California Dreaming -or- A&M Fan Hits Jackpot!

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Steve Sidoruk

Founder, A&M Fan Net
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Quite a few weeks ago, I surprised my wife by telling her that the concert for which I just ordered tickets - was at the Hollywood Bowl. As we were going to the West Coast from Connecticut, it seemed like a good idea to stretch the trip into an 8 day vacation. We arrived on Thursday, June 22nd.

On Saturday (24th) we had plans to meet A&M Corner member, Stephen Vakil, who flew in from London for Sergio's 40th Anniversary Concert. Dinner that night was at Herb Alpert's Vibrato Jazz Grill in Bel Air.

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Herb Alpert's Vibrato Jazz Grill, Bel Air, California

All the good things that we've heard and the favorable reviews are quite accurate. From the excellent service and drinks to the food, decor (Herb's paintings & sculptures) and the acoustics (designed by the same person who worked on A&M Studios), this is one experience that you won't want to miss if you have the opportunity. My wife, Andrea, and I had a wonderful dinner with Stephen, while enjoying the music of (former Tijuana Brass bass player) Pat Senatore and his group.

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Pat Senatore & his group - Saturday, June 24th

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Pat Senatore on bass - Saturday, June 24th

At the end of the evening, we had a chance to meet Pat and have a photo with him. He was most charming and told us stories of the TJB on the road and more about Herb's Vibrato.

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Stephen Vakil, Pat Senatore & Steve Sidoruk

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Pat's business card

During the course of our conversation, Pat said that there were discussions about Herb recording a CD "live" at Vibrato, but that nothing was firm yet.

On Sunday, June 25th, we arrived at the Hollywood Bowl early to be able to park on the premises. The Hollywood Bowl seats just under 18,000 persons, is the largest natural outdoor amphitheatre in the United States and was voted by Pollstar magazine as the best Major Outdoor Venue two years in a row.

Sergio's 40th Anniversary of Brasil '66 celebration had extra meaning to me. In June, 1966, I saw Sergio & Brasil '66 open the show for Herb Alpert & The TJB at the Yale Bowl (a football stadium) in New Haven, Connecticut. And now here we are at the Hollywood Bowl forty years later. It just doesn't seem possible!

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The Hollywood Bowl

I'm not going to review the concert, as press reviews have already been posted. However, the Brazilian rap, which clocked in at 45 minutes, was about 40 minutes too long! By intermission time the unbearable heat had departed and we decided that a bottle of wine would be good.

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Sergio Mendes - delighted about his sold-out show!

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Gracinha & Dawn

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Sergio Mendes & Brasil 2006

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Joe Pizzulo

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Joe Pizzulo & Dawn Bishop sing "Never Gonna Let You Go"

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Herb Alpert talks about signing Sergio to A&M Records

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Herb Alpert & Lani Hall

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Herb & Lani sing

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Herb plays

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Lani sings

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Sergio, Lani, Herb & Gracinha

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Mrs. Alpert & Mrs. Mendes sing

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Lani, Sergio & Herb take a bow

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Sergio & Brasil 2006 with all guest stars

The highlights of the show for me, besides all the great Sergio Mendes music, were the appearance of Herb Alpert & Lani Hall, who were very warmly and enthusiastically received; and almost 18,000 people in the audience up dancing and singing Mas Que Nada at the end of the show. Also of note, during the Joe Pizzulo & Dawn Bishop rendition of Never Gonna Let You Go, most of the audience was standing with lighters, cell phones and any other type of illumination, swaying back and forth in time to the song.

Thanks to Brasil Nut (Jon Skinner) and Gracinha, we had back stage passes for after the show. As we were walking to the backstage entrance, we saw Jerry Moss coming out and then finally met up with Jon Skinner.

Unfortunately for us, Sergio was so busy signing autographs at the Tower Records table, that we never saw him backstage. However, I did have a nice conversation with Gracinha. She was most appreciative of some archive video material that I had previously sent on to her & Sergio.

Backstage, there was quite a commotion with all the artists and their guests coming in and out. Besides Gracinha, Herb & Lani, india.arie, John Legend and Joe Pizzulo were all in or around their dressing rooms. We also saw Kevyn Lettau & Mike Shapiro. We met musician Charles Meeks, with whom we had a great conversation and he gave us a copy of his recent CD, Welcome To The World. Our wives took the conversation in a different direction once they found that they were both teachers. So much for talk about music and Sergio's show. :wink:

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By the time that we left backstage, most of the crowd was long gone and getting out of the parking lot was relatively easy. It was back to our hotel in Studio City, but not before a late dinner at Jerry's Famous Deli on Ventura Blvd.

We had tentative plans to meet Herb on Tuesday (June 27th) at his Foundation office in Santa Monica. I was to wait for a call from Herb's Assistant, Sheryl Lorence, to confirm our meeting. Monday, the call came from Sheryl, and we were on for 12:30 Tuesday with Herb.

Tuesday came and we were on our way to Santa Monica. I had been to Herb's Foundation twice before and was familiar with the area. We got there and got settled in a comfortable conference room. Herb's paintings and sculptures were everywhere throughout the building. After the greetings, we started talking about Lani's singing. Herb agreed with me that Lani should have recorded Get Here, the Brenda Russell song that she sang during Herb's Symphony Tour. Herb said that he also wanted her to record You've Got A Friend, sometime after Carole King released it.

We then talked about Julius Wechter. Herb said that he really missed him and told us stories about how they met when they were teenagers. Herb & Julius played some dances together back then and after hearing Julius solo on the vibes, Herb was quite impressed and thought that Julius had skills like Lionel Hampton.

