Examples abound in the TJB catalogue of Alpert’s spontaneous craftsmanship at work. His trumpet prowess can be heard in the lightning, double-tongued line on “Zorba the Greek,” and his taste for humorous sound effects on “Tijuana Taxi.” Through it all was Alpert’s trumpet sound, which had acquired a distinct tone and languid bounce. “There’s a certain rhythmical thing that I do that I think is mine,” Alpert says. “It’s relaxed.”
“A Taste of Honey” serves as a tour-de-force of Alpert’s mastery at arranging, with its use of a sectional approach to song structure that slowly raises the intensity, and rhythm shifts that tease an end to the tune, only to return. Even minor touches – the Basie-like ending, or the extra, “echo” note Alpert adds to the melodic line in the second and third verse – added a dash of hipness that kept the song in the Top 10 for 13 weeks in 1965.
Tired of the road and his bandleader role, Alpert closed down the TJB in 1969, refocusing his energy on his duties at A&M – and returning to his starting point in record production.
