The Herb Alpert Sound.
It’s been more than fifty years since Herb Alpert first broke into music, playing parties, talent shows and bar mitzvahs with a trumpet and a high school trio in his native Los Angeles.
Since then, with consistent impact and success, Alpert has pursued the roles of trumpeter and bandleader, as well as producer, composer, arranger, and record company executive. Musically, he moved forward and drew inspiration from a dizzying range of musical styles. Often, he shifted course, taking on new challenges and pursuing new musical flavors and ideas.
There’s little argument that along the way, Alpert crafted a musical identity – a sound – that stands as his own. Fellow trumpeters Miles Davis and Wynton Marsalis have both praised the singularity of his musical stamp. The challenge comes in explaining the genesis and development of that sound, especially as most truly musical paths are ever-flowing and less than linear.