Spotlight: MY ABSTRACT HEART (SP-5273)

What Is Your Favorite Song On This Album?

  • 3 O'Clock Jump

    Votes: 8 44.4%
  • Romance Dance

    Votes: 1 5.6%
  • My Abstract Heart

    Votes: 2 11.1%
  • Wish You Were Here

    Votes: 1 5.6%
  • Fun House

    Votes: 1 5.6%
  • Legs

    Votes: 1 5.6%
  • When The Lights Go Down Low

    Votes: 1 5.6%
  • Just A Dream Away

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Kalimba

    Votes: 2 11.1%
  • Soho

    Votes: 1 5.6%

  • Total voters
    18

Captain Bacardi

Well-Known Member
Herb Alpert
MY ABSTRACT HEART

A&M SP-5273

sp5273.jpg

Released 1989

Format: Vinyl/CD/Cassette

Produced by Herb Alpert
Associate Producer: Eddie del Barrio
Co-Producers: Niko Bolas and Shorty Rogers

Singles Chart: "3 O'Clock Jump" - #59 Black Singles

Songs & Musicians:
  • 1. 3 O'Clock Jump (Herb Alpert/Eddie del Barrio/Shorty Rogers) - 3:39[list:b6ee47a661]Eddie del Barrio - Keyboards and Bass Synthesizer
    Waddy Wachtel - Electric Guitar
    Harvey Mason - Drums
    Paulinho da Costa - Percussion
    Shorty Rogers - Flugelhorn
    Arranged by Herb Alpert, Eddie del Barrio and Shorty Rogers

2. Romance Dance (Herb Alpert/Eddie del Barrio) - 4:33
  • Eddie del Barrio - Acoustic Piano and Synthesized Bass
    Michael Landau - Electric Guitar
    Harvey Mason - Drums
    Herb Alpert - Percussion
    Arranged by Herb Alpert and Eddie del Barrio

3. My Abstract Heart (Herb Alpert/Eddie del Barrio) - 5:00
  • Abraham Laboriel - Bass and All Guitars
    Eddie del Barrio - Synthesized Bass and Keyboards, Percussion Program
    Harvey Mason - Drums
    Arranged by Herb Alpert and Eddie del Barrio

4. Wish You Were Here (Shorty Rogers) - 3:59
  • Mike Lang - Keyboards
    Eddie del Barrio - Synthesized Strings and Voices and Bass
    Eric Gale - Guitar
    Harvey Mason - Drums
    Arranged by Herb Alpert, Eddie del Barrio and Shorty Rogers

5. Fun House (Herb Alpert/Mike Lang/Eddie del Barrio/Shorty Rogers) - 3:12
  • Mike Lang - Synthesized Bass and Keyboards
    Paulinho da Costa - Percussion
    Alex Acuña - Percussion
    Arranged by Herb Alpert, Mike Lang, Eddie del Barrio and Shorty Rogers

6. Legs (Herb Alpert/Eddie del Barrio/Shorty Rogers) - 5:00
  • Eddie del Barrio - All Keyboards and Programming
    Mike Miller - Guitar
    Paulinho da Costa - Percussion
    Alex Acuña - Percussion
    Arranged by Herb Alpert/Eddie del Barrio and Shorty Rogers

7. When The Lights Go Down Low (George Merrill/Dave Ellis) - 5:28
  • Tom Canning - Piano
    Harvey Mason - Drums
    Jimmy Haslip - Bass
    Paulinho da Costa - Percussion
    Michael Landau - Guitar
    Dore Alpert - Background Vocal
    Eddie del Barrio - Synthesized Voices
    Herb Alpert and Lani Hall - Vocals
    Arranged by Tom Canning, Herb Alpert and Eddie del Barrio

8. Just A Dream Away (Herb Alpert/Eddie del Barrio) - 3:49
  • Eddie del Barrio - All Keyboards, Strings and Voice
    Michael Landau - Guitars
    Gerald Albright - Bass
    Harvey Mason - Drums
    Arranged by Herb Alpert and Eddie del Barrio

9. Kalimba (Herb Alpert/Mike Lang) - 4:32
  • Mike Lang - Keyboards and Synthesized Bass
    Herb Alpert - Drum Programming
    Eric Gale - Guitar
    Arranged by Herb Alpert and Mike Lang

