry King Show, June 7, 1982.

A&M Records National Meeting 1987

A&M Records staff celebrating A&M's 25th anniversary in June 1987

 

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SIGNING ARTISTS

It's important that either myself or Jerry or the A&R team feel strongly about something if we're going to sign it. People are looking for realness, we're looking for honesty in our politicians, our parents, our friends and our music.1

We try to find people who deserve to be supported, and when we find them we put our total faith in them, get behind them for however long it takes to properly project them to the public.

I was never very enamored by the flash-in-the-pan quick-hit-record system. What substitute is that for nurturing an artist, seeing him grow?

So we have had competitions from companies which dangle large sums of money in front of artists-but I like to think that A&M offers more than dollars and cents.2

The real instrument is always the person who is playing. True artists are the people who are willing to express their emotions. There are many players with talent, but they're too afraid. You can't be controlled and be an artist at the same time.3

One of the keys to dealing with artists is to be sensitive to their feelings and their needs, to give them their day in court so they can air their grievances or their brilliant ideas.4

There are lots of frightened artists today who are trying to respond to trends. They're too cautious, and they don't have the fresh air to express themselves. Many record companies analyze and use demographics to make music, but a lot of original ideas don't come out that way.5

SOURCES:
1. Brass or No, Herb Alpert Keeps Making Things Happen in the Music Business. Sean Piccoli. News-Times Music News, May 8, 1977.
2. Alpert: the Thrill Is Back!
3. Bullish Tour Book, 1984.
4. On Becoming a Leader. Warren Bennis. Addison-Wesley, 1989.
5. A&M Records press release for Beyond album, June 1980.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A&M Archives at UCLA Library

 

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TIJUANA BRASS ACCEPTANCE

After The Lonely Bull there was a bit of a lull. The second album, Volume 2, sold fairly well just on the West Coast. I got the feeling that most people were starting to write us off. It was just, 'That was it for that band.' But I kept working on the sound; I kept trying to hone it and zero in on the feeling because I thought there was something interesting about it.

When I was recording the South of the Border album, there was a song called Mexican Shuffle. Mexican Shuffle had something special I thought. I got a call from the Clark Teaberry Gum Company, the ad agency that handles their account, and they wanted to use the Mexican Shuffle as their centerpiece theme song. So I did an arrangement of it for them and we got a lot of national attention with that Mexican Shuffle.1

The Tijuana Brass was originally just a studio group I put together. It was a record producer putting it together with my horn, rather than a trumpet player looking for a producer to put a tapestry behind me.2

[One of the running jokes during our concerts was to say] We're four salamis, two bagels and an American cheese.3

I had no idea we would have the amount of success we had with the Tijuana Brass...When we first started traveling, one of our first concerts was at M.I.T. University. We were playing Hello Dolly and in the last chorus of Hello Dolly it changes keys. It goes up a half step and it plays Hello Dolly again, you know, like in Dixieland. Well, man, everyone in the audience stood up and started cheering. I didn't know what happened. I couldn't believe it was getting that type of attention.1

There's a lot of humility and humor in the music and it's possible that, well, when things really started going well for us was during the time of all the protest records, and maybe when we came along it was, 'Well, gee whiz, let's have a good time and listen to some music.'

It's quite a feeling to go into a town and see standing room only and people cheering and then coming backstage and saying how much they enjoy the music and how much you've picked up their life. For instance, there was a fellow who came up to me in Seattle and he had to be about 90, and he took me by the arm and said, 'Son, your music really makes me happy.' That sent a chill up me. Well, gee whiz, it's fun to do something like that.4

SOURCES:
1. Star Track Profile 87-24, June 8, 1982.
2. Dan Nooger Profiles A&M Records Head Herb Alpert. Goldmine, April 1980.
3. Small Band, Big Sound, the Tijuana Brass. Betty Rollin. Look, June 14, 1966.
4. WHN Spectacular radio show 1966.
 

 

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TIJUANA BRASS FEELING

It's [Tijuana Brass music] a wild, happy sound, like the Mariachis. It's good-natured and full of humor. It's not a protest and not a put-down. I think people were bugged with hearing music which had an undercurrent of unhappiness and anger, even sadis. But our music you can get with in a hurry, tap your feet and hum along.1

SOURCE:
Record Man of the Year. Billboard International Record Talent Directory 1967.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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TIJUANA BRASS SOUND

We got this idea to sort of fuse these two forms of music together, the mariachi sound with sort of an American jazz pulsation underneath. Of course, since 1962 it sort of evolved itself into little different forms still within the framework of that idea...We're sort of concerned with trying to be fresh and original and trying to keep coming up with new ideas and new approaches to instrumental music.1

I don't want just one sound. I don't really know what the sound of the group is, and I don't want to know. I use tunes that I like and then I try to find ways to arrange them that please me. I never think of the sound as being this or that. It's always changing.2

When I play that second or third part, I'm like another person interpreting the song all over again. Also, in the old days, I would play the first part and then detune my instrument a bit, so the characteristics would change and it wouldn't sound like a direct unison. But in tune or out of tune, I'm just going for the feel all of the time.3

We use a piano, but I use it differently than a regular piano. I use it as a rhythm instrument. It's playing almost like a guitar would be playing.1

SOURCES:
1. WHN Spectacular radio show 1966.
2. Ole! Here Comes the Tijuana Brass! John S. Wilson. New York Times, September 18, 1966.
3. Alpert Created New Album for Under- and Over-35s. Larry Kart. Knight News Service, 1982.

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TAKING TIME OFF

I fried in 1969. I just lost it, lost my fast ball. With the whirlwind experience I had in the mid-1960's, I thought I had the American Dream, but I had lost contact with myself. I was totally overworked, and I didn't know who I was or what I was doing, or who I was doing it for. You become successful, you have a little money, you're respected by your peers, and you've got the brass ring-but it's stll empty if you're not feeling good about yourself.1

During 1969, we started going back to the same places for concerts, and I figured we must also be playing to the same audiences to a large extent and suddenly one day, I could face it no longer.

The thrill had gone. We went on that tour in England and I regret it now because I was coming off the stage after a show and wondering why we were just going through the motions. There was no fun. I wasn't present!

I felt like a piece of machinery being moved from airport to hotel to a concert hall, where a trumpet entered my mouth and I blew the same notes night after night.

Bang, it had happened. I had to come off the road and I did it as fast as I could, doing some final dates which we were committed to. It was a shame it went like that because it really messed up my head.

And it had all started so innocently. I wanted to have some pleasure taking a band out and making some records, and suddenly I didn't understand what all the commotion was about.

Couldn't figure out why the audience response was so great! The sheer size of our success seemed crazy and out of all proportion.

Originally, things had seemed so enjoyable. All the tunes we played on concert or recorded were chosen because they had some ingredient that touched me.

The only two times I tried to make a hit record, they failed, because they had gone against my most natural instincts.

During the period the band had all those hits, I felt I was working in a factory making songs. Push a button, write a song, sell a million.

What worried me was that I was no longer being judged as an artist, but I was caught up in some other thing that felt uncomfortable.

A year after all that happened, I needed to take time off for an overview of what was happening.

Unfortunately I couldn't stop playing immediately: there were certain commitments. But I know now that I should have pulled myself out of even those commitments because the 1969 tour was really painful.2

SOURCES:
1. A&M Records press release for Under a Spanish Moon album, 1988.
2. Alpert: the Thrill Is Back!

 

 

 

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TRUMPET AS A FRIEND

The trumpet is one of those instruments where you can't cover up a mistake--it could be one of the reasons I chose it. But the horn has been an incredible friend to me over the years too. It's been my barometer. It reflects how I am feeling.

