Come Fly with Me [LP]

by Herb Alpert

Overview

Since his 2009 return to regular recording after a ten-year hiatus, trumpeter Herb Alpert has stayed busy releasing albums, some with his wife, vocalist Lani Hall, and others, like 2015's Come Fly with Me, on his own. 80 years old at the time of this release, Alpert has gone from instrumental pop icon of the '60s and '70s to journeyman performer with decades of experience to draw from. Working with a bevy of longtime collaborators including his nephew, programmer Randy "Badazz" Alpert, bassist/guitarist/producer Hussain Jiffry, keyboardist/producer Bill Cantos, keyboardist/guitarist Jeff Lorber, Alpert has crafted a breezy, low-key collection of originals and cover tunes, that nonetheless retains all of the melodic, jazz-inflected style of his classic recordings. Although Alpert takes on a handful of standards here, he approaches them with a creative sense of fun. To these ends, he reworks the classic Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen title track into a Day-Glo, Brazilian bossa nova production. Similarly, on Irving Berlin's "Blue Skies," Alpert's supple trumpet is framed by lush orchestral strings that give way to a laid-back reggae groove accented by vibrato-soaked, Beatles-esque guitar hits. And it's not just Broadway standards that benefit from the Alpertization process -- the Beatles influence pops up again, this time with his stripped-down, ethereal take on the band's 1969 classic "Something." One of the most interesting and effective transformations here is Alpert's R&B style overhaul of "I've Got a Lot of Livin' to Do," from the musical Bye Bye Birdie. Kicking off with an introspective keyboard figure, the song sounds like something along the lines of Miles Davis covering a yearning '90s soul ballad. As with most all of Alpert's post-2009 material, Come Fly with Me is a much more low-key and intimate recording than the productions that marked the best of his '60s Tijuana Brass period. That said, by keeping things simple, Alpert and his collaborators illuminate all of the tenderness and direct lyricism of his horn playing. ~ Matt Collar

Product Details

Release Date:	11/20/2015
Label:	Herb Alpert Presents
UPC:	0814647020020
Rank:	52191

Tracks

1. Come Fly with Me
2. Blue Skies
3. Got a Lot of Livin¿¿¿ to Do
4. Cheeky
5. Take the 'A' Train
6. Love Affair
7. Windy City
8. Sweet and Lovely
9. Walkin¿¿¿ Tall
10. Night Ride
11. Something
12. On the Sunny Side of the Street
13. Danny Boy

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Herb Alpert   Primary Artist
Bill Cantos   Keyboards
Eduardo del Barrio   Piano,Strings,Keyboards
Jeff Lorber   Guitar,Soloist,Keyboards
Scott Mayo   Flute,Vocals,Soloist,Saxophone
Robert Greenidge   Drums (Steel)
Judd Miller   Evi
Michael Shapiro   Drums,Vocals,Percussion
Marcel Camargo   Guitar,Cavaquinho
Jamieson Trotter   Keyboards
Hussain Jiffry   Bass,Guitar

Technical Credits

Bernie Grundman   Mastering
Bill Cantos   Engineer,Producer
Irving Berlin   Composer
Benjamin Weisman   Composer
Eduardo del Barrio   Arranger,Composer,Engineer,Producer,Programming,Orchestration
Jeff Lorber   Arranger,Composer,Engineer,Producer,Programming
Doug Trantow   Mixing
George Harrison   Composer
Scott Mayo   Arranger
James Van Heusen   Composer
Billy Strayhorn   Composer
Michael Shapiro   Arranger,Composer,Producer
Harry Tobias   Composer
Herb Alpert   Mixing,Arranger,Composer,Engineer,Producer
Jamieson Trotter   Arranger,Engineer
Jimmy McHugh   Composer
Dorothy Fields   Composer
Gus Arnheim   Composer
Sammy Cahn   Composer
Brian Porizek   Design,Cover Design,Art Direction
Randy Alpert   Engineer,Programming
Charles N. Daniels   Composer
Hussain Jiffry   Arranger,Composer,Engineer,Producer
Aaron H. Schroeder   Composer
Bill Carlos   Arranger,Producer
Louis Oberiander   Photography