10. Soho (Herb Alpert/Eddie del Barrio/Shorty Rogers) - 3:20
  • Paulinho da Costa - Percussion
    Harvey Mason - Drums
    Mike Lang - Keyboards
    Eddie del Barrio - Keyboards
    Arranged by Herb Alpert, Eddie del Barrio and Shorty Rogers

All Lead Trumpets and Flugelhorn: Herb Alpert

Brass Section:
George Bohanon - Trombone
Richard Nash - Tenor and Bass Trombone
Bass Trombone and Tuba - Donald Waldrop
Bob Findley - Trumpet
Chuck Findley - Trumpet
Noland Smith - Trumpet
Oscar Brashear - Trumpet
Gary Grant - Trumpet
John Bolivar - Sax
Ernie Fields - Baritone Sax
David Duke - French Horn[/list:u:b6ee47a661]

Engineered and Mixed by Niko Bolas
Assistants: Bob Vogt, Nick Jerrard, Ed Goodreau
Digital Editing: Dave Collins
Mastered by Arnie Acosta at A&M and Doug Sax at The Mastering Lab

Art Direction: Chuck Beeson
Design: F Ron Miller
Photography: Michael Miller
Management: La Brea Tours Inc./Kip Cohen

"My Abstract Heart" painting by Herb Alpert

"3 O'Clock Jump" was inspired by my giant friend, Shorty Rogers
This album is dedicated to everyone who helped the A&M Dream...Thank You, HERB ALPERT

Thank You Shelly Yakus

A SPECIAL THANKS TO EDDIE DEL BARRIO

I love you Lani



Capt. Bacardi
 
This album, while somewhat different in character to that of UNDER A SPANISH MOON, was another breath of fresh air to those of us who prefer Herb's serious music. MY ABSTRACT HEART was another return-to-form in the interest of Herb's signature trumpet sound, this time being embellished with a jazzy 'big band' approach.

I picked "Legs" as a favorite track because of the fact that it sounds like nothing Herb had ever recorded before (up to this point). When I play "Legs", it sounds to me like something out of a James Bond movie. Bold. Brash. In your face. Guns firing. Action adventure. That sort of thing. Very different for Herb.

I must admit that I don't often play this album, and I am unsure why. It's an excellent part of the collection, and I wouldn't trade it for anything. The only track I could really live without is "Soho"... it just doesn't grab me, even now, some twenty years later. I've heard worse, but after "Kalimba" ends, that's it. End of this album in my book. Aside from that, however, I can't help but crank "3 O'Clock Jump", "Fun House", "Romance Dance" (there's that haunting echo again...), and the title track, with Abe Laboriel's lightning-strummed acoustic rhythm (you don't usually get to hear his acoustic work)... and of course, "Legs". :D

An outstanding album, even if I don't care for the cover art (Sorry, Herb... I'm just not into the whole 'abstract'/'expressionist' modern art thing). And to think: some people actually criticized the BULLISH cover art! :confused:

4 1/2 stars.

Tony
 
I'll go with the lead-off track here, but there are many good ones. This was the closest album Herb had to a big band album, and I was pleasantly surprised to see Shorty Rogers' name on this one.
 
I went with "My Abstract Heart"; it has a kind of Fandango album feel for me. And, at 5 minutes long, there's plenty of time to enjoy it.

Mike
 
I really liked this album when it came out and I still do. It has stood the test of time far better than the "synth pop albums" of the mid eighties. At times it reminds me a little of Warm, maybe due to the influence of Shorty Rogers. I also enjoy the big band sound on "3 o clock.."

- greetings from the north -
Martin
 
I like this album a lot. I chose "3 O'Clock Jump" as my favorite, just barely edging out "Soho", which I think is a hot tune, especially with the Mangione-esque horn section at the end. Shorty Rogers' contributions should not go unnoticed, especially his gorgeous ballad "Wish You Were Here" that Herb plays a beautiful horn on. The worst song is the vocal "When The Lights Go Down Low", which I think is a terrible song to begin with, let alone the anemic vocals. I also have problems with "Kalimba", which starts out okay, but Herb seems to get lost towards the end. "Legs" is a gutsy tune and "Fun House" could've been a little better had Herb taken a solo there in the middle.

I loved the video of "3 O'Clock Jump", with its bright colors and sexy girl that was parading around. There was even a cameo of Stan Getz holding his sax for a second or two. Too bad it's not available on YouTube.