There was a time when the trumpet was not speaking, I was blaming it on the mouthpiece, the valve system, trying to blame it on everything but where the problem really lay. Which was, I wasn't feeling good. Then I realized I had to iron some things out before the horn was going to speak as a friend.

That's what I love about being a musician. When you're not getting what you want, you gotta look inward.1

My lip was gone. The harder I tried, the worse my music got. I'm not sure I understand it completely today, but I loved my horn, and it turned against me. I didn't know if I would ever get it back.

At first I tried to intellectualize the problem, I read books on trumpet playing, but found they conflicted. I tried to reteach myself to play-but nothing helped.

[The study of behavioral psychology] taught me a lot about myself and my problem. I had become musically drained-with no time out to evaluate what had happened to me during those frantic years.2

[By 1969] the horn was trying to tell me something. Somehow it wouldn't receive the notes that I was trying to push through it. I wasn't able to tap my inner resources. So I decided to put the horn away for awhile. I wanted to take time off to decide what I wanted to be when I grew up.

I began losing that feeling that I had early in the game. The albums automatically sold 1.3 million copies in advance, and I got the feeling that I wasn't being treated as a musician. I felt we had become some kind of factory.3

SOURCES:
1. Horn of Plenty. Mark Rowland. LA Style, October 1991.
2. Herb Alpert Finds His Long Lost Lip. Marilyn Beck, 1974.
3. Alpert Tells Why He Took Time Off. Bob Thomas in Lancaster (PA) New Era, 1974.

 

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HERB ALPERT ON THE MUSIC INDUSTRY

Arrangements

Audience

Downloads

Fans

Hit Songs

Music Videos

Producer's Job

Producing & Recording

Record Industry

Songs

ARRANGEMENTS

When I played 'Rise," that trumpet that I'm playing is like Herb Alpert 1962, 1963--it was the tapestry behind me that changed. That song was good. The sound of that record was great and the guy that was playing trumpet was just complimenting it. It could have been maybe a lot of different types of guys given that same arrangement and the same song. My point is that it is what was behind me that made the difference and a lot of these artists don't think about that. You know, they put themselves in that old-time setting that we've heard a thousand times before and it's just old hat and nobody cares about it. So if they could update it. See like Quincy Jones knows how to do that. Quincy came through the jazz era, the pop era, the rock era. He's a symphony musician. Listen to the new Frank Sinatra album he just did. There's a perfect example.1

I've always tried to make pictures with instrumental music. I think instrumental music is doubly tough because you don't have that lyric that leads you into the direction of what the song is about. So I always try to do it through sounds and textures and feeling.2

I'm always trying to change the backdrop. I've always tried to push it a bit, not just be satisfied, repeating what had been done...There's endless ways to scramble up 12 notes to say nothing of all the rhythms available.3

When making music you have to let it come out by getting into the mood of the song and letting it happen. It becomes more emotional and a better experience as a player and listener.4

SOURCES:
1. Herb Alpert Today. M. G. Kelly. Westwood One/Mutual Broadcasting System, September 12, 1988.
2. Star Track Profile 87-24, June 8, 1982.
3. Herb Alpert Learns New Tricks. Prodigy News Service, April 28, 1991.
4. Rise Raises Herb Alpert's Recording Posture. Ed Harrison. Billboard, 1979.

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AUDIENCE

It's important to be an audience to what you do. That's how I try to produce records. Sam Cooke taught me that lesson.1

I think you should be active and play. I think getting feedback from the audience out there would be quite a help. And also try to be as objective as you can about your music. I kind of put myself in the place of the audience and ask myself if I would put a quarter in the jukebox to hear what I just did again. If your answer is yes, keep going. If your answer is no, start changing course.

You have to move forward and don't be discouraged. Nobody knows what that magical song is. If you believe in what you're doing, and it's original and it's you, just keep going for it.2

SOURCES:
1. Tomorrow with Tom Snyder, October 17, 1978.
2. Larry King Show, June 7, 1982.

 

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MUSIC DOWNLOADS

[Digital music services give consumers the ability to pick tracks.] It's unfortunate that people aren't interested in the full document of an album. Now people just want a song or two for their iPods. It seems like it's just piecemeal. But the good thing is that does entice people to explore catalogs.

SOURCE:
1. 6 Questions with Herb Alpert & Jerry Moss. Brian Garrity. Billboard, February 24, 2007.

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FANS

I don't think people buy me--I think they buy something that touches them. There might be x amount of people who like to look at what I'm doing from time to time, but I think you're either touched by something or you're not.1

SOURCE:
A&M Records press release for North on South St. album, June 1992.

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HIT SONGS

You don't get hit records from trying to be clever. I just try and express myself the best I can. I've never intentionally started out to make a hit record, just a good record. I think quality always wins out, it seems to be the common denominator for success.1

No one really knows what a hit record is supposed to be. There IS no formula, no common denominator. I just follow my gut reactions about a song. One night I picked up my horn and played a new arrangement of a tune I liked. In five minutes it was done, and once I'd recorded it, I kept going back to listen again, because it felt right. Everybody told me that it couldn't be a hit single. It was too long, it stopped in the middle and you couldn't dance to it. But I thought 'A Taste of Honey' really had something. I felt so much satisfaction when it went to #1 and became the record of the year. That demonstrated to me how important it is to trust your instincts.2

SOURCES:
1. A&M Records press release for Beyond album, June 1980.
2. Bullish tour book 1984.

 

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MUSIC VIDEOS

As soon as music videos came along, people started listening with their eyes as well as their ears. It's almost a different genre.

SOURCE:
1. 6 Questions with Herb Alpert & Jerry Moss. Brian Garrity. Billboard, February 24, 2007.

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THE PRODUCER'S JOB

I feel like the producer's job is to be the middle man between the artist and the tape machine. I try to support the artist as much as possible and to give them honest feedback. Give them the feeling that there's somebody in their corner who wants them to make a great record and to be an audience to what they're doing. There's a fine line. Sometimes you can intimidate an artist if you're too strong with them. It's important for an artist to have an honest person behind the glass.

SOURCE:
1. Larry King Show, June 7, 1982.

 

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PRODUCING AND RECORDING

I like to set up the best environment for the musicians to respond to, leaving a lot of freedom for them to express themselves through me, while still allowing them to exercise their own musical integrity.1

I always have the engineers ready to record whenever I sit down in the chair with the horn. I just go on inspiration-I call it my close-your-eyes-pick-up-the-horn-and-play approach. To me, that's why it continues to be fun after doing this for so many years. I play at it, but I'm prepared. I still practice everyday, whether I'm recording or not. Because when I'm not recording, I'm thinking about what I'd like to attempt next.2

SOURCES:
1. A&M Records press release for Beyond album, June 1980.
2. A&M Records press release for North on South St. album, Marcch 1991.

 

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RECORD INDUSTRY

I don't think of the music business as a place to make money but as a place to have fun and put out some good records, and I enjoy it when we work with people who are of the same mind.1

I don't think people are real concerned with what you've done in the past. They're listening to what's happening now and if the record is good, they're willing to buy it, and if it's not, next. So I always feel it's a new ballgame every time you collect some material and decide to record.

I was recording prior to 'Rise.' I had a few albums out. They were real secret service. Nobody knew about them. They were out there, nice covers. You can market it to death and spend all types of money on billboards and advertising. If people don't want it, they're not going to buy it. If radio doesn't want to play it, they're not going to play it.2

SOURCES:
1. Herbie Rides Again. Alan Jackson. New Musical Express. June 20, 1987.
2. Robert W. Morgan Special of the Week radio show SES 804-1, October 4, 1980.