The time really flew by and we talked about a lot things. In fact, we made Herb a bit late for his next meeting with web site designers. The news is that Herb is starting a new web site that will be a resource for young musicians who are trying to get into the business. Also, Herb's existing web site www.HerbAlpert.com will get an extreme makeover.

Herb & Lani were going to Hawaii for two weeks and after they got back, Herb was going to put a group together with Lani and start to perform. It sounded like they were even going to tour! Initially, diners at Vibrato will probably be the lucky members of their audience.

As for TJB releases, I made my request to Herb for more titles to be released. He did say that Volume 2 would have to be warmed up during remastering before any possible release. Also, Herb said that Shout! Factory wanted to do a box set. But, didn't indicate whether he was OK with the idea of it. My feeling was that Herb currently had more thoughts of his new group in mind. Hopefully, we'll know more sometime soon. Herb graciously posed for pictures with us and was off to his next meeting.

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Herb & Steve

Just down the street from Herb's office is Universal Music. We had another stop planned there to meet old friend Barry Korkin. Barry was the A&M Rep in Boston years ago. I first met him in 1974 at the Warwick (Rhode Island) Music Theatre, where Herb & The TJB played for a week. Herb later brought Barry out to A&M headquarters and he later became in charge of the tape library. Barry was Project Coordinator for the A&M 25th Anniversary Classics CD series. He was one of the very few to transfer from A&M to Universal. Barry now works with the back catalog doing re-issues and compilations. I also learned that Mike Ragogna, who worked on Herb's Definitive Hits was leaving Universal.

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Barry Korkin & Steve

After much talk about the music business, the conversation turned to Connecticut. Barry was from Waterbury, which is next door to Cheshire, home of the A&M Fan Network. We then headed out to Malibu for a seafood lunch at Gladstone's.

Tuesday evening brought us to Spazio for dinner and Guitar Night with John Pisano. John was doing a tribute to L.A. DJ Chuck Niles, who was supportive of jazz. Playing with John was bassist Chuck Berghofer. You might remember that he played on the Pete Jolly sessions.

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John Pisano plays at Spazio

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Chuck Berghofer plays at Spazio

So that's it. I hope that you like the pictures and maybe feel like you were there with us. We had a great trip. It was truly an A&M Fan's dream vacation.
 
Wow. Sounds like you had a great time. That trip must have taken forever to coordinate! Thanks for all the pix as well, hadn't seen a recent photo of Lani in some time.
 
OK, for a while there I thought you made a "side trip" to Las Vegas and won a fortune there!! --Now I don't feel so Jealous!!! :laughup:

Anyway, I'll be sure to book an L.A. trip on the A&M Fan's Journey; you seem to have had a great time there, Steve!! :agree:


Dave
 
Hi Steve! Thank you for a great report. I am going to LA myself on Tuesday 11th July with a musician friend. We have made plans for John Pisano's guitar night and will certainly also visit the Vibrato. Very interesting to hear about Herb's plan for a new group with Lani. He also looks great on the photos!

- greetings from the north -
Martin
 
Outstanding report Steve. Thanks for sharing with those of us who couldn't attend.

Harry
 
Thanks so much for a great story and photos; the next best thing to being there. I'd love to make a similar voyage one day.
JB
 
Great report and photos, Steve. It is ALMOST as good as being there.... and thanks for getting the word in about more releases.
 
Dave said:
OK, for a while there I thought you made a "side trip" to Las Vegas and won a fortune there!!


Dave


You still hit the jackpot, Steve...Glad that Herb, Lani, Sergio, Gracinha, Pat, John and Chuck are all doing well at what they love...good news about the new group, too!


Dan
 
Steve! Thanks for sharing those photos!!! Ah, and it's good for me to know that Lani sang very well in that anniversary concert!!!
 
Well planned trip. !!!

It's great that Herb Alpert is conscious about the young musicians that need some sort of push to get them started in their career. This is one man I admire!
 
I agree with some of the other posts. The pictures and recap of the trip "take you there". My dad would have loved to have seen Herb Alpert on a concert stage.
 
It's been a while since I had a chance to check in with the Forum and I was pleased to read your review. Thanks for the great post, Steve! You really did it up right!

I made it to the Hollywood Bowl concert, sitting in the front row of Garden Box 163. I thought I had a lifetime memory-I couldn't believe it had really been 40 years since I saw Sergio Mendes and Brazil 66 open for Herb Alpert's TJB. I managed to sneak a couple of digital photos but enjoyed some of your great photographs.

I met Mr. Alpert in Pasadena during a lunch-time discussion at the Pasadena Museum of California Art in late March. I have enjoyed his art and sculpture work as well as his contribution to arts education. What you said about talking with him sure struck a chord with me. What a treat to have a chance to discuss some of his projects with him in depth.

Thanks again.
 
DAN BOLTON said:
Dave said:
OK, for a while there I thought you made a "side trip" to Las Vegas and won a fortune there!!

Dave


You still hit the jackpot, Steve...

Dan


Well, that's really what I meant that it's what it would take for me to make a "similar trip" there; had to read this Thread once more...

Really hope for Something Nice under the tree next year... :love:


Thanks, Dave

--:confused:

You're welcome! :confused:



Dave
 
Thanks so much, Steve, for allowing us to "be there" through your generous details and photos. You are a gem. Sounds like you had one really great trip to LA.

Cheers,
DJ
:nauga:
 
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