Capt. Bacardi
 
Ahhh...this is more like it! If anybody thought that Herb couldn't pull away from his dreary mid 80s offerings, this album and UNDER A SPANISH MOON counter those expectations! You get the feeling that Herb did WILD ROMANCE and KEP YOUR EYE ON ME to satify A&M's bottom line, so that he could pursue more personal projects like the aforementioned albums.

In fact, when this album came out, Herb did a promo for it on the now defunct smooth jazz station that we had here in NY.I taped the interview he did with the DJ Russ Davis(still have it), and he was really enthusiastic about the CD, said it was one of his best, and he felt that the notes that he was playing were "cleaner"(whatever that means).I myself love the album, but like Tony previously said, I don't play it much myself, either! I don't have it on CD, just on cassette tape, so I don't play it as often.But here's what I think of the tunes!

The album's opener, "3 o'Clock Jump" is mad-jammin' funky piece of music that could be Duke Ellington or Count Basie meets-get this-PRINCE! I t could flow nicely on the dance floors of that time(89), or at a 'serious heads' jazz festival(a la Newport).ROMANCE DANCE is kinda cute, but a little too schmaltzy for my tastes. MY ABSTRACT HEART is on the other hand, a wonderful piece of expression from Herb, along with one of his favorite partners-in-crime, the great Abe Laboriel,both on bass AND acoustic guitar! Herb said in the same interview the Laboriel was like 'an open wound', every note comes from the heart. Next, there's WISH YOU WERE HERE, which in my humble opinion, is one Herb's finest and most heartfelt(and sentimental)pieces he has ever recorded. If there ever was a song by Herb that could jerk a tear(of joy and happiness, that is)this would be it.

Then there's FUNHOUSE, which is back to "happy-go-lucky" Herb, and the tune sounds exactly like that-like it was made in a funhouse. Cute tune to boot.Side 2 opens with LEGS, and man it's a monster!!That dramatic opening was TOO MUCH!! It sounds like it could have been the theme to a Broadway play, or the theme music to an updating of those old Busby Berkley musicals, and out comes a chorus of dancing girls showing off their...LEGS.WHEN THE LIGHTS GO DOWN LOW is more 'adult-contemporary' than jazz, but for AC, it works well(tho I like PILLOW better than this cut).JUST A DREAM is ok, but again, a little too much schmaltz for me. KALIMBA revisits Herb's experiments with what he did with ROTATION and AFRICAN FLAME: fusing third world rhythms with electronica, and it works well. The last cut, SOHO is really the jam, and I feel it is "Salsa meets Brass"(TJB,that is). It sounds like it was made in Spanish Harlem at the time, and I also feel that it is a precursor to his landmark PASSION DANCE CD.

All in all, a great album, and it also shows what happens when you let an artist have his way, surround him with the right people(The late and great Shorty Rogers,Herb's musical partner at the time,another great,Eddie Del Barrio,etc) and just let him go!I give this album FOUR STARS.
 
I went with 3 O'CLOCK JUMP, mainly for sentimental reasons...I used to dance with my kids to this tune when they were small. It's really a toss-up between this one and MY ABSTRACT HEART, though.

This was one of my favorite solo albums; it was great to hear Shorty Rogers again.


Dan
 
3 o'clock Jump is a winner for me. The 12" version isn't too bad either--not much of a remix, just extended to over 6 minutes.

I have the music video on vhs. I'll put it on youtube soon for you guys.
 
I must not have ever commented on this album in this thread. I guess since it was started in mid-December, I must have been in the throes of Christmas music.

MY ABSTRACT HEART has been one of those Herb Alpert albums that for some reason never got much play from me. As a result, whenever I *do* listen to it, it seems fresh. I've had the CD for ages and sometime ago I managed to find a sealed LP that's still sealed. I'll get around to opening it one of these days. It's not like it will ever be worth a fortune, and I've always believed that records were meant to be played.

I like the "3 O'Clock Jump" tune, even if I often confuse it with another of Herb's funkier tunes, "Jump Street". Easy to see why! Good thing he never did the Pointer Sisters' "Jump"!

I also like the title tune too along with some others, but being the Lani Hall fan that I am, I've always had a soft spot for "When The Lights Go Down Low".