 

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GOOD SONGS

You have to start with a good melody. The melody is the boss. Most producers will tell you there are three elements for a great record: it's a good song, it's a good song, it's a good song. You have to start with that. Then after the song, you have to have a feel, because, as we know, "It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing." For me, it has to be believable, it has to have an element of truth. I think that's why we all responded to Charlie Parker. Charlie had the truth coming out of that horn. In spite of the incredible notes that he found, we felt him. There was a sense of urgency, as if we were tapped into his soul.

SOURCE:
1. Herb Alpert Nice Guy at Top. Zan Stewart. Windplayer, January 1986.

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HERB ALPERT ON MUSIC

Believabliity

Fun

Ideas

Jazz

Listening

Living Music

Making Music

New Wave

Practice

Rock

Style

Trumpet

Vocalist

 

BELIEVABILITY

[Feeling comfortable] is the key. No matter what type of music you're making, there's a believability factor. It it's not there, it ain't happenin'. You can't affect it. You can't affect music, you can only be yourself.

For me, it didn't matter what genre you were singing or playing in, as long as it's honest and real.

I realized awhile back that if I'm going to express myself through the instrument it has to be honest. Every note that I play for the most part I try to make a real expression of the way I'm feeling at that particular moment, not that planned, calculated moment, not a series of notes that I could write down and a type of feeling that I'm trying to affect. I try to make it real for me. Not for the listener. For me to get off playing I have to feel like I'm experiencing what I'm doing. You know you hit a couple of right notes in a sequence with the right chord underneath and it's a chill bump. It's a great feeling. That's the pursuit of the musician. To get those good feelings. How many of those good feelings in a row can you collect?

SOURCES:
Art Sutter in Hollywood radio show 1987.
'Creativity is what we need more of, if we're going to survive in this world.' Paul Freeman. San Jose Mercury News, August 17, 2011.
Herb Alpert Today. M. G. Kelly. Westwood One/Mutual Broadcasting System, September 12, 1988.

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MUSIC AS FUN

I realized this is not brain surgery we're talking about here. This is music. You're supposed to have a good time making music. As soon as it becomes too serious, if you try to make a hit record or you try to hard it's like a ball club when you try to hard to with that full court press. It doesn't work that way so you have to let things flow.

Me, personally, I went through some major adjustments. It was not that easy. There were moments when I was really questioning what I was doing, if I was having fun, because I realized around 1969 that the goal is not the success and the money and the fame. The goal is to do something you really enjoy doing.

SOURCE:
Herb Alpert Today. M. G. Kelly. Westwood One/Mutual Broadcasting System, September 12, 1988.

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MUSICAL IDEAS

There are 479 million combinations of notes, you know sequences...to say nothing of the various rhythms you can put to it. I think what most creative people do is, when you hear something you like, you kind of log it somewhere back there. It might be just a fragment of an idea or a chord change that appeals to you and somewhere within your own work it kind of creeps up and you find a way to not necessarily cop it but it appears out of the blue. I think when you're really doing something that's happening, it's just coming out of you, it's out of your control, you just do it. I think that's the beauty of music. The beauty of a particular chord with the right melody and the right tapestry behind it. There's no way to analyze it, but when they all crunch together properly, goosebumps go up the back of your neck and you can't find a common denominator for that. What makes that happen? It's magic time.

SOURCE:
Tomorrow with Tom Snyder, October 17, 1978.

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JAZZ

I came around to realize what a lot of jazz enthusiasts have found in recent years. You know-John McLaughlin, Chick Corea, Billy Cobham.

They've found that their jazz is palatable, that people will go for it. You've got to break through these barriers.

I want jazz to be listened to just as MUSIC. I cannot compete with all the treasures that have already been preserved. I want to reverse the feeling that jazz is a sacred area. It should be as much people's music as anything else.

When you do something with integrity, then there's a place for it, somewhere. When I listen to music that deserves a chance on record, I'm not concerned whether they're going to sell three million or three copies. If it's good, its time will come and it should be released.

To me, jazz is a continuous pursuit--an adventure with endless, endless possibilities. Forget about the fact that there are 12 notes, and you can run them upside-down in thousands of combinations with all the different variations of rhythms and chords and the things you can play and the things you don't need to play.

The important thing, beyond all that, is to find your place in it all, your own personal stamp. The reason we love Stan Getz and John Coltrane and Miles and Bird and Benny Goodman is because they have their own stamp. Getz plays one note and you say, 'Oh wow. Hey, hello Stan, how are you? Nice to see you again.' Because he has that stamp in his playing.

SOURCES:
Alpert: the Thrill Is Back!
Tijuana Taxi to South Africa.
Jazzing It Up. Don Heckman. Los Angeles Times Calendar, June 7, 1992.

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LISTENING TO MUSIC

[Instinct is] the ingredient which separates the artist from those who are just trying to sell records. Louis Armstrong said it best-if you have to ask what jazz is, you'll never know. It's in the abstract. What is it about a melody or a rhythm that puts one person in total arrest and the next person staring at the wall like nothin's going on? That's magic. What is it? It's something that doesn't register on the word level.

For me, there are no labels. There's good music or bad music. It's whatever happens to touch you that works. I try real hard not to be intellectual about music. I listen like Silly Putty and if something affects me, it works for me and that's good, and if it doesn't, it doesn't.2

SOURCES:
Horn of Plenty. Joe Medwick. HITS, November 23, 1992.
Tomorrow with Tom Snyder, October 17, 1978.


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LIVING MUSIC

There are a lot of people who attempt to play rock 'n' roll because they've got the right song and they've got the right drummer and the right bass player. But they don't know a darn thing about it because they don't live it, and they don't play it every night. And guys who try to play jazz because they know the right songs and the right changes. But it's deeper than that. It's much deeper than that.

If you want to sing or play rock & roll, you've got to be rock & roll. If you want to play jazz, you've got to be jazz. You can't just dial it up on your computer. It's like when I asked Stan [Getz] to give me some be-bop lessons. It took plenty of work, but I was willing to put in the work. There's no magic pill and drugs won't get you there either; it's hard work that'll get you there.

SOURCES:
Jazzing It Up. Don Heckman. Los Angeles Times Calendar, June 7, 1992.
Horn of Plenty. Joe Medwick. HITS, November 23, 1992.

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MAKING MUSIC

When I talk to a musician whose playing I respect, I pick their brain to find out their approach to music. Almost everyone has a different take on how they go about it. I still try to improve my jazz and keep abreast of what's going on in the jazz world.

If a person plays music that is honest, with good feeling and a good rhythmic sense, that's what is important. Also when you get on the tightrope, don't plan it too much. I think that's what most jazzers have in common--don't force anything. Everything [comes] out naturally...I started resonating with that concept of playing. It gave me that freedom which I believe we are all looking for.

Music that really happens is the music that comes from within. It's not the music that's on the paper. There's a certain spontaneity that, I think, needs to happen on a record and when it does, that's what the producers call 'magic time.' That's what I try for.

When you get some technical facility and you can rattle off a lot of notes, it's tempting to just full up a bunch of space. But there's music in space. There's music that happens in the space between the notes that you don't hear. Miles [Davis] really taught us that.

SOURCES:
Herb Alpert. Irving Bush and Susan Bliss. Windplayer #64.
Herb Alpert Nice Guy at Top. Zan Stewart. Windplayer, January 1986.

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NEW WAVE

I think that period of punk rock when people barfed on stage, was just a forerunner to the current new wave. Groups like the Police, Squeeze and Joe Jackson are another quality entirely. I think Sting is a major star; he's our Paul McCartney for the '80s.

