Herb Alpert finds ‘freedom’ in jazz, from ‘Whipped Cream’ to ‘Over the Rainbow’ – Desert Sun

The Palm Springs Vintage market is held on the first Sunday of every month starting in October at the Palm Springs Cultural Center. Palm Springs Desert Sun

I'd just asked jazz trumpeter, artist and sculptor Herb Alpert my last question when he flipped the script on me in a recent interview.

"What do you like about jazz?" he asked.

I told him how I only used to listen to jazz at night because it's great mood music, but that I listen to it any time of the day now.

Do you feel the freedom of it? If so, then you get it," Alpert replied.

That's the only explanationthe 84-year-old musician provides for the source of his creativity. "I don't think when I make music, paint or sculpt," he told me during a previous interview. "I let creativity speak without being filtered."

Herb Alpert and his wife, singer Lani Hall, return to the McCallum Theatre Jan. 27.(Photo: Courtesy of the McCallum Theatre)

Jesse Hughes: Jesse Hughes was on a roll, then the Paris attacks happened. So he turned to music to heal

BB Ingle: Event producer BB Ingle diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, insists 'party isn't over'

4xFar: 'The crowd is dope': 4xFar succeeds combining outdoor adventure and live music

This is how Alpertapproached his latest album,"Over the Rainbow," a compilationof covers of well-knownpop songs. Released last September, it features trackssuch as Louis Armstrong's "What A Wonderful World," Barry Manilow's "Copacabana" and"Always On My Mind" byWayne Carson,Johnny Christopher andMark James.

"I picked out songs that touch me," Alpert told me. "I like melodies and theres no intellectual reason on why I do this stuff. I try to take my brain out of the mix."

Alpert rose to famein the early '60swhen he incorporated world music influences in his instrumental variations of popular tunes, mostly Latin brass music. He worked with members of the Wrecking Crew, a collective of Los Angeles session musicians, on his first four albums released under the name "Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass."

The fourth album, "Whipped Cream and Other Delights," released in 1965 and featured covers of pop standards likeJerry Leiber and Mike Stoller's "Love Potion No. 9,"Bobby Scott and Ric Marlow's "A Taste of Honey" and Tony Velona's "Lollipops and Roses." The album cover, featuring model Dolores Ericksoncovered in whipped cream, was just as memorable as the music. It went on to sell six million copies in America and was remixed in 2006 by producerAnthony Marinellias Whipped Cream & Other Delights Re-Whipped.

Jamie Hartinger with a Herb Alpert album at Record Store Day at Shake It Records, April 13, 2019. When asked why this particular album, Hartinger pointed to the cover. "The girl! It's classic Herb."(Photo: Ryan Terhune / The Enquirer)

Following the release of that album, Alpert formed an actual version of the Tijuana Brass with musiciansJohn Pisano (electric guitar), Lou Pagani (piano), Nick Ceroli (drums),Pat Senatore (bass guitar),Tonni Kalash (trumpet) andBob Edmondson (trombone)before disbanding four years later in 1969.

But he's still performing and recording,translating well-known lyric linesinto jazz trumpet tracks.

Alpert will perform with his wife, vocalistLani Hall,at the McCallum Theatre on Jan. 27. He discussed some of the songsonhis latest album, technological changes in the music industryand music education with The Desert Sun.

The following interview was edited for length and clarity.

The DesertSun:What made you want to do "Over the Rainbow"?

Herb Alpert:Instinct. I dont think too hard about this stuff. I hear songs that I like and sometimes Ill hear a standard song like Over the Rainbow and Ill say, "Can I do this in a way that hasnt been done quite that way before?" If I come up with that,then its a pursuit of mine.

Herb Alpert performing at the 2017 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.(Photo: Amy Harris, Invision/AP)

Over the Rainbow is such an iconic song. Do you ever wish you recorded it earlier?

I didnt have the idea to do it earlier. Even when I thought about doing it, I thought, "Who wants to hear this song? Its been recorded about 14 billion times." When I came up with this idea of working with (composer) Eduardo del Barrio and putting that intro on it and expressing the lyric through the trumpet, it workedand it felt good. I listen to my instincts and Im a right-brained guy. I paint, I sculpt, make music and try to do it as authentically as I can.

You did a cover of Bill Withers Aint No Sunshine When Shes Gone. Was that difficult to translate into a jazz song because of thewell-knownlyrics?

