HERB ALPERT - MUSIC VOL. 1

Looks like the whole album's cuts are already on YouTube: Just a Gigolo, Strike Up The Band, Witchcraft, Michelle, I'm Yours, C'est Si Bon, Unforgettable, Cheek to Cheek, You Stepped Out Of A Dream, Flamingo, and Imagine.
 
Spoiler alert.....

I got mine too. I haven't been able to listen yet, but there a couple of surprises just from reading the credits.... no participation by his current band. It reminds me of the Bullish album in that it's mostly a two-man show, with Herb doing his usual thing, and coproducer Jochem van der Saag doing keyboards, synths, programming, sound design and engineering. The same producer mixed Herb's upcoming Christmas album.

The other surprise is, no appearance or mention of Lani anywhere, not even the usual dedication!
 
With all these surprises I can't help but wonder if something is up? I hope I'm wrong . But it does seem Herb is doing something different with his stuff than usual but time will tell.
 
Just received my copy of the new "record", though I bought two (one went to my brother, who got it earlier today; strange since I live close to am Amazon distribution center and he is no where near one . I was a bit jealous, lmao, and I bought it for him!).

Just stated listening. Liking what I hear so far. Not quite sure why but it's reminding me a bit of "Coney Island". Liking this much more than "Human Nature" (the last three tracks on that record were only of appeal). Has a certainly New Orleansy jazz (allow me to coin a term) feel to it.
I have listened to the entire record twice. There's not a bad track at on it though I am not really crazy about the last one, Imagine (the Lennon tune). In this sense, it is on par with Steppin' Out. It is certainly a happy recording, as advertised. It is really upbeat. Sugarfoot is a new tune by Eddie del Barrio and Herb Alpert. Overall, in my opinion, it is a better effort than Human Nature or In The Mood.

I doubt that working with Jochem van der Saag is anything other than he was intrigued by him during his work on the forthcoming holiday album and he saw an opportunity. Lots of great musicians do this - work in studio with different folks than touring band.

They are not performing live near me so I won't have an opportunity to hear these recordings played live (with his normal live backing musicians) and that would be interesting considering that it is a bit of a different sound than that group puts out.
 
I was able to listen closely to the album yesterday on Tidal. I like the mood of it. It is well produced and the playing is great. I find I like the ballads a lot, both Michelle and Imagine. Sugarfoot stands out a little to the others but I think it's one of the best tracks.

- greetings from the north -
Martin
 
I've only listened to the CD once through. We were on our way to lunch and I popped the CD in the car player (which, by the way, offered the titles through the CD-Text function).

I'd already heard "Flamingo" and "Michelle" from the pre-releases, so I was a bit familiar with them. All of the others were new to me.

Herb has said that it's the melodies of songs that grab him, and I'm somewhat the same. Take a song like "I'm Yours". It was everywhere starting in 2009 and continues to be played to this day. Jason Mraz' original pops up in movies, TV shows, and of course any Adult Contemporary radio station that was desperate for newer material. It was hard to avoid a record like this - not sure why you'd want to - it's a great example of current pop without all of the vocal histrionics.

It cut through enough that Herb picked up on it and here it is on his new album, and it's a nice addition to the Herb repertoire.

I also liked the original "Sugarfoot" when it came on, and some of the other melodies were invitingly familiar. I'll need another listen or two to really get into the album. That's typical for me of many new albums. Sometimes it takes me years to really get into one.
 
Spoiler alert.....

I got mine too. I haven't been able to listen yet, but there a couple of surprises just from reading the credits.... no participation by his current band. It reminds me of the Bullish album in that it's mostly a two-man show, with Herb doing his usual thing, and coproducer Jochem van der Saag doing keyboards, synths, programming, sound design and engineering. The same producer mixed Herb's upcoming Christmas album.

The other surprise is, no appearance or mention of Lani anywhere, not even the usual dedication!
I received my copy last Friday (release day) from Amazon. I, too, was surprised by what WASN'T there: no involvement from Lani, Bill, Hussain, or Michael (the touring band) and no dedication to Lani. I gotta think that no dedication to Lani was an oversight - I'm going to attribute it to 82 years of highly productive wear and tear.

Having noted what isn't there, I gotta say I LOVE what is there! I've now listened to this cd many times over the past five days and I love every track! The Human Nature cd is probably my least favorite of Herb's cds since the release of Anything Goes. I say that mainly to let you know that I don't just blindly love anything and everything that my favorite artists release. Even though this new cd is basically a two-man show, I think it wonderfully arranged and produced. The only problem is that it always ends too soon. Steppin' Out has been my favorite cd by Herb during the past few years, but I think that Music Volume 1 is going to easily crack my top 2 during this phase of Herb's career.
 