SOURCE:
Dan Nooger Profiles A&M Records Head Herb Alpert. Goldmine, April 1980.

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PRACTICE & DISCIPLINE

[As a professional musician I took lessons.] There are a lot of things I can't do on the horn and it keeps me on my toes.

[Carmine Caruso's] method has to do with the physics of playing the instrument. It's a way of likening the musician to an athlete. Instead of thinking of the instrument as music, you think of the instrument as something you have to do to coordinate your muscles to time.

[Training and discipline are] necessary. Discipline for a musician is as vital as it is for a professional athlete.

You have to work daily. There's no use practicing three hours one day and ten minutes the next. Discipline actually tends to become a habit, once you get into the groove of it.

[For me, practicing] became a habit like brushing my teeth.

I try to get in at least an hour [of playing the horn everyday]. I play all different kinds of things, but I mainly play jazz now--running chords, putting changes together in a logical fashion. It's not easy. You can get so far on your ear, the rest is hard work. You can tell which guys have put in the time. The notes are right where they are supposed to be.

"[When I talk to aspiring artists] my big phrase is, 'When you're sleeping, someone else is practicing.'"

SOURCES:

Larry King Show, June 7, 1982.
TJB Bugle #6, 1969.
Sunday News TV Week. Lancaster (PA) New Era, October 26, 1969.
Herb Alpert Nice Guy at Top. Zan Stewart. Windplayer, January 1986.
He's Still a Player. John Berlau. Wall Street Journal (web site), March 6, 2013.

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ROCK

My first indoctrination into loud rock was Lee Michaels at the Whiskey, just after we'd signed him. He was so loud that I was literally pinned to the back wall, and there were kids there with their heads jammed right against the speakers. That's when I realized I was listening with a different pair of ears.

SOURCE:
Dan Nooger Profiles A&M Records Head Herb Alpert. Goldmine, April 1980.

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PERSONAL SOUND AND STYLE

How many really distinctive trumpet styles have there been? Seven, maybe? Eight? Bix Beiderbecke, Louis Armstrong, Harry James, Diz Gillespie, Miles Davis, Clifford Brown (the greatest of them all in my book), Henry Busse in a different way, I suppose. Not many. Well, I wanted some identity of my own.

I did want to come up with something different. It's easy to copy but it's hard to be original. There are plenty of ideas that come along that are fresh and new and they're not accepted. This probably happened to be the right time and the right place and the luck factor. I'll never overlook that.

I listened to all my different favorites [trumpet players] and tried to emulate them only to realize that gee, if I'm going to get any place in this business I'm going to have to be me so I put all that aside. I realized that there was room for everybody. There was room for Chuck Mangione who is a great flugelhorn player. Everybody has something to say, just try to tap your own sound.

I think there'll always be room for originality. That's the mainstay, that's the key. That's, for me, what makes jazz so exciting. 'Cause jazz is of the moment. You just never know what a great musician is going to do.

SOURCES:
Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass Tour Book, 1966.
WHN Spectacular Radio Show, 1966.
Herb's Tenth. Derek Taylor. Cash Box, April 20, 1968.
Entertainment Tonight, October 19, 1981.

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TRUMPET

I was eight years old and I couldn't get a note out of it. I thought that you had to blow hot air into the trumpet. But I always liked the sound of the instrument. I remember hearing people that could play it.

I really do what I love to do. I've been playing since I was eight and I enjoy playing. Many times after a concert I'd say, "Gee, I'm doing this for a living. I'm getting paid to do this." ...I never thought of it as a job. It's something I'd be doing if I wasn't successful at it.

The trumpet has been one of my best friends in the world. It taught me a lot about myself and life and it's brought so many great things to my life that I love the trumpet. Not my trumpet, but the trumpet, the idea because it's just a megaphone, it's just something that makes noise.

I've never thought of the horn as a mechanical thing, an instrument. I've always been aware of the horn as an extension of my body, a part of me. It's another voice.

I love the trumpet. It just resonates with my heart. It's a challenge for me. You never ever get to play an instrument, you never reach that place, there's always something to improve on, to learn, a new technique. I've been doing it since I was 8. It's such a part of me. If I don't do it, I miss it. It's like therapy for me.

SOURCES:
The Arrangers. BBC Radio 2, 1988.
Tomorrow with Tom Snyder, October 17, 1978.
Herb's Tenth. Derek Taylor. Cash Box, April 20, 1968.
Herb Alpert Learns New Tricks. Prodigy News Service, April 28, 1991.

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VOCALIST

I think music today has taken a different turn. It's leaning more toward the natural today. By usual standards, I don't have a great instrument as a vocalist. But maybe there is a basic truth that comes across. If you choose good material and are honest about the arrangement and recording, you can get closer to what people are understanding today than if you just sing in a beautiful voice.

SOURCE:
Alpert Awaiting Vocal Followup. Mary Campbell. AP. Lancaster (PA) New Era Television Week.

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HERB ALPERT ON MUSICIANS

 

Bryan Adams      
Louis Armstrong      
Burt Bacharach      
Chet Baker      
Gato Barbieri      
Carpenters      
Sam Cooke      
Miles Davis      
Peter Frampton      
Stan Getz
Lani Hall      
George Harrison      
Janet Jackson     
Michael Jackson      
Waylon Jennings      
Quincy Jones      
Jeff Lorber      
Wynton Marsalis      
Hugh Masekela      
Wes Montgomery
Art Pepper      
The Police      
Shorty Rogers      
Sex Pistols      
Frank Sinatra      
Soul Asylum      
Cat Stevens      
Sting      
Styx

 

 

BRYAN ADAMS

Bryan has all the goods. He's growing swiftly as an artist and is willing to sacrifice to do it. Also, that pained, lived-in quality in his voice is one that a lot of people can relate to in these difficult days.

SOURCE:      
A&M Records press release for Under a Spanish Moon album, 1988.      
Bryan Adams On A&M Records

Bryan Adams Image

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LOUIS ARMSTRONG

Meeting him was a highlight. Louis was just the way I imagined him. A lovely guy, warm, friendly and I loved the way he played. He brought a smile to me, whether he was singing or playing. He played with a smile and he was that type of guy.

Man, it ain't what you do, it's the way you do it. Look at Louis Armstrong, who probably was the greatest [jazz trumpeter]. The thing he did in 1935 where he was playing and singing "Ain't Misbehavin'"--it was beautiful. Obviously the guy didn't have a great voice, but, wow, could he communicate!

Of all the great musicians that I've met, he was the one who really personified...his personality came right through his horn. That was Louie. He was upbeat, he was friendly, he was real, he was great.

SOURCES:      
Herb Alpert Nice Guy at Top. Zan Stewart. Windplayer, January 1986.      
A Conversation with Herb Alpert. Michael Fagien. Jazziz, August 2009, 17.      
Conversations with Herb Alpert & Lani Hall. NYU Steinhardt Jazz Studies, May 6, 2015.      
Louis Armstrong On A&M Records

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BURT BACHARACH

Burt is a unique talent. The stuff comes right through him. He lives every note that he plays.

Burt called me to hear a song that he wrote with Elvis Costello but it was rejected. Burt liked the melody a lot. He asked me to come by his house. He sat down at the piano and was playing this thing for me like he was performing it. His heart and soul was in playing this song for me.

He's just an amazing musician....Needless to say, he's an American treasure. He's written so many great, great songs through the years.

SOURCES:      
Conversations with Herb Alpert & Lani Hall. NYU Steinhardt Jazz Studies, May 6, 2015.      
2016 interview with Hawaii Public Radio's ATC with host Dave Lawrence.      
Burt Bacharach ON A&M Records

Burt Bacharach

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CHET BAKER

Chet Baker had a way of communicating. When he sang and when he played, it was like there was no difference. It was like he was singing through his horn.

