Questions that must be answered!

[lounge lizard]

Hello again, and thanks for the warm responses!

I have a few questions I was hoping for years that someone could help me with:

1. Does anybody own any copies of any or all of the TJB television specials? I've seen them on ebay occasionally...does anybody own one that has been burned on DVD?

2. In the inside sleeve of "The Beat Of The Brass", there is a photo of the band performing on a very crowded street. Where was this shot taken? Was it shown on the TV special?

3. I know that Nick Ceroli passed away in the mid-80s. Has there been any other deaths in the TJB family? Also, what are the other guys doing nowadays?


I know I will have other questions to ask soon!
Thanks!
Long live Herb!

 

[alpertfan]

Hey lounge lizard!

There haven't been any copies of the TV specials on DVD that I know of (or on VHS for that matter). Like the group's entire discography, they seem to be MIA. Would be nice to have them, though!

As for your third question, pianist Lou Pagani apparently passed away in 1998 and second trumpeter Tonni Kalash in 2001. Julius Wechter who was the leader of The Baja Marimba Band and played marimbas on all the TJB albums unfortunately succumbed to lung cancer in 1999. Only 2 out of the four surviving members are musically active these days, guitarist John Pisano and bassist Pat Senatore, who both live in LA. Pisano heads his own cocktail jazz group with his wife, Jeanne called, The Flying Pisanos. Their official website is www.flyingpisanos.com. Pat Senatore heads his own jazz trio, PASQUALE. Bob Edmondson has apparently given up playing the trombone and Herb Alpert concentrates more on his artwork. (He's an abstract painter as well as a musician, unbeknownst to a lot of his fans!) Rumor has it though that he has been working on a Tijuana Brass reissue project with engineer Steve Hoffman, and he has occasionally appeared on a few albums by some big names in smooth jazz today. He played trumpet on 3 tracks from Gato Barbieri's SHADOW OF THE CAT.

 

[Harry]

The only officially released Herb Alpert/TjB video was the British/Japanese title called The Very Best Of Herb Alpert. Compiled in the early '90s by none other than Mrs. Alpert, Lani Hall, the title is long out-of-print. It was released on both VHS and LaserDisc. It was a near career-long retrospective that included clips from the old TV specials and early '80s solo videos. No DVDs have yet to be released of anything Alpert-wise, unless you consider his recordings used in movies like NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN, CASINO ROYALE, JERRY MAGUIRE, SHREK, etc.

The only way most of us have gotten the TV specials is to unfortunately support the bootleggers on eBay or elsewhere. Other threads here have more details.

Harry
...who luckily found the VERY BEST OF HERB ALPERT LaserDisc, online...

 

[Captaindave]

The crowded street parade that you refer to that was part of the Beat Of The Brass TV special was in New Orleans at Mardi Gras. I would say that this was filmed in 1968. The Wall Street Rag is the musical background for this parade segment. If you watch the TV special, you can hear the voice of Herb Alpert introducing that particular segment as New Orleans at Mardi Gras, and further along the route, the float that the group is riding stops in front of what appears to be a reviewing stand, and Herb drinks a toast to the Mayor and the City of New Orleans. I do not know the actual street or streets that all this occurred. There are photos contained on the cover of the Beat Of The Brass album which appear to be taken at the same time regarding this parade route, including a scene from Preservation Hall, and a photo of Herb in front of what appears to be Oak Alley Plantation located in nearby Vacherie, Louisiana. The riverboat segment, in which the song Bo-Bo is the background music also is found in a photo on the album cover.

In answer to your question, I would say that the photography that is found on the album cover was taken at the same place and time that the parade segment seen on the video was filmed...Mardi Gras in New Orleans - probably 1968, since the TV special aired a little later on that spring, if my memory is correct.

Nick Ceroli, Lou Pagani, and Tonni Kalash are deceased, along with Baja Marimba Band leader and TJB recording studio player Julius Wechter.

I am unclear on the whereabouts of Bob Edmondson. John Pisano and Pat Senatore both continue to be actively involved in music performance in the Los Angeles area.

As you probably know, Herb Alpert has continued to record until recently - as far as we know - and has released many solo albums over the past approximately 25 years.

I got my video copy of the Beat Of The Brass TV special from www.kinevideo.com I have been pleased with this video and would not hesitate to order other material from kinevideo. You can email them and inquire as to what other TJB titles are available...

 

[Captain Bacardi]

2. In the inside sleeve of "The Beat Of The Brass", there is a photo of the band performing on a very crowded street. Where was this shot taken? Was it shown on the TV special?

That shot was from The Beat Of The Brass TV special, and was shot during Mardi Gras in New Orleans. It wasn't Bourbon Street, though. It looked more like downtown New Orleans.


Capt. Bacardi

 

[Rudy]

Just to set the record straight: Steve Hoffman isn't working on any current Herb Alpert project, at least for public consumption. From what I understand, Steve only made archival copies of the 3-track masters for Herb's own use, and that was over a year ago. Herb and Larry Levine are the ones working on a project, and chances are Universal will be the one distributing it again, like Definitive Hits was when it was licensed to today's A&M. It's almost certain someone else will be mastering that project.

Reissues? Actually, nobody's said anything about it lately. But if it were my money, I'd be getting Steve to do the remastering, and not whoever Universal would find to compress, EQ and no-noise the old songs to death. I do know Steve has said the same thing we've been saying for years: these TJB albums need to be reissued, but Universal just doesn't give a crap.

 

[bob knack]

I'VE BEEN TRYING TO FIGURE OUT THAT STREET PHOTO FOR YEARS. THE STREET IS TOO WIDE TO BE IN THE FRENCH QUARTER/BOURBON STREET. IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN A PARADE THAT STARTED ON CANAL STREET AND TURNED INTO THE QUARTER. THEY HAVE PARADES ALL OVER N.O. AT CARNIVAL TIME, SO I GUESS IT COULD HAVE BEEN ALMOST ANYWHERE.

I HAD THE THRILL OF A LIFETIME THIS PAST APRIL. A STATUE WAS DEDICATED TO PETE FOUNTAIN AT 300 BOURBON STREET AND THEY HAD A PARADE WITH PETE FROM THERE TO JACKSON SQUARE. I GOT TO MARCH IN THE PARADE NOT TOO FAR FROM WHERE FOUNTAIN WAS.

 

[Mr Bill]

AS for TJB mortality we should also add percussionist/steel drummer Vince Charles (from the reformed 74/75 TJB) who died in June 2001.

--Mr Bill