Alpert – horn in hand, creative spirit in soul

At this stage in his career, Herb Alpert has earned the right to play whatever he is in the mood for.

The 79-year-old famed hornblower, legendary music executive and untiring arts advocate released his latest album, titled appropriately “In the Mood,” late last month. The eclectic release from the nine-time Grammy winner (including his latest, won earlier this year) includes an eclectic mix of classics from “Blue Moon” to “Spanish Harlem” and “America the Beautiful.”

Still far from just resting on his considerable laurels as frontman of Tijuana Brass, co-founder of A&M Records and recipient of the National Medal of Arts, Alpert keeps trying to push his sound to new and unexpected heights.

“I just picked songs that seemed to pop up in my memory bank (for the album). Before A&M Records, before Tijuana Brass, I used to play a lot of weddings and parties and did the standard songs and pop songs of the day,” Alpert said in a phone interview from his Malibu home. “My pursuit is always to do known songs in a way they haven’t been done before. That’s what gives me a lot of joy.”

In which case Alpert’s new cover of the classic swing tune “Chattanooga Choo Choo” should have him over the moon. The upbeat ditty is almost unrecognizable amid a thud of electro beats and whirl of synth grooves. Alpert’s horn connects the electronic dance sounds to the original melody, rising distinctly amid the buzz and pop of modernity.

The track leads off “In the Mood” and was recorded with Alpert’s nephew Randy Badazz, who works in electronica.

“The song is by Glenn Miller, 1941, and was a big hit then. Still it was a rarity then. So that was another one of those melodies I remember from the past and found a way to do it with my nephew, Randy,” Alpert said. “He came up with groove and melody. And it was working. So I thought if I have a good time playing it, I think people might like listening to it, too.”

He brings that same spirit to his current tour with his wife, singer Lani Hall. The pair will perform at the Gallo Center for the Arts on Nov. 9.

Hall has won two Grammys, one in 1986 for Best Latin Pop Performance and another in 2013 with Alpert as co-producer of his “Steppin’ Out” album, which won for best pop instrumental album. She also sang the theme for the 1983 James Bond film “Never Say Never Again.”

“First off I wouldn’t be doing it without her, she’s my soul mate and best friend,” Alpert said of his wife, to whom he will be married for 41 years in December. “She’s very musical and a word-class singer and a great artist. I enjoy being with her and working with her. We’re very compatible, although very opposite. So it’s a big win for me.”

Alpert called their “In the Mood” tour a true mix of music. He will include a medley of songs from his days leading Tijuana Brass, the Latin-tinged smooth jazz ensemble that sold more than 70 million albums since its start in 1962. He also will pull from his newest album for what he calls a “spontaneous show.”

“Each night is different and it’s always a little different show. My band is free to play whatever they want to play in the confines of harmonic structure, that makes it fun for me,” he said. “It’ll be a jazz set with a trio behind us. It’s very transparent, you get to hear me and my wife. No one is covering us up.”

There’s definitely no covering up Alpert’s impact on the music industry. Besides his own music with Tijuana Brass and as a solo artist – he still holds the distinction of being the only artist with No. 1 instrumental (“Rise,” 1979) and vocal singles (“This Guy’s in Love With You”, 1968) – he will be remembered as the “A” in A&M Records.

Alpert started the record company in 1962 with his business partner, Jerry Moss. Together they signed acts as diverse as Peter Framton, The Carpenters, Cat Stevens, Carole King, Janet Jackson and Sting.

Still, Alpert, who with Moss sold A&M Records to PolyGram in 1989, said he is glad he is out of the record executive business these days.

“Most of the major companies are run by lawyers instead of artists and musicians, so their concept of music is a little different than what we had in 1962,” he said. “We were thinking about making music that touched us and maybe it’d touch other people. We had a whole organization involved in making sure the record sounded good. Right now it’s like a different world; that’s not their pursuit. It’s the bottom line; how many records you’ll sell in six months. In big companies if an artist releases a record and it doesn’t happen right away they’re onto the next artist. We were picking artists who had a different thing to say, not the beat of the week. The Cat Stevens, The Police – they were different than what was reflected in the Top 10 then. We gave them a chance.”

But he said today’s often-limiting corporate music landscape isn’t because of a lack of talent.

“The irony is there’s a lot of great artists out there, probably more than when I started,” he said. “They’re from different parts of the world. It’s a matter of getting heard. The artists who can work their way through the Internet have a better chance.”

And while he isn’t signing artists anymore, Alpert has been doing his part to give more a chance through his Herb Alpert Foundation and the Herb Alpert Award in the Arts. The former supports youth arts education and the latter is an annual $75,000 award for mid-career artists. The awards celebrated their 20th anniversary this year.

“I feel like I have to do something that helps support the arts because the arts have been so good to me. Through the arts you can learn to appreciate your own uniqueness,” he said. “When I was 8 years old I was given the opportunity in my grammar school. I was lucky enough to pick up the trumpet and it changed my life.”

This story was originally published October 30, 2014 at 2:00 AM with the headline "Alpert – horn in hand, creative spirit in soul."