He knew the chords by ear, by instinct. I mean the guy could go through a minefield of changes like he knew what was happening in the exact moment. He didn't. It was just all feel. He was a genius.

[Gerry Mulligan told me] he couldn't believe how quickly [Chet] would learn a song. [Gerry] could play a song once [for Baker] and he'd have it.

SOURCES:      
A Conversation with Herb Alpert. Michael Fagien. Jazziz, August 2009, 17.      
Conversations with Herb Alpert and Lani Hall. NYU Steinhardt Jazz Studies, May 6, 2015.      
Chet Baker On A&M Records

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GATO BARBIERI

Gato Barbieri Image

I wanted to use some production and editing techniques on 'Caliente' but Gato didn't want to do any tricks with the tapes. He said to me, 'I'm a jazz musician, and I'll play the tune straight thru, all night long, until you like it.' And I was pissed off and admired him at the same time. It made me realize that music is like life, it's not perfect. You take the good with the bad, and try for one with a lot of good in it. Now when I pick up the horn, I just let it fly. Because when I hit that good note or bar, that's worth it all.

I [produced] Barbieri, too. That was an interesting experience for me. That's passion personified.      
Gato Barbieri On A&M Records

SOURCES:      
Dan Nooger Profiles A&M Records Head Herb Alpert. Goldmine, April 1980.      
A Conversation with Herb Alpert. Michael Fagien. Jazziz, August 2009, 17.

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CARPENTERS

Now the Carpenters--they seem to me to epitomize what the label is all about. They do what they do with loving care, and that's the quality we aim to encourage in our artists.

To many people, they were just another middle-of-the-road group. The idea of a girl drummer who sang was shrugged off as too peculiar, but I heard something in Karen and Richard's music, a seductive delicacy. To go from early critical dismissal to selling 75 million records and holding an enormously loyal following was a very profound experience.

It wasn't my cup of tea, but I recognized their intent and their passion for what they were doing. Karen had an amazing voice. She had a little magic going on. At my office in A&M I could record her on a simple microphone. And Richard was a student of the record industry. It was honest music.

SOURCES:      
Alpert: the Thrill Is Back!      
A&M Records press release for Under a Spanish Moon album, 1988.      
Herb Alpert Looks Back on Remarkable Musical Life. Aidin Vaziri. San Francisco Chronicle, May 5, 2011.      
Carpenters

Carpenters in Studio B

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SAM COOKE

When I first started I was more intellectual about the process. I was curious about intonation. I was a detailist thinking about how chords collect together. I don't know if I can articulate it right now but I remember Sam Cooke used to come in with a sheet, a little folio of lyrics and some of the lyrics really sounded trite when you read them...Sam would pick up his guitar and transform this seemingly trite set of lyrics into something very poetic and beautiful and rhythmical and sensitive and it had the whole thing. So watching Sam work was a big eye-opener for me. He always used to tell me, "Man, nobody cares how you make the record. They're listening to a cold piece of wax and it either really makes it or it doesn't." that stuck with me. To this moment I still think of that when I listen to a new record or I listen to my own records. It's either working or it's not. There's no mystery about it. When something happens, it happens.

[Sam Cooke] was a friend and he taught me a lot. He taught me about feel. He also said the people [the record buyers [are listening to a cold piece of wax and it either makes it or it doesn't. Don't analyze it past that. It doesn't matter whether you're black, white, yellow, green, it's not important. People are listening and it either touches them or it doesn't. So he cut through everything. Prior to that I was listening to everything, the intonation, the echo, like the record had a suit and tie on. Now I just listen for songs to touch me. When I'm recording, when I hear a tape that gives me that feeling, I know I've found something.

I was truly witness to a genius. This guy was not only an amazing person, but also his talent was staggering. He had his own very personal way of approaching a song, lyrically, vocally, rhythmically. He could turn complete rubbish into the highest prose.

Sam juggled [Wonderful World] around a bit and I'll say without hesitation that he totally improved on it.

[Sam taught me] that you have to be an individual in this business, you have to have your own stamp. As a copyist you may find success for a few brief moments but it will soon wear thin. No one wants to see or hear a carbon copy of someone else.

SOURCES:      
Herb Alpert Today. M. G. Kelly. Westwood One/Mutual Broadcasting System, September 12, 1988.      
Herb Alpert Nice Guy at Top. Zan Stewart. Windplayer, January 1986.      
Herbie Rides Again. Alan Jackson. New Musical Express, June 20, 1987.

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MILES DAVIS

Miles Davis led the way in understanding the nuances. I think he was the ultimate jazz musician, in the respect that he appreciated the silence in between the notes.

I think we all kind of respected Miles. He was true to what he was doing. It wasn't about fancy notes or if he made a mistake he was okay with it. He was about being honest to the music he wanted to make. And he always picked on the right musicians to surround himself with.

SOURCES:      
Creativity Is What We Need More of, If We're Going to Survive in This World. Paul Freeman. San Jose Mercury News, August 17, 2011.      
Conversations with Herb Alpert & Lani Hall. NYU Steinhardt Jazz Studies, May 6, 2015.

Image
Miles Davis
 

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PETER FRAMPTON

Peter Frampton Image

Coming off the live album he had a whole dedicated following, and although it's easy to say this with hindsight, taking two years off the road and doing that dog movie, 'Sgt. Pepper' wasn't the wisest decision. It's sad to read what some people say about him, trying to cut him down. If you turn your back on him and listen, he's a hell of a guitar player, a musician right down to the core. All I can say is don't count him out.

SOURCE:      
Dan Nooger Profiles A&M Records Head Herb Alpert. Goldmine, April 1980.      
Peter Frampton On A&M Records

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STAN GETZ

Stan Getz Image

I loved Stan. We became very close the last three years of his life... What I saw was a lovely, sensitive, caring person and a wonderful friend... There were a handful of magical musicians that walked this earth and obviously Stan Getz was one.

He said jazz is not about playing licks or fancy lines, it's about a logical beginning, middle and end. It's a story. You first have to get your vocabulary down then you can do what you have to do. Close your eyes and just play.

I used to ask [jazz saxophonist] Stan Getz, 'What does it feel like when you make the music?' And he would tell me, 'It feels like I'm standing in front of the Wailing Wall and bowing.

Stan kept drilling into me the fact that he never played a note he didn't mean! Essentially, what he was trying to do was to let it be an experience of the moment.

I did the first album with Stan when he was totally clean, no drugs, no nothing...And he was quite nervous because he didn't know whether he could play or not without all the additives. But the guy was brilliant.

You know, I told him I didn't want to produce his album. He said, "But I want you to do it." I said, "Man, I've heard horror stories about you. I don't want to get involved." He goes, "But I've changed, man. I've made amends." This was the last four years of his life. And he was a prince. I mean, we turned out to be like brothers. I loved this guy. He wore his emotions really close to the surface. You knew exactly what he was feeling and thinking, and he was just a wonderful human being. Down deep, the guy was great.

He knew the chords, he knew the changes, he knew all that stuff. He could read a music once, have it, turn it upside down and play it.

Eddie Sauder laid out that chart [the Focus album]. Stan was playing it, just reading it as they were recording it, improvising as he was reading this thing. It's incredible. Stan was on another planet with his concept. He was so lyrical. He was funky.

