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Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass blow the house down at the Byham | TribLIVE.com
Concert Reviews

Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass blow the house down at the Byham

Alexis Papalia
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Courtesy Herb Alpert
Herb Alpert, band leader of the legendary Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, performed with the band at the Byham Theater in Downtown Pittsburgh on May 12.

At 90 years old, Herb Alpert is still going strong.

“My sister is 98 years old,” he said to the applause of the sold-out crowd at the Byham Theater in Downtown Pittsburgh at Monday night’s show. “She said, ‘Why are the world are you doing this?’ I’ll tell you the honest truth, it gives me energy.”

The energy was certainly buzzing from the stage as the legendary trumpeter and six other musicians played through the decades of music history made by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass. The show was called “Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass and Other Delights,” referencing the now-60-year-old platinum record by the original band, “Whipped Cream and Other Delights.”

The band played five songs from the classic album, including the sunny “Whipped Cream” and a showstopping instrumental rendition of “Love Potion No. 9,” which gave each of the talented players in the ensemble an opportunity to solo.

After the bouncy, stop-starting “A Taste of Honey,” Alpert told the story of how the song became a huge hit.

“That song was on the B-side of a single,” he said. But after seeing the reaction of crowds in Seattle, he pushed for it to be an A-side, believing it would be a hit.

“It opened the door for the Tijuana Brass. That was the song that was on ‘The Tonight Show,’ Andy Williams, Danny Kaye, the ‘Ed Sullivan Show.’ ”


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It’s easy to see why. Despite his business partner Jerry Moss’s insistence that you can’t dance to “A Taste Of Honey,” it’s hard to resist when you see it live — much like many of their other songs.

The most danceable of all is probably “Rise,” a disco-ified hit from 1979 with an undeniable funk bassline and horns so bright and brassy that they’d rival any mirror ball. It’s amazing to see how seamlessly the Tijuana Brass was able to move through musical phases in the late 20th century, with true musicianship carrying through the fashionable genres of any given year.

This was a show all about looking back at the history of Herb Alpert and his band — and keeping focus, as no cameras or phones were permitted inside the venue. He enjoyed telling stories and sharing commentary on a few different songs. He may not sing much, but he’s a charismatic showman when he talks. There were also large screens above the band that projected relevant historical images, video clips and photographs during each song.

The show started, in fact, with a 1967 clip of the band on the game show “What’s My Line?” Then, jazz legend Louis Armstrong appeared, introducing some long-ago television audience — and the current live audience — to Alpert.

Speaking of game shows, the band played a tune that would undoubtedly be familiar to vintage game show fans, even for those who don’t know Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass: “Spanish Flea,” also known as the infectious and flirty theme song of “The Dating Game.” After they finished, some in the crowd requested that they “play it again!”

Leaving few stones unturned, Alpert did sing the song he’s most known for lending his voice to, 1968 solo recording “This Guy’s In Love With You.” It’s a lovely ballad that does, in fact, include some trumpet and was a nice sentimental note in an upbeat evening. During the song, images of Alpert and his wife of 52 years, Lani Hall, flashed in a slideshow on the screens.

Then, to the surprise and delight of the crowd, Alpert brought Hall onstage. They met when the Tijuana Brass toured with Brasil ‘66, the band in which she was serving as lead singer. Together, they paid tribute to Sérgio Mendes, the band leader of Brasil ‘66 who passed away in September. Their rendition of “The Fool on the Hill” was especially touching.

Before taking the evening into its home stretch, Alpert — whose foundation has contributed tens of millions of dollars to arts education programs from Harlem to Los Angeles — spoke on the importance of boosting art. “We’ve got to do something for our artists. For some reason our politicians don’t get it. … This country is built on innovation,” he said.

They got the audience clapping along to the fast-then-slow-then-fast “Zorba the Greek,” finishing with a big flourish, and then continued on to two encores. Closing the night on an optimistic note, Alpert put an extra dose of sweetness into an instrumental version of the standard “On the Sunny Side of the Street” and ended on another one of those “I know I’ve heard this somewhere” classics, “Tijuana Taxi.”

Even if you came into the evening knowing nothing at all about Herb Alpert, the show conferred a sense of historical gravity that placed the Tijuana Brass right in the center of a decades-old pop culture universe. And Alpert himself is so charming that he made every person in the audience feel like an old friend.

With a world-class band of trumpeters, drums, guitar, bass, keys, marimba and trombone, every musical box was checked by these musicians — with a flair that was just the cherry on top of the sundae.

Alexis Papalia is a TribLive staff writer. She can be reached at apapalia@triblive.com.

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