Just bought the CD at Barnes & Noble in Midland, Michigan Monday night. I did not listened to the CD until Wednesday morning. The total time is 38:42 in length on my Marantz CD player. The song "C'est Si Bon" is my favorite from that CD. The "hey" chorus on "Witchcraft" are amazing. When I first heard "Just A Gigolo", I heard David Lee Roth's 1985 remake of the Louis Prima song in which Dave goes into "I Ain't Got Nobody" in which Herb does playing!! The recut of "Strike Up The Band" is better than the 1971 version. Can't wait for Herb's Christmas CD. Matt Clark Sanford, MI
 
I ordered Both CD and Download versions of the album yesterday and I got to hear the download yesterday and after reading the posts here I'm amazed that this just had Herb and his producer doing everything I'm Impressed by the effort I consider this similar to his other studio TJB PRE-TOURING GROUP recordings in the sense that it is unique but I do like the songs and I'm glad there are finally instrumental versions of just a gigolo and other classics I like that I haven't been able to find I like the new versions of Flamingo ( which has always been a favorite song and I have several versions by others as well as all of Herb's) and he does a fine update of "Strike up the Band". There's too many good things to put in one post so suffice it to say THIS IS ANOTHER WINNER. I look forward to his New Christmas album later as well as his next volumes when they arrive.
 
Herb's playing sounds great, if anything he's sounding even better than he did on last year's album. His enthusiasm is really infectious.

Of his most recent disks my favorite is still either In the Mood or Come Fly With Me. On this one the background tracks often seem kind of hushed and distant (except for the bass and drums). I guess I prefer the live musicians over the two-man-show synth-fest style...just my personal 2 cents. For what it's worth, I had the same impression about his last two-man show, which was Bullish.

After two or three listens I think my favorite track is "I'm Yours," but that might change.
 
Finally got my copy. I get my Amazon orders with the special "ultra slow shipping" because it's free. :D

I have to play something through a few times to get the feel of it. I agree that Herb does sound really good.
 
Herb's playing sounds great, if anything he's sounding even better than he did on last year's album. His enthusiasm is really infectious.

Of his most recent disks my favorite is still either In the Mood or Come Fly With Me. On this one the background tracks often seem kind of hushed and distant (except for the bass and drums). I guess I prefer the live musicians over the two-man-show synth-fest style...just my personal 2 cents. For what it's worth, I had the same impression about his last two-man show, which was Bullish.

After two or three listens I think my favorite track is "I'm Yours," but that might change.
I'm Yours stood out for me, too, as does Sugarfoot and C'Est Si Bon. But the entire record is really first rate.
 
Ok, if I had to pick 'favorites', I'd probably go with several (despite my thread "JUST ONE!", I can't quite do it with this album just yet). Every track on this album is listenable. At any rate, here are a few that grab me particularly:

"Flamingo", despite being recorded twice before by Herb, shines yet again. All three versions are stellar each in their own respective right, so I don't mind once more re-exploring a great tune in a fresh manner. I must admit that when I first learned of it on this album, my initial reaction was (a) WOW! Herb must really like this tune, and (b) How many times do you cover the same song? But when it's good every time, and each time with a different spin... eh, who cares? ENJOY IT! And I do find myself enjoying this version... over and over again.

"Witchcraft" is also quite compelling due to some of the sonic textures explored once more (a la RE-WHIPPED, COLORS and NORTH ON SOUTH ST.), only this time with a Sinatra standard... which switches it up a bit nicely.

The original "Sugarfoot" is also in the same vein with those sonic textures, and Herb's signature echoing and haunting trumpet lilting over the track. And a great melody too!

And although I can't qualify a 'favorite' yet, I am strongly leaning toward "You Stepped Out Of A Dream". I can't explain why, but for some reason it reminds me of the style of the MAGIC MAN album. I could analyze it to death, and I probably wouldn't convey my thoughts on it accurately. So I'll just let the music speak for itself.

All in all, another great album for us all to enjoy. Thankful that Herb is still around and recording to his and our delight.
 
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Happened to be poking through Twitter today and saw Mr Alpert's Twitter feed responding to a tweet from Jason Mraz, who praised Mr Alpert's rendition of I'm Yours on Music - Volume 1. Now that's kind of cool - respect between musicians - and I would suspect a real honor from Mr Mraz to be covered by Mr Alpert. herbalpert - Twitter Search
 
I got mine too. I haven't been able to listen yet, but there a couple of surprises just from reading the credits.... no participation by his current band.
I would suspect he still uses the band for gigs, but based on his past post-TJB work, it's not surprising he would do something new in the studio this time around.
 
Now that I have listened Music Vol. 1 a few times, I have to say that Mr. Alpert scored another home run with this one. This is a selection of very catchy tunes, played with great style as Herb is so good at doing. Glad I invested in this album. I want to learn the notes of several of these so I can play along on my trumpet.
 
Waiting for a hi-res announcement...and hoping it's better than the 24/44.1 the last album was released as!
High-res version is 24-bit, 96kHz. In addition, it is available in MQA streaming format (aka Masters) from Tidal, as is all of Herb's back catalog. Tidal HiFi subscribers can now hear this in better than CD quality if equipped with the right equipment.
 
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