Herb Solo preferences

I keep adding items I never had previously and finding that there is very little that I don't like - maybe an odd cut here and there. My favorites (currently :wink:) are Midnight Sun (that midnight lounge sound just grabs me) and Fandango. I like the fact that the sound keeps changing up.
 
I keep adding items I never had previously and finding that there is very little that I don't like - maybe an odd cut here and there. My favorites (currently :wink:) are Midnight Sun (that midnight lounge sound just grabs me) and Fandango. I like the fact that the sound keeps changing up.
There is a lot of variety in these here Recordings and Even more to Enjoy as you get deeper into it.
 
I saw the Bullish tour in Atlantic City, NJ. They were a replacement for The Pointer Sisters. Ate in casino hotel restaurant later and at a table were a number of folks, including Mrs Alpert.

They played Bullish, Make A Wish, and Struttin' on Five. I would not see him live again until the mid 1990s during the tour with Jeff Lorber for Second Wind at The Theatre of the Living Arts in Philadelphia. After that, Blues Alley in DC for the Anything Goes tour. I had a seat at the bar in the back. Lucky me, they walked right by me to enter and head to the stage. Said hello to them. Nokia Theatre in NYC. Finally, Jazz at Lincoln Center. Still don't know how but I got a table right smack in front of a certain trumpeter. It was like he was talking to me. I wish I had gotten a picture of the vantage point.

I do look forward to a remaster of Bullish.
 
I saw the Bullish tour in Atlantic City, NJ. They were a replacement for The Pointer Sisters. Ate in casino hotel restaurant later and at a table were a number of folks, including Mrs Alpert.

They played Bullish, Make A Wish, and Struttin' on Five. I would not see him live again until the mid 1990s during the tour with Jeff Lorber for Second Wind at The Theatre of the Living Arts in Philadelphia. After that, Blues Alley in DC for the Anything Goes tour. I had a seat at the bar in the back. Lucky me, they walked right by me to enter and head to the stage. Said hello to them. Nokia Theatre in NYC. Finally, Jazz at Lincoln Center. Still don't know how but I got a table right smack in front of a certain trumpeter. It was like he was talking to me. I wish I had gotten a picture of the vantage point.

I do look forward to a remaster of Bullish.
You were "VERY LUCKY INDEED" and i agree im looking forward to a Bullish Remaster myself to me it is still a very memorable album.
 
Looks like I was real close, but I was about 50 rows back. I used 1000 speed film (film?!), and a telephoto lens. Why 50 rows back?, what kind of fan am I? ... Well, there was no Internet back then to tip you off for appearances. I don't remember how I found out, but it was late. Taken at Jones Beach in New York.
 
I agree with all of the sentiments that there is much to love on virtually all Herb Alpert recordings, and my quick answer above regarding FANDANGO and a couple of others was a short cellphone reply that was in response to the notion that BULLISH was a high point. And that's a fair asseessment - I did not intend to dismiss the album totally. I always DID have a slight feeling of letdown regarding it, just based on the "Tijuana Brass" nomenclature.

Actually, as it turns out, I own more different iterations of BULLISH than most others:

IMG_2537[1].jpg

That't the original LP, the CD, the cassette(!), and the LP of the Spanish title BRAVIO. I was never one to buy cassettes, so I can only assume that it was picked up from a throwaway pile at the radio station.
I basically like much of the album, though it doesn't quite measure up to my love for FANDANGO.

Ok, I don't have the cassette. But I do have the vinyl copies of both BULLISH and BRAVIO, original A&M CD, and the promo poster. If I remember correctly, the cassette was one of the first clear plastic-cased BASF Chrome tapes.
 
Call me an outlier, but I like Bullish. Maybe not the best "record" overall. But, I love the tracks Love Without Words, Life Is My Song, and with Make A Wish an honorable mention. As to ranking Mr Alpert's solo canon, my top five sequence would be Rise, Fandango, Steppin' Out though Second Wind is close behind. However, of course, I like specific tracks on each record - I could definitely make my own preferences "record".

  • Rise: Rise, Aranjuez, Street Life
  • Beyond: Interlude (for Erica)
  • Magic Man: Manhattan Melody, Besame Mucho
  • Blow Your Own Horn: Paradise Cafe'. Noche de Amor (from non US version)
  • Bullish: Always Have A Dream, Love Without Words, Life Is My Song
  • Fandango: Route 1o1, Latin Medley
  • Wild Romance: No Time For Time
  • Keep Your Eye on Me: Cat Man Do, Stranger on the Shore
  • Under A Spanish Moon: Fragile, I Need You
  • My Abstract Heart: Romance Dance
  • North on South Street: I Can't Stop Thinking About You
  • Midnight Sun: All The Things You Are
  • Second Wind: Can't Stop Thinking About You
  • Colors: Lady In My Life
  • Passion Dance: Until We Meet Again
  • Anything Goes: Besame Mucho, Laura
  • I Need You: Clube Esquina
  • Steppin' Out: Migration, Good Morning Mr Sunshine
  • In The Mood: Amy's Tune, Zoo Train
  • Come Fly With Me Love Affair
  • Human Nature: Don't Go Breaking My Heart, Mystery Man

Add in also Chasing Shadows and Winter Wonderland (from Jazz to the World)

I will note that I was never much for Midnight Sun but the recently released remaster has helped me to appreciate it much more.

I can really appreciate your favorites. They're all good. Although I probably couldn't narrow it down as much as you did.

