To the entire music business, Alpert remains the “A” in A&M Records,
one of the most visionary record labels of the last half century. In 1990
as a tide of corporate takeovers swept the industry, he became the last of
a generation of record men – along with his partner Jerry Moss – to sell
the company he founded.
“I have never to this day met two finer gentlemen,” said A&M artist Sting
in 2006, inducting them into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. “They
began distributing records from a garage in Hollywood and wound up
with the
largest and most successful independent record company in the
world.”
(“I haven't seen this many people since I played bar mitzvahs
years ago,”
Alpert responded a few minutes later.)
Yet all these high profile achievements only begin to define the generous
extent of Herb Alpert’s creative spirit. Today, the litany of Alpert’s public
and lesser-known accomplishments also include:
- Abstract expressionist of respect and critical renown: his canvases
and sculptures are praised for defining a flowing, visual vocabulary of their own. - Broadway producer with a talent for sniffing out prize-winning
theater: he has helped bring to Broadway Tony Kushner’s “Angels
in America,” Arthur Miller’s “Broken Glass,” August Wilson’s
“Seven Guitars,” and Gregory Hines’s “Jelly’s Last Jam.”