SOURCES:      
Horn of Plenty. Joe Medwick. HITS, November 23, 1992.      
Alpert Thrives After 50 Years of Hit-Making. Miriam Di Nunzio. Chicago Sun-Times, June 9, 2011.      
A Conversation with Herb Alpert. Michael Fagien. Jazziz, August 2009, 17.      
Conversations with Herb Alpert & Lani Hall. NYU Steinhardt Jazz Studies, May 6, 2015.      
Stan Getz On A&M Records

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LANI HALL

She has a real clear perspective on life. She was able to see right into me. She was articulating what I my insides were feeling but I didn't have it up on the surface. All through the years she's been able to see the clear picture.

She's extremely honest and vulnerable as a singer, as an interpreter of the song. She's not gonna sing a song she doesn't feel.

I admire Lani as an artist. She is a world-class singer. It is wonderful hearing her night after night, and it's fun playing both behind her and with her. It's a win-win for me.

SOURCE:      
Art Sutter in Hollywood radio show 1987.      
Alpert Thrives After 50 YEars of Hit-Making. Miriam Di Nunzio. Chicago Sun-Times, June 9, 2011.      
Herb Alpert & Lani Hall: Together Again for the First Time. Christopher Loudon. Jazz Times, February 14, 2011.      
Lani Hall On A&M Records

Lani Hall Image

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GEORGE HARRISON

George was terrific. He was a real human being. He was a really sweet guy with a lot of talent, and we became friends. I think "Something" is one of the most memorable Beatles songs. I love that melody.

SOURCE:

Herb Alpert's 'Love Affair' Song Premiere: Listen Now. Gary Graff. Billboard, September 8, 2015.

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JANET JACKSON

I heard Control and thought it was one of the most brilliant new albums I had heard in a long time. Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis are absolutely brilliant producers and she delivered. I did a couple of records with her and she knows what she’s doing. She can sing. She can dance. She knows a groove. It wasn’t luck. She’s good.

SOURCE:

Herb Alpert on 80 years in music: ‘Mozart, Thelonious Monk ... all of us have the same 12 notes.’ Dave Simpson. The Guardian, September 7, 2023.     
 

Janet Jackson Publicity Photo

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MICHAEL JACKSON

He was a sweetheart of a guy. He was very gentle. He was a great artist. He could draw, he could write great songs....He recorded some things at A&M...He was good friends with John McClain who worked in the A&R Department. They went to school together....I don't if people ever really, really appreciated the talent this kid had. I mean he was extraordinary. I think there was always an advantage of guys and girls that could dance. There's a certain thing about when these dancers made records. They always made that record in a groove that made it comfortable for you to move. So they could move themselves and when they moved a lot of other people at the same time.

SOURCE:

2016 interview with Hawaii Public Radio's ATC with host Dave Lawrence.

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WAYLON JENNINGS

One of our first artists was Waylon Jennings. I did Waylon's very first records. I happen to love Waylon Jennings. I think he's a fabulous artist.

SOURCE:      
Larry King Show, June 7, 1982.      
Waylon Jennings On A&M Records

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QUINCY JONES

Quincy Jones is a terrific talent. He's a fantastic person. If I were going to make a list of ten of my favorite people, he'd be right on it.

SOURCE:      
Wm. B and Company/U.S. Army Reserve Show #215, June 8, 1975.      
Quincy Jones On A&M Records

Quincy Jones Publicity Photo

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JEFF LORBER

Jeff Lorber is an extraordinary creative musician who has all the right brain/left brain stuff, and who's proficient with computers. You can get to ideas very quickly with him.

SOURCE:      
Herb Alpert on the Silence Between the Notes. Ben Fong-Torres. Gavin, 1996.

 

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WYNTON MARSALIS

Jazz today is healthier and better than ever. Wynton Marsalis is holding the torch and doing a tremendous job.

SOURCE:      
Herb Alpert on the Silence Between the Notes. Ben Fong-Torres. Gavin, 1996.

 

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HUGH MASEKELA

I loved the guy. He was a great musician, a very interesting musician, definitely coming from another point of view.

SOURCE:      
Herb Alpert On the Sunny Side Of the Street. Banning Eyre. Afropop website. October 13, 2022.

Herb Alpert & Hugh Masekela

 

WES MONTGOMERY

Wes was a real giant. He sat in this chair about two weeks before he died. He was really hot then, very popular. He was thinking he had a feeling for what people were looking for. The conversation ended, we walked to his car and as he was about to get in, he said, "Hey Herbie, when my records stop sellin', let's have this conversation again." He was a beautiful guy.

I was thinking, 'Wow. What is that magical sound that he gets?' He comes in with this old funky amplifier with cobwebs all over the back of it. And he'd just plug it in and BANG there was that sound. And he was another guy who didn't read music. What a feel. Man oh man, he was a groove machine.

He could hear something once and he had it. He just scoped it out.

SOURCES:      
Herb Alpert Nice Guy at Top. Zan Stewart. Windplayer, January 1986.      
Conversations with Herb Alpert & Lani Hall. NYU Steinhardt Jazz Studies, May 6, 2015.      
Wes Montgomery On A&M Records

Wes Montgomery Publicity Photo

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ART PEPPER

Art was one of the guys that really touched me. I loved the way he played right from the heart....Art was something special.

SOURCE:      
Conversations with Herb Alpert & Lani Hall. NYU Steinhardt Jazz Studies, May 6, 2015.      
Art Pepper On A&M Records

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THE POLICE

When I saw them at the Whisky on that first road trip, man, I was just beaming from ear to ear. Here, at last, in only three pieces, was a band that had the whole tool box.

They're special. They're unique. They're fabulous musicians. They have an understanding of what they're doing and they have a lot of musical integrity. And they work at it-they travel around the world. They work at it. They're a fabulous group to see in-person.

They have so much energy and their intent is so good and they're so musical and they're willing to take chances. They're willing to be adventurous which I think is one of the great contributions that the Police have made.

As a band the Police has a magnetism that translates on records. Their music is compelling and instant recognizable. They can take a love song like Every Breath You Take and give it a mysterious melody that haunts you into listening to the song over and over.

SOURCES:      
A&M Records press release for Under a Spanish Moon album, 1988.      
Larry King Show, June 7, 1982.      
Portrait of a Legend television show 1982.      
Alpert: Top Brass in the Music Industry. Craig Modderno. USA Today, 1984.      
The Police On A&M Records

Police U.K. photocard

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SHORTY ROGERS

I used to see Shorty all the time. I liked that sound....Shorty had a real unique way of expressing himself as a musician. It was different. He had his own little vocabulary and it was always upbeat, he was on the positive side of it all.

Of all the great musicians that I've met in my life, Shorty was right there on top. He was just a beautiful human being.

SOURCE:      
Conversations with Herb Alpert & Lani Hall. NYU Steinhardt Jazz Studies, May 6, 2015.

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SEX PISTOLS

We had the Sex Pistols but that fell apart. They were on A&M for a week in March '77, and it was longer than they deserved to stay.

The Pistols were too demanding, too crazy, too drugged out, and as far as I'm concerned, just nonsense. I can go for somebody who's flamboyant, for craziness, y'know, but when it turns on you then it doesn't matter how good an artist is. They were so self-centered they didn't care about anybody else. The Pistols were very rude to our London staff and there was a scene in our offices there. We had some money invested in them but Jerry and I agreed, 'let's get them the fuck off, who needs that?'

I was in the office the day they walked in. I didn't get it. I don't like that stuff. I'm not crazy about music that preys on the weaknesses of society. I like music that uplifts people.

SOURCES:      
Dan Nooger Profiles A&M Records Head Herb Alpert. Goldmine, April 1980.      
David Cavanaugh. Q, April/May 1997.      
Sex Pistols On A&M Records

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FRANK SINATRA

I don't think there was anyone better than Frank Sinatra in terms of exprssing himself, expressing a lyric, expressing a feeling. He was absolutely the real thing.