It was easy to translate because its a beautiful melody and the lyrics arewonderful. I always try to play the lyrics through the trumpet. Its a little challenging because the Bill Withers record is memorable and one most people treasure. I didnt want to step on it in any way and wanted it to be my own way of presenting it. When we hit on it, it felt good. Thats the beautiful part about the arts for me its all about a feeling and if you think too hard about it, you lose the feeling. If you try to analyze a piece of art, I think you go past it, go sidewaysbut not go in it. To go in it, you must forget what you know and go for the feeling.

You incorporated a lot of different sounds and instruments from around the world into Louis Armstrongs What A Wonderful World. Why did you do that?

I was doing What A Wonderful World in a way that honored Louis Armstrong, because I wasnt trying to cover itbut express the idea that what he said and answer the question kids asked him like, "What do you mean its a wonderful world? What about the destruction, the warsand the poverty?" and hed say, "Its all about love, baby." But I wanted to play that song and, in the middle, put in instruments from all over the world and how we are all united as artists. Were all interconnected, and I think thats the way I think a lot of us would like the world to feel.

Herb Alpert received the National Medal of the Arts from President Obama in 2013.(Photo: Submitted)

Recording technology has come a long way. Do you feel that its made music better or thatthe beauty of recording music has gone away?

When I started before tape recorders, I had a Webcor wire recorder. This was before tape was invented. You couldnt edit on that, if you wanted to.You needed a soldering iron. Then there was the mono machine and a two-track stereo, then there was three-track, four-track, eight-track and 16-track. The digital age came with zeros and ones and now theres infinite numbers of tracks. Its a whole different world.

In the '60s and '70s, we used to get the band together in the studio to record and feel the energy of all the musicians I worked with. I did an album called Whipped Cream & Other Delights Re-Whipped based off the "Whipped Cream & Other Delights album with producersfrom different parts of the country that remixed that album and wanted me to add a couple of horn parts. They would send me what they were working on and Id put on the horn part that I liked at my studio and send them back just the trumpet and theyd put my trumpet back into the mix and do what they had to do. I never met those guys and they could have been in Afghanistan. We made this good album together, but I never laid eyes on these guys. Its a different world and the album isnt that bad, but its not that same feeling of walking into a studio with a series of musicians and coming out with something youre excited about.

Vinyl records have made a big comeback and Whipped Cream and Other Delightsis in demand on vinyl. Is music a better experience on vinyl?

The average person is so conditioned to wanting things quickly because of the TV and 24-hour news, they dont listen to music like theyre capable of listening. They judge too quickly. If youre listening to someone who has something serious to say musically, you cant put on 10 or 20 seconds of it and make a judgment. You need to spend time analyzing, listening and feeling what the person is trying to communicate. But if youre impatient and dont have that ability, its a different world. We dont seem to have the patience required to listen to great artists anymore.

Youve donated a lot of money to music education. Do you feel music is still a good career path?

(laughs) You have to be lucky. The timing has to be in your corner, but unless youre really passionate about being a musician, dont even try it. There are so many great musicians around the world struggling to make ends meet to keep their passion alive. We have to get back into the education of these young kids coming up where they can appreciate classical, jazz and all the different genres and where they come from. Jazz is one of the unique art forms of all time that has come out of the United States that is, in my opinion, overlookedbecause its all about freedom and thats what were looking for all around the world. We want to be ourselves and the people were intended to be. Jazz expresses that feeling.To appreciate it, you have to understand the roots.

Herb Alpert and a collection of his totem pole sculptures.(Photo: Courtesy of Sunnylands)

How can we keep jazz alive?

Its going to take education. We have to make sure its not just a privilege to have an education with music and the arts for kids at an early age, but it should be a right for them to have that.

As the owner of Vibrato Jazz Grill in Los Angeles, what makes for a good jazz club atmosphere?

First, it has to be acoustically beautiful. It needs to represent the sound coming from the stage. The environment, the colors, the feeling of walking into a place and feeling comfortable is a good start. Ive been into a lot of clubs and just by the feeling of it, you dont think its going to be good, but the sound might be good. If you can combine a good feeling in a club with acoustically beautiful sound, that would be a great combination.

What:Herb Alpert and Lani Hall

When: 7 p.m., Jan. 27

Where: McCallum Theatre,73-000 Fred Waring Dr., Palm Desert

How much: $35-$55

Information:(760) 340-2787

Desert Sun reporter Brian Blueskye covers artsand entertainment. Hecan be reached at brian.blueskye@desertsun.com or (760) 778-4617. Support local news,subscribe to The Desert Sun.

Read or Share this story: https://www.desertsun.com/story/life/2020/01/23/herb-alpert-finds-freedom-jazz-whipped-cream-over-rainbow/4533998002/

More here:

Herb Alpert finds 'freedom' in jazz, from 'Whipped Cream' to 'Over the Rainbow' - Desert Sun