five things to know about:
Herb ALpert & Lani Hall 

Aug 10, 2022 | by Rusty Aceves

Herb Alpert & Lani Hall

We welcome legendary trumpeter, composer, and general Renaissance man Herb Alpert back to SFJAZZ this week (8/11–14) along with his musical partner, wife, and Brasil ‘66 vocalist Lani Hall. Here are five things to know about them both.

1. Early Career
   Born in East L.A. to a musical family, Alpert began his trumpet studies at eight and obtained an early wire-based recorder in high school — two events that planted the seeds for this future career in front of and behind the microphone.
   By his early twenties Alpert was a building a career as a composer, writing several Top 20 hits including “Baby Talk” for Jan and Dean and “Wonderful World and “Only Sixteen” for Sam Cooke.
2. Tijuana Brass and After
   During a visit to Tijuana, Mexico in the early 60s, Alpert attended a bullfight and was inspired by the ecstatic way the crowd responded to the trumpet-heavy mariachi music performed during the event.
   Upon returning to his garage studio in Los Angeles, he experimented with layering his trumpet to suggest the mariachi sound through overdubbing on an incomplete recording of composer Sol Lake’s tune “Twinkle Star”, which he renamed “The Lonely Bull” — a self-funded single that would hit #6 on the Billboard Top 10 in the fall of 1962 and become the title track of the debut album by Alpert with his Tijuana Brass project.
   The trumpeter released one to two albums per year throughout the 1960s, recorded either with the legendary group of Los Angeles studio musicians called “The Wrecking Crew” as backing band or the working group Alpert assembled in 1964 to meet the growing demand for live performances.
   The group’s fourth release, 1965’s Whipped Cream and Other Delights, sold over 6 million copies and became a cultural icon for its peppy mix of instrumental versions of pop hits and an unforgettable cheesecake album cover.
   All told, the Tijuana Brass won Alpert multiple GRAMMYs and he scored hits with a procession of singles including “Tijuana Taxi,” “Lollipops and Roses,” “Love Potion #9,” “Tangerine,” “A Taste of Honey,” “Spanish Flea,” “This Guy’s in Love with You,” and “Third Man Theme,” among others. Fifteen albums sold enough for RIAA gold certification and 14 went platinum, and Alpert made the Guinness Book of World Records for having five albums in the Billboard Top 10 simultaneously.
   After the dissolution of the Tijuana Brass and its 70s revival called T.J.B., Alpert embraced the sound of soft rock and disco that dominated the airwaves, scoring a massive hit with 1979’s GRAMMY winner Rise.
   Alpert has remained a major force in music to the present day, receiving a Tony Award,  eight GRAMMYs and the GRAMMY Lifetime Achievement Award. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006 and was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Barack Obama in 2013. He has consistently released new albums to critical acclaim and GRAMMY recognition, and his latest is 2022’s Sunny Side of the Street.
3. A&M Records
   In 1962 Alpert and label exec Jerry Moss founded A&M Records, an imprint that initially distributed Alpert’s Tijuana Brass recordings and other pop acts he produced, including Baja Marimba Band and Sérgio Mendes and Brasil ’66.
   Over the following 37 years, A&M became the world’s largest independent label and was home to a host of artists spanning genres from pop and easy listening to punk and soul including Quincy Jones, Wes Montgomery, Janet Jackson, The Police, Rita Coolidge, Blues Traveler, Joe Cocker, Atlantic Starr, Squeeze, the Carpenters, Burt Bacharach, Cat Stevens, Jeffrey Osbourne, The Go-Go’s, Peter Frampton, and dozens more.
   The label was eventually purchased by PolyGram in 1989 and absorbed into the Interscope label in 1999. Alpert and Moss retained control of the label until 1993, when disagreements with PolyGram led to their departure and the formation of their Almo Sounds imprint, which released recordings by Gillian Welch, Garbage, and Ozomatli before also becoming part of Interscope in 1999.
4. Broadway
   In addition to his work as a musician and label owner, Alpert lent his expertise to Broadway, working as producer and co-producer of several noted shows including Angels in America, Jelly’s Last Jam, Broken Glass, Seven Guitars, and rock giant Sting’s autobiographical musical The Last Ship.
5. Lani Hall
   A Chicago native, Lani Hall was discovered by Brazilian pianist and vocalist Sérgio Mendes while she was performing on the city’s coffeehouse scene in 1965. She joined his new ensemble Brasil 66 at age 19, and the group signed to A&M six months later. Their first single, an effervescent version of the Brazilian standard “Mas Que Nada” that featured overdubbed layers of Hall’s voice found immediate chart success and forever became associated with the group. Other hits included the group’s sparkling takes on the Beatles’ “Fool on the Hill” and “Day Tripper,” Burt Bacharach and Hal David’s “The Look of Love,” Simon and Garfunkel’s “Scarborough Fair,” and Mendes’ own “So Many Stars” among others.
   Hall recorded eight albums with Mendes before striking out on her own, recording her debut Sun Down Lady for A&M in 1972. She recorded the title song for the 1983 James Bond film Never Say Never Again, which marked the one-time return of Sean Connery to the role.
   She’s recorded 14 solo albums and co-led four with Herb Alpert. Their 2013 duo release Steppin’ Out won a pair of GRAMMYs, and 1985’s Spanish language release Es Facil Amar won the GRAMMY for Best Latin Pop Performance.
   The singer and Alpert were married in 1973. Their philanthropic work includes the Herb Alpert Foundation for the Arts and Alpert Award in the Arts, They formed and endowed the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, and helped fund CalArts, Los Angeles City College, and the Harlem School of the Arts.

Herb Alpert and Lani Hall perform August 11–14 Tickets are available here.