SOURCE:      
Conversations with Herb Alpert & Lani Hall. NYU Steinhardt Jazz Studies, May 6, 2015.

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SOUL ASYLUM

[The band Soul Asylum released a parody of the Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass album 'Whipped Cream and Other Delights.' Soul Asylum called their record 'Clam Dip and Other Delights.']

I think it's just people showing a lack of imagination by capitalizing on something they didn't do. I wasn't tickled by that.

SOURCES:      
1. Brass or No, Herb Alpert Keeps Making Things Happen in the Music Business. Sean Piccoli. News-Times Music News, May 8, 1977.      
Soul Asylum On A&M Records

Soul Asylum US publicity photo

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CAT STEVENS

I was always a fan of Cat Stevens. I'm sorry he's not recording now but I'm glad he's found what he was looking for.

SOURCES:      
Herb Alpert: the A&M Boss Blows His Own Horn. Paul Sexton. Jocks, January 1988.      
Cat Stevens On A&M Records

Cat Stevens 1971 publicity photo

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STING

Sting has a great sound. Their material is excellent. Sting has an honest, sensual presence. He's not beautiful, but he has an animal attraction.

And that type of freedom that we hear in Sting, who's an elegant performer...I mean, he's funky and elegant at the same time, but he was a jazz bass player. And he has that sensibility about him. It flows in a real natural way out of him. I think he's the kind of artist that we always gravitated towards.

SOURCES:      
Alpert: Top Brass in the Music Industry. Craig Moddern. USA Today, 1984.      
A Conversation with Herb Alpert. Michael Fagien. Jazziz, August 2009, 17.      
Sting On A&M Records

Sting Publicity Photo

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STYX

Out of Chicago. They're a tight unit; they've been playing together for years. It's not just an overnight wonder it's something that's developed over a long period of time.

SOURCES:      
Larry King Show, June 7, 1982.      
Styx On A&M Records

Styx Publicity Photo

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HERB ALPERT ON THE ARTS

Herb Alpert Official Bio--Art

 

The Arts

Artist's Best

Artist's Role

Understand the Artist

Creativity

Starting Painting

Painting in Life

Painting Means

Sculpting

Self-Expression

Spirit Totems

THE ARTS

Painting, sculpting, music, dancing...all art is similar in that it has the ability to go straight to one's heart. It's all about communication, someone sending a message out there and many others receiving something spiritual from it. Artistic expression is, to me, one of the wonders of life itself.

I think it's important to encourage young people to pursue the arts, as a possible professional path for some, as a basic discipline for others. I believe a commitment to fostering the arts in young people, helping them learn, appreciate and nurture their natural gifts, is one of our only hopes to cure the greed and insensitivity that permeates our society these days. It's a pleasure to give back to the world in this way.1

SOURCE:
Almo Sounds press release for Colours album, 1997.

 

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ARTIST'S BEST

The more times you can knock your craziness down, the more time you have to create. When you're relaxed, that's when you're at your best. You can be clear. You can do something. But if you're hung up on being hung up, that takes too much energy. I'm working at just being real spontaneous. Just letting whatever happens, happen.

SOURCE:
Robert W. Morgan Special of the Week Radio Show, SES-804-1, October 4, 1980.

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ARTIST'S ROLE

In a confusing world like ours, we count on the artist to deliver the truth right through the front door; always be aware that "the reach of your compassion is the reach of your art."

SOURCE:
Cal Art/Alpert Award in the Arts program brochure, May 5, 1995.

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UNDERSTAND THE ARTIST

I think [art or music] is subjective. So many times you hear people talking about a musician they're crazy for. I'll find myself listening to them and I don't receive the message. Just because I'm not receiving "don't mean they ain't sending." You have to be on that frequency. I think you have to be into an artist...to really have an impact. I think you have to be on the artist's slipstream so to speak. You have to understand the artist. And, when you do, I think you see it in a different light and feel it in a different light. And I think there's a certain electrical field that surrounds art that you pulse to, that makes it special for you. It's like e.e.cummings said, "By every star there is a different time." I think people have an individual experience and you can't take that away from them; and the individual becomes part of the painting. I don't think it's easy to critique a painting or a piece of work for anyone; you can only do it for yourself.

Who's to say what's good and what's bad. The point is the heartbeat and everyone has their own.

SOURCES:
Molly Barnes Interviews Herb Alpert. Herb Alpert Painting and Sculpture: Tango Nuevo, 1998.
Herb Alpert: Recent Paintings. Lesley Wenger. Wenger Gallery exhibit book, December 31, 1991.

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CREATIVITY

I like to paint. I like to do creative things. If I had my choice I'd like to be outside and do things at my own pace.

If you go into a first-grade class and ask, 'How many of you kids think you're creative?' everybody will raise their hand, because their imagination is going strong. If you ask the same question to a college group, you might get 10 out of 300. A lot of times, creativity gets beaten out of people, beaten out of kids. And creativity is what we need more of, if we're going to survive in this world.

SOURCE:
Tomorrow with Tom Snyder, October 17, 1978.

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HOW ALPERT STARTED PAINTING

I happened to go to this museum and I saw this black painting that had a purple dot someplace in it. Along side of it was a purple painting with a black dot. And there was this plaque, 'Donated by the Guggenheims' or somebody and I went, 'Hey wait a minute. I want to do this too. This looks like fun.' And like three steps away there was a lacquered surfboard leaning up against the wall in just the right position so it just felt like something I wanted to get involved with. Then I realized it really wasn't that easy. I tried the black painting but I didn't know where to put the dot. [Laughter] A lot of it is trial and error. I started with very small paintings. Three inch by five inch, one foot by two foot. Now I'm painting fifteen foot.

I just wanted to see what I could do, to see if I could put some magic on canvas.

I wasn't planning on being a painter. I was merely trying to have some fun moving colors around the canvas. I found my best teacher was the pursuit of it--that my mixing certain colors things would happen--little by little, I arrived at colors and motion that started to give me pleasure.

SOURCES:
Art Sutter in Hollywood radio show, 1987.
Herb Alpert: Recent Paintings. Lesley Wenger. Wenger Gallery exhibit book, December 31, 1991.

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PAINTING IN ALPERT'S LIFE

Painting, for me, is like playing jazz. I start with very few intentions and everything is discovered by me and the canvas simultaneously--much as the trumpet and I discover rhythms and melodies. The paint and the canvas represent the composition and I become the interpreter.

When I started painting twenty years ago I did it out of curiosity. The band and I had been touring and whenever I had a break I visited art museums. The relationship between abstract art and jazz seemed instantly clear because they both embodies color, free form, a lack of pretension and, most of all, fun. I wanted to try it and I started out moving colors around. While I enjoyed it, it was a lot like practicing scales. The products of the first few years were muddy. Gradually the forms began to work and flow. The tonalities of a painting are not apparent to me until it's done and it registers its frequency.

Painting feeds my soul. It gives me energy. I like the mystery of painting. It's the unknown. It's a bit like magic. I never quite know what's going to be there until it's there.

It's a unique experience for me because I'm not by myself. I'm painting through my spirit, through my imagination, through my unconscious. All of a sudden there's this third person that pops up, and all of a sudden he becomes a consultant to what I'm doing and he kinda tells me at times that I'm finished or I'm not. It's a very mystical experience for me.

SOURCES:
Wenger Art Gallery brochure, March 24-April 25, 1990.
Molly Barnes Interviews Herb Alpert. Herb Alpert Painting and Sculpture: Tango Nuevo, 1998.

