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HERB ALPERT – “A TRULY GREAT AMERICAN MUSICIAN AND ARRANGER” 13 ALPERT TITLES RETURN TO BILLBOARD CATALOG JAZZ CHART TOP 50
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This month, Herb Alpert – the iconic trumpeter, composer, record label executive, sculptor and philanthropist – is celebrating the 50th anniversary of a remarkable 1966 in which he won four GRAMMY Awards and sold over 13 million records. To honor this landmark year, 24 of his classic albums were remastered from the original analog tapes and reissued for the first time, several of which have been out of print for a number of years. Additionally, this Friday he will release an album of new material, inspired by electronic and dance music, called ‘Human Nature.’ This is Herb’s fourth album of new music in just three years. It features five new original compositions and Herb’s signature re–imagining of classics like Michael Jackson’s “Human Nature,” Burt Bacharach’s “Alfie” and “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart,” and Bacharach and Elvis Costello’s “Look Up Again.” On the heels of the reissues, 13 of Herb’s albums returned to the Billboard Top 50 Catalog Jazz albums chart. 11 of his titles are currently in the Top 100 Jazz albums on Amazon. Billboard also listed Herb at #7 on their Greatest Of All Time Billboard 200 Artists list this year. This week Herb talked with public radio music show Sound Opinions about his “remarkable, multi-faceted career” – from being inspired by the sights and sounds of a bullfight to thinking the iconic “Whipped Cream” album cover was a little too racy at the time. Listen to the 40–minute interview here: http://www.soundopinions.org/show/565 Website Dangerous Minds also feted Herb’s catalog, saying that he “produced some of the most iconic and pleasing pieces of instrumental pop music of the 1960s, at times outselling even the Beatles and shifting some 70 million albums…the very fine music of Herb Alpert stands the test of time admirably. He was – and still is – a truly great American musician and arranger.”
A 2006 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, Alpert’s albums have sold over 72 million copies, and 29 of his records have reached the Billboard 200. Herb has also dedicated his life to philanthropy, funding programs that include arts education, jazz and support to professional artists. Through the Herb Alpert Foundation, he has endowed the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, the Herb Alpert School of Music at CalArts and most recently the Music Department at Los Angeles City College. This gift to LACC provides free attendance, additional private lessons and further financial aid to music majors. Herb has also established the Herb Alpert Scholarships for Emerging Young Artists at California State Summer School for the Arts, and the Herb Alpert Award in the Arts administered by Cal Arts for the past 22 years. LA Times piece by Carolina Miranda on Herb Alpert’s gift to LACC. Largest gift to an individual community college in the history of Southern California. TOUR: Herb Alpert Bio. |