Rise: 1980, Rise, Rotation, Aranjuez
Beyond: Kamali, The Continental, Reach For The Stars, Beyond
Magic Man: Magic Man, Manhattan Melody, You Smile-The Song Begins
Fandango: Fandango, Margarita, Push And Pull, Route 101, Coco Loco, Angel, Sugarloaf
Blow Your Own Horn: Sueño Precolombino (from non-U.S. version), Paradise Cove, Latin Lady, Oriental Eyes
Bullish: Love Without Words, Passion Play
Wild Romance: "8" Ball, Wild Romance, It's All For You, No Time For Time
Keep Your Eye On Me: Pillow, Our Song, Rocket To The Moon
Under A Spanish Moon: Rumba Flamenca, Pachanga, I Need You, Lady In My Life
My Abstract Heart: Legs, Fun House
North On South St.: Jump Street, It's The Last Dance, Where's Tommy?
Midnight Sun: Friends
Second Wind: Second Wind, Can't Stop Thinking About You
Passion Dance: Beba, Passion Dance, Creepin', Baila Conmigo
Colors: Think About It, Lady In My Life, Magic Man '99, Love At First Glance
Steppin' Out: Jacky's Place, Good Morning Mr. Sunshine, Cote d'Azur
In The Mood: Zoo Train, Begin The Beguine, 5 am, Amy's Tune
Come Fly With Me: Come Fly With Me, Blue Skies
Human Nature: Human Nature, Don't Go Breaking My Heart, Mystery Man
 
I keep adding items I never had previously and finding that there is very little that I don't like - maybe an odd cut here and there. My favorites (currently :wink:) are Midnight Sun (that midnight lounge sound just grabs me) and Fandango. I like the fact that the sound keeps changing up.

The word eclectic comes to mind.
 
I always felt disappointed in BULLISH, as it promised "Tijuana Brass" but continued to deliver Herb's solo style. FANDANGO seemed more like "Tijuana Brass" to me with its Latin flavor.

Agreed. FANDANGO was, in my humble opinion, the pinnacle of all Herb Alpert recordings past, present and future. PASSION DANCE in 97 was a close second in his solo years, each of them sounding a lot more latin on any day of the week as opposed to BULLISH. But I remember being a teenage kid in the 80s, and probably the only teenage kid at the time who was a major fan of Herb Alpert in any capacity. So when BULLISH came out, I was naturally thrilled. However, as soon as I put it on the turntable, within seconds I realized that this was not the Tijuana Brass of old... It was essentially TJBINO (Tijuana Brass In Name Only) - a glorified solo album. Don't get me wrong. I was into it just as much as the others. But looking back on it now, I honestly have to admit that it doesn't really seem to fit the billing of "Tijuana Brass". And that funky John Barnes synthesizer is definitely dated sounding now. My mother, of course, would ask "Where's the Tijuana?" But all of that being said, it's still a decent jazzy dance/R&B-flavored album.
I loved the cover art too. Still do today. As a matter of fact, it's in a frame on the wall of my spare bedroom.
 
I have to admit that while I could pick favorites from an album, lately I am more inclined to choose an album based on a current mood, and play it through all the way. One way I "force" myself to choose is to create a playlist (or in the old days, an 80 minute CD-R) that contains favorites.

With many of Herb's recordings, I will sometimes choose a record based on other artists I am listening to that have a similar style. I might do Passion Dance amidst playing salsa. Rise would hit the turntable among other funk and R&B records from that era. That is largely do to his shifting styles over the years--I tend to match the style of his particular album to the style of what I'm playing at the moment.

With some artists, like Bill Evans, Led Zep, Earth Wind & Fire, etc., I can play them for a few hours at a stretch.
 
Back when I worked overnight shift, I could play Herb for about six or seven hours at a stretch. But at some point I had to take the headphones off when the morning people started coming in. :cry:
 
That sounds sort of similar to my story. I used to work at a job that gave me the kind of challenge I enjoyed. But then in 2011, I got switched to a different position. I mean... I was grateful (because it was the only way the company could keep me employed) but it wasn't exactly what I wanted to do. But soon I realized that my new position had a huge benefit. Since I was left alone much of the time, I could listen to music while I worked.

But after three years, I was growing sick of my playlist. I wanted mostly instrumental music (because I have a hard time reading while listening to music with words, even if the words are in a foreign language I don't understand) and my limited selection seemed to leave me stuck in a rut.

Then in 2014, someone casually mentioned in a conversation that he used to travel far and wide to search for old music records from his childhood. He felt it was such a wasted effort, now that these things are easily available thanks to the internet. I think that hearing his story gave me the whim to listen to some Herb Alpert records I remembered from my childhood. And I got rehooked! I bought a ton of MP3 files and such - more than a dozen albums' worth - and listened to them all day every day at work. I must have listened to them well over a hundred times each, and I mean that as a genuine estimate, not an exaggeration. I eventually started to tire of listening just to HA all day every day, but those records also gave me ideas of other kinds of music for which to search.

In short, HA revitalized my interest in music, thanks to my working conditions.

(Admittedly, most of the HA material to which I referred above was TJB records, so this story is getting off topic.)
 
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Herb's Music was my gateway into Instrumental music in general. It started with the TJB And his solo albums from there came the BMB and then i got deeper into Jazz especially during the mid 80s. And Im Glad Herb has kept up with the times. And He is still Going strong today.
 
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