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(More customer reviews)Five MARVELOUS Stars!!! Grammy-winners Herb Alpert and wife Lani Hall perform intimate, jazz-charged songs recorded live in front of enthusiastic club audiences across the nation. And this CD shows their artistry is still burning bright after 5 decades of musical excellence, indeed one performance is Grammy-nominated. The 60's was a period of musical consolidation and discovery, and highly visible in the mix was recording company executive Alpert as the driving trumpet force of the mixed-bag "Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass" group. And Lani Hall's fluid, hip, sweet voice was the driving vocal force of Sérgio Mendes' jazzy mixture of bossa nova, Beatles, Simon & Garfunkle, funky piano, and pop standards wrapped in a group he called "Brasil '66". Both of these groups were part of Alpert's stable of artists under his high-selling A&M recording company label. The spell of latin rhythms was key: the "Brass" had hits with "Tijuana Taxi" and the "Lonely Bull", while Mendes' mixed straight Brazilian popular music (MPB) like "Mas Que Nada", with Americanized versions ("For Me" was Mendes' English-version of the huge Brazilian-Portuguese hit "Arrastão" that made Elis Regina a star), and with Beatles' hits like "Fool On The Hill". Alpert even made a record-setting splash with disco/dance era chart-topper Rise, while Hall was making Spanish-only CDs (Lani Hall - Es Facil Amar won her a Grammy) and singing a Bond movie theme ("Never Say Never"). This CD centers around standards, originals, and MPB and has both surprises and revelations of their still-evolving musicality. Bill Cantos (piano, keyboards, and background vocals), Hussain Jiffry (electric bass) and Michael Shapiro (drums & percussion) offer exceptional support.
The 'best of the best' begins with "Fascinating Rhythm" featuring both a sassy Hall blending with Alpert on vocals and with Alpert stretching farther out in solo than expected on muted trumpet. Djavan's "Para-raio" (Lightning Rod) finds Hall wonderfully showing off her Portuguese vocal gymnastics, with Alpert ripping off a wonderful open bell trumpet solo. "The Trolley Song", "It's Only a Paper Moon" (using open and muted bells on a unique double-bell trumpet which allows immediate switching), the closer "Laura" (in a Tijuana Brass mode), and the Grammy-nominated "Besame Mucho" find Alpert on trumpet with the trio playing with fire and humor. An unusual "Old Black Magic" has Hall and muted Alpert shifting to a minor chord and mood that effectively recasts this old Tin Pan Alley classic. Perhaps best of all is Ivan Lins' classic "Dinorah"/Morning", where Hall finds new vocal nuances in a song that has been recorded by everyone from Elis Regina to George Benson. Alpert shows off excellent chops and ideas in his solo as does pianist Cantos. "Morning Coffee" by Cantos is a pure expression of what we have always known: Lani Hall is an exceptional jazz vocalist who has sung to us over the years, through many demanding solo and group contexts, in multiple languages. "Who Are You?" (Cantos, again!) has Hall singing beautifully, recalling the days of superb gems like "Slow Hot Wind" and "So Many Stars". "Anything Goes" is wrapped in Thelonious Monk's "Misterioso": an arrangement that works surprisingly very well. This CD, which has clear, immediate sound, shows that Ms Hall and Mr Alpert are vital performers and hopefully have other musical surprises in store for us in the future. Highly Recommended. Five JAZZY Stars!!
(Trivia: The combination of Alpert's #1 "This Guy's In Love With You" (vocal) in '68 and #1 "Rise" (instrumental) in '79 set a Billboard chart first for an artist going to #1 separately as a vocalist and instrumentalist. Lani Hall and Herb Alpert are the parents of actress Aria Alpert.
This review is based on an iTunes Plus download with digital booklet and IMDB.com information.)
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Iconic trumpeter and bandleader Herb Alpert and his wife, renowned singer Lani Hall, present original arrangements of classic American standards with the color of Brazilian music scattered throughout.
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