Harry
 
I know I've heard this one but can't remember anything about it, so I have a feeling it wasn't a grabber for me -- as is the case with a lot of Herb's solo albums. I like the cover on this one though.

I was just thinking, XM Radio keeps doing specialty channels -- they could do a Herb Alpert channel and use the over 300 songs in his own catalog, throw in Lani's music, a bunch of the A&M Sergio Mendes and Baja Marimba Band songs, some of the stuff that was "influenced" by Herb, maybe some A&M Bacharach and have a pretty nice channel. The big problem with Internet radio stations is, if you pick "Herb Alpert Radio" you'll get some Herb, but everything else will be a bunch of easy-listening elevator music crud that is the antithesis of what Herb did (and does).
 
I bought the CD at a used CD store in Greensburg, Pennsylvania back in August 2011 when I was visiting my relatives in Latrobe, PA. The price was $ 9 & in excellent shape but had a drillhole on the back of the CD. Another great Herb CD!! Matt Clark Sanford, MI
 
If you go to the All Music website, there is a total of 6 songs NOT 10 songs on the CD.:oops: I guess they made a boo boo. Matt Clark Sanford, MI
 
I like the "3 O'Clock Jump" tune, even if I often confuse it with another of Herb's funkier tunes, "Jump Street".

Shorty Rogers played a big part in this album, and that tune is Herb's dedication to Shorty. This album is probably the closest thing Herb ever had to a big band album--not quite a big band but it does have the larger horn section.

@Captain Bacardi may know--the credits list a "Richard Nash." Aren't they referring to Dick Nash? It likely is, but I rarely see him in credits as Richard. He certainly was a part of that same L.A. musician crowd that Shorty was.
 
Yeah, I've always known him as Dick Nash. I'm guessing that's him.

I just remembered back in the late 70's or early 80's Almo Publishing put out a book of famous jazz solos, and they had a book for all instruments. Dick Nash transcribed the solos for trombone. I should look for that. The introduction mentioned that Herb made the suggestion to the people at Almo to do these solos for all instruments, not just the instrument the original solo was played on. It was a good idea. They had solos for songs like "Bernie's Tune", "Four", "Naima", etc.

As far as this album goes, I still have "3 O'Clock Jump" and "Soho" in heavy rotation on my iPod.
 
I would guess it's him also. I have a lot of his work on those jazz albums he recorded with Mancini.

This is another album I need to locate on vinyl. (That's a nudge for me to put it on my Discogs wantlist...)
 
That's barely a review, with incorrect info on top of it...

Don't bother submitting corrections. They ignore anything I've ever sent for the past 20 years.
 
It would be better off if they dumped Erlewine's pretentious reviews...

I use it often for finding credits and such, along with Discogs (which is user-populated).
 
If you go to the All Music website, there is a total of 6 songs NOT 10 songs on the CD.:oops: I guess they made a boo boo. Matt Clark Sanford, MI
IMO All music guide is not 100%accurate most of the time and many of the reviews on Herb's solo releases are very negative at times. But again thats just my experience My standout favorite from this is Wish You Were Here. ( i was in a long distance dating relationship at the time of this albums release.) And the song really touched me emotionally. I also have the Cd Ep of 3 o clock jump. Which was given to me by a friend. This whole album is a nice Modern Big Band Jazz /Contemporary Instrumental Adventure. A great album to close out the decade of the 80s.
 
I have the 12" single of "3 O'Clock Jump" and it was a remix. Beyond that I can't recall what the B-side was. I'm not even sure if I took it out of storage to check...I'll have to look later on.
 
I have the 12" single of "3 O'Clock Jump" and it was a remix. Beyond that I can't recall what the B-side was. I'm not even sure if I took it out of storage to check...I'll have to look later on.
My 3 song Cd Has 3 versions of 3 o Clock Jump the first track is the Album Version the second has the 12 inch remix and the third has the Dub Street mix. Sadly i havent been able to find other Cds like this before or after. But this is a wonderful rarity nonetheless. I would like to find the Diamonds Ep with the multiple versions of the cool summer mix.( i have one of those versions on The Uk" Very Best of Herb Alpert". Which by the way has the radio edit of "Rise" which is today impossible to find anywhere else.)
 
I have just about all of the 12" singles--Cool Summer Mix is on the "Diamonds" 12-inch from the 3-disc set, but not on the original 12" of "Diamonds."
 
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