Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
HERB ALPERT & LANI HALL IN OUTSTANDING, JAZZY LIVE PERFORMANCES, August 18, 2009
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. 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), and "Besame Mucho" and the closer "Laura" (in a Tijuana Brass mode) 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 as both 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 information.)
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
WELCOME HOME MR. & MRS. A., August 31, 2009
It might surprise many of you that it is now 47 years since Herb Alpert released his first album, "The Lonely Bull." It certainly surprised me that it has been 10 years since his last release, 1999's "Colors." Listening to his new CD "Anything Goes" the big question that comes to mind is "Where have you been Herb?"
Between his multi-million selling string of successes with the Tijuana Brass (all of which have been recently reissued in remastered versions) and his disco period (which produced hits such as "Rise" and "Diamonds" with its Janet Jackson vocals), it is easy to forget that Herb Alpert comes from a jazz background, especially if you were amongst the many who didn't buy his albums in the 80s and 90s. Yet he was able to blow toe-to-toe with Hugh Masekela in 1978 and has produced such lovely music as his "Under The Spanish Moon" and "My Abstract Heart" albums to mention two.
Well after sitting out most of the '00 decade, Herb Alpert is back with a straight-forward jazz album and a live one at that. He is by turns sprightly ("It's Only A Paper Moon,") subtle ("That Old Black Magic" or "Let's Face The Music And Dance"), playful ("The Trolley Song"), sultry ("Besame Mucho") and flat-out swinging ("Laura"). He even puts down his horn and sings, as he did on his biggest hit "This Guy's In Love With You," on the tender "I've Grown Accustomed To Her Face."
Luckily for us he leaves the bulk of the singing to his wife, Lani Hall. If the name doesn't ring a bell, she was one of the femme singers front and center in Sergio Mendes and Brasil '66 when they scored most of their big hits. Personally one of the biggest musical disappointments in my life was when she put her singing career on the back burner in favor of wife and motherhood. And I apparently am not alone inasmuch as when a rare Lani Hall CD shows up on eBay it brings big bucks.
Consequently it is a true pleasure to have her back and live, using that warm, enveloping, lovely voice that her cult of fans have been missing. And her husband is not afraid to let her shine, which she does over and over whether it is on standards ("Fascinating Rhythm," "Let's Face The Music And Dance," "Anything Goes," and "I've Got You Under My Skin") or sambas ("Para-Raio" and "Dinorah/Morning"). While all of the previously mentioned titles are wonderful, the true standouts for Mrs. Alpert are the uptempo "Morning Coffee" and the lovely ballad "Who Are You?" (with some background help from Bill Cantos).
This CD is a wonderful surprise which made me realize just how much I've been missing new music from this pair of brilliant artists and performers. You may not realize it yet but you do need this CD. I hope it won't be another decade before they re-emerge with more wonderful new music like this gift they have just given us.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Handsome Musical Sound, October 2, 2009
Herb Alpert, Lani Hall & Company create a top notch musical experience in concert with "Anything Goes" that sounds better with each repeated listening.
It's wonderful to hear Lani's voice treating us to her Great American Songbook interpretations and still romping like a Brasilian thoroughbred through "Pararaio." The crystalline sound amplifies every nuance in her supple vocals--she's stated she vocalizes everyday and this recording finds her in excellent form.
Herb's solos and background riffs are grand and "Besame Mucho" really cooks, as well as "Laura." There is also a lovely twist on his take of "I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face", that surprises the listener with a musical O Henry ending.
The backup group lead by composer/pianist Bill Cantos is top notch ... you can tell everyone is having fun here!
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