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WHAT PAINTING MEANS

If I were to guess why people respond to my work, if they do, it would be a sense of abandon. I think we're all looking for that kind of freedom within ourselves, to just be ourselves and respond to our feelings.

I believe in order for art to appear the artist must disappear.

If you can let yourself go and not think about whether it's good or band and just do it for the love of doing it, you can get a lot further than if you start analyzing whether it's as good as what Michelangelo did or Rodin or Henry Moore or any of the great painters. You just be yourself.

SOURCES:
Herb Alpert: Recent Paintings. Lesley Wenger. Wenger Gallery exhibit book, December 31, 1991.
'Creativity is what we need more of, if we're going to survive in this world.' Paul Freeman. San Jose Mercury News, August 17, 2011.

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SCULPTING

I like the touch of clay. It's very tactile. I like moving clay around. Actually, I start with wax most of the time, but I like shaking and bending and searching for a shape that gives me pleasure, a shape that moves me, I try to make art that touches me deeply. I think art is about feeling.

SOURCE:
Molly Barnes Interviews Herb Alpert. Herb Alpert Painting and Sculpture: Tango Nuevo, 1998.

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SELF-EXPRESSION

I feel strongly that to make art, music, whatever you're doing that has to do with some artistic endeavor, you have to let it come through you. And when it comes through you, you can't think. That has to be the first rule. If you think too much it becomes intellectual then it becomes an exercise then it's a study and then it's very calculated. But when you let art come through, you just have to take what you get.

In the early works I was taking some lessons from little kids, when I'd watch a group of school kids just move paint around the canvas. They'd take their fingers and move it around quickly and a lot of the works, to my eye, looked pretty nice and complete and sincere. Adults have a tendency to think about it-where the paint should go, and put a little dab in this corner and a dab over here, and by the time they finish all the dabs it looks contrived and stiff. So I was trying to eliminate the stiffness and get right to the flow. Picasso once said that when he learned how to paint like a child he found something special. I think there's a whole key in that phrase. I was always looking for a way of expressing myself through painting without overthinking it, but yet be part of some type of rhythm.

SOURCE:
The Arrangers. BBC Radio 2, 1988.
Herb Alpert: Recent Paintings. Lesley Wenger. Wenger Gallery exhibit book, December 31, 1991.

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SPIRIT TOTEMS

All photos of the Bryant Park exhibit are copyright by Rich Totoian and are reprinted with his permission. Thanks Rich!

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HERB ALPERT ON LIFE

Artist's House Music

CalArts Awards

Future

Life Goal

Life Path

Luck

Philanthropy

Simplicity

Success

UCLA School of Music

Winning

ARTIST'S HOUSE MUSIC

Artists House Music is a web site which is going to be a resource for professional musicians who graduate from Berkelee or Julliard or Manhattan School of Music or wherever. They have their diploma. Now what? This web site is going to tell them about publishing companies. How do you publish a song? What is a recording contract like? Do you need a lawyer? The job opportunities that are out there for classical musicians, for jazz musicians. The realities of what is really available.

SOURCE:
Creating That Big Break. Anna Stewart. Variety, July 13, 2006.

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ALPERT AWARDS AT CALARTS

I zeroed in on arts and education. I'm an artist. I paint, I sculpt, I play the trumpet. I see the artists, in today's world, really have a tough time trying to express themselves, so wanted to give them a chance to express themselves.

I got the idea to try and support midterm artists--who are not quite there but just need a little shove to get over the edge. In searching, we found that CalArts was very supportive of this idea. They had ideas of their own. We collaborated.

SOURCE:
Creating That Big Break. Anna Stewart. Variety, July 13, 2006.

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FUTURE

The future? I never really think much about the future. If it's the right piece of material, anyone can have a hit-even my mother, I could sign up my mother and get the right song and she could do O.K.

SOURCE:
My "Guy" Called for No Great Vocal Pipes. Alan Smith. New Musical Express, August 3, 1968.

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GOAL IN LIFE

I realized the goal is not the success and the money and the fame. The goal is doing something you really enjoy doing. I had to take an overview of my life to see if I was being honest to myself. I'm trying to find more of me because the more me I find, the more creative I am, the clearer my music becomes and the more fun I have.

SOURCE:
Star Track Profile 87-24, June 8, 1982.

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LIFE PATH

All I want out of life is to be me and to respond to my intuition what this guy inside wants to do with his life. And I know it has nothing to do with dollars and cents and trying to impress people. That's a short road there.

SOURCE:
Herb Alpert Today. M. G. Kelly. Westwood One/Mutual Broadcasting System, September 12, 1988.

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LUCK

I think for the most part you can plan good timing. You can plan to be at the right place at the right time. With the proper preparation and the proper understanding, you can be lucky.1

Art is timing. You're in the right place at the right time and the door cracks open for you.2

SOURCES:
1. Entertainment Tonight, October 19, 1981.
2. A Touch of Brass. Paul Farhi. Washington Post, April 6, 2005, C1.

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PHILANTHROPY

I never wanted to get to the place where I'd just write a check and send it to some huge organization where ninety percent of the money goes to administration. So the objective became: Do something small really well. Maybe even see if we can creatively improve upon what someone else has started. And most importantly, do something that can be replicated by someone in another place.

I feel very blessed to live the life that I have, and I have an obligation and a responsibility to do the right thing. I can't speak for other musicians, but the world that I experience when I'm playing the horn, or sitting at the piano writing, is a better world than the one we're living in. It vibrates on a more beautiful level than the one I come back to when I watch the five o'clock news. But you can't just shut the curtains and draw the blinders. And a lot of people do. They pretend things aren't happening when they are. So, we gotta rattle those people. Some of them have the money, the wherewithal, to be able to reach out and help. I'd like to be a party to help stir up some of that.1

One of the reasons I started the Herb Alpert Foundation in 1982, I was thinking, 'If I can do it, you can do it. What's the big deal?' You have some extra change? Try to help others. That's been my whole pursuit.2

SOURCES:
1. Horn of Plenty. Mark Rowland. LA Style, October 1991.
2. "It Takes a Whole Community to Create a Village" Press Release. Caroline Graham. C4 Global Communications. November 4, 2011.

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SIMPLICITY

As I've matured, I've grown to appreciate simplicity. It's much harder to be simple and profound than it is to be complicated.

SOURCE:
Herb Alpert on the Silence Between the Notes. Ben Fong-Torres. Gavin, 1996.

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SUCCESS

Success is measured by how well you feel inside. I was willing to give everything up just to find me and decide what I wanted to do.

SOURCE:
NewsCenter4, NBC Affiliate, Washington, DC, 1982.

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UCLA HERB ALPERT SCHOOL OF MUSIC

Music is a powerful force, and sharing music between people and cultures has the power to change the world. Students engaged in the study and performance of music can be ambassadors for a new educational paradigm.66

The landscape of music has changed so dramatically in the last few years and ways of making, delivering and sharing music have become so diverse, there needs to be a new approach to music education.

I was looking for a school that would respond to the global environment we are in now and UCLA has some real visionaries on staff who have some far-reaching, really beautiful ideas of how to put it all together.67

SOURCES:
1. UCLA to Form Alpert School. Cynthia Littleton. Variety, November 18, 2007.
2. Herb Alpert Hits a UCLA High Note. Chris Lasales. Los Angeles Times Calendar, November 16, 2007.
 

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WINNING

Winning comes down to how you feel about your work--if it's worthwhile, not how many dollars you make.

SOURCE:
Tijuana Brass, Right? Don't Ask. Donna Perlmuter. New York Times, May 11, 1995.

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