Tom Wallace
Well-Known Member
Saw a fine show at the Kennedy Center in DC this evening. As part of their Millennium Stage series of free early-evening performances, they presented “the leading Herb Alpert Repertory Ensemble,” Phat Alpert, a local group of guys wanting to keep the spirit of Alpert’s arrangements alive.
It’s a six-piece outfit, with the two trumpets (and flugels), trombone, bass, guitar, and drums. Two of the horn players dabbled on marimba-voiced keyboards a bit. The trumpeters had the arrangements down pat and were very impressive. They did the expected tunes, opening with “A Taste of Honey,” on which they stretched out and took solos. They also did “Spanish Flea,” “Mexican Shuffle,” “Whipped Cream,” “Lollipops and Roses,” “The Lonely Bull,” “This Guy’s,” a Masekela-Alpert tune I wasn’t familiar with (though I must get familiar—it was tremendous), “Rise,” and closed with “Tijuana Taxi” (featuring a kid’s high-pitched toy horn—very amusing).
They also did, “for the younger generation,” songs the TJB never did, but could’ve: Nirvana tunes “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and “Come As You Are,” arranged in the TJB style. Both were hilarious. “Teen Spirit” was brilliant.
What really surprised me, though, were the relative obscurities they did: “More and More Amor,” “Mexican Road Race,” “Crawfish,” “Thanks for the Memory,” and “All My Loving.” For an Alpert fanatic like me, it was heavenly.
I hung around after the show and chatted with Zack Smith, trumpeter and one of the co-founders, and asked him about those choices. He said he knew they had to do the popular stuff, but really wanted to include some of the “cooler” things too. I was thrilled. Phat Alpert is not his full-time gig; he tours nationwide with the Dixie Power Trio, a Cajun/zydeco band. He’s not sure when Phat Alpert will be performing again, but I’ll be keeping a lookout.
I’m going on…just thought folks would be interested in hearing about a group of dedicated guys keeping the TJB sound and spirit alive.
Cheers,
Tom
It’s a six-piece outfit, with the two trumpets (and flugels), trombone, bass, guitar, and drums. Two of the horn players dabbled on marimba-voiced keyboards a bit. The trumpeters had the arrangements down pat and were very impressive. They did the expected tunes, opening with “A Taste of Honey,” on which they stretched out and took solos. They also did “Spanish Flea,” “Mexican Shuffle,” “Whipped Cream,” “Lollipops and Roses,” “The Lonely Bull,” “This Guy’s,” a Masekela-Alpert tune I wasn’t familiar with (though I must get familiar—it was tremendous), “Rise,” and closed with “Tijuana Taxi” (featuring a kid’s high-pitched toy horn—very amusing).
They also did, “for the younger generation,” songs the TJB never did, but could’ve: Nirvana tunes “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and “Come As You Are,” arranged in the TJB style. Both were hilarious. “Teen Spirit” was brilliant.
What really surprised me, though, were the relative obscurities they did: “More and More Amor,” “Mexican Road Race,” “Crawfish,” “Thanks for the Memory,” and “All My Loving.” For an Alpert fanatic like me, it was heavenly.
I hung around after the show and chatted with Zack Smith, trumpeter and one of the co-founders, and asked him about those choices. He said he knew they had to do the popular stuff, but really wanted to include some of the “cooler” things too. I was thrilled. Phat Alpert is not his full-time gig; he tours nationwide with the Dixie Power Trio, a Cajun/zydeco band. He’s not sure when Phat Alpert will be performing again, but I’ll be keeping a lookout.
I’m going on…just thought folks would be interested in hearing about a group of dedicated guys keeping the TJB sound and spirit alive.
Cheers,
Tom
