At 91, trumpet great and pop music impresario Herb Alpert sounds pretty darned good.
The beloved musician brought his “Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass & Other Delights” tour to San Francisco’s Davies Symphony Hall on Tuesday night, delighting fans of a certain age who can’t forget his band’s iconic green album cover with the sexy, whipped cream-clad woman. Members of the capacity crowd seemed to include folks who purchased the hit 1965 LP “Whipped Cream & Other Delights” as well as those who recall it being in their parents’ record collections.
Featuring an excellent six-member band, both jovial and skilled on their myriad instruments, the delightful 90-minute show was no ordinary concert. The celebration of the album’s 60th anniversary also boasted awesome, colorful videos from the 1960s-70s, making for an irresistible trip down memory lane. Judging from the presentation, it seems amazing that MTV was hailed with ushering in the music video age in the 1980s. These decades-earlier videos of Herb, his band and his wife — gallivanting on beaches, in dance halls, in bullrings and more — were wacky, wild and wonderful. (Another particularly fun one was a 1965 Teaberry gum commercial, with dancers moving to the Brass playing the “Teaberry Shuffle.”)
The multimedia show also included clips and photos of Alpert’s famous musical friends, from fellow trumpeter Louis Armstrong to band leader Sérgio Mendes to composer extraordinaire Burt Bacharach.
The show opened with an early hit, “The Lonely Bull.” Alpert said, “It started for me in San Francisco” because KSFO disc jockey Jim Lange played it a lot, and it began selling here. Not long after came “Whipped Cream,” a tune his business partner Jerry Moss (co-founder of the notable indie label A&M Records) alerted him to after Al Hirt turned it down, and “Spanish Flea,” both of which were featured on “The Dating Game” with host Lange!
Alpert and the band — Bill Cantos on piano, Ray Brinker on drums (smiling throughout the evening!), Hussain Jiffry on bass, Kris Bergh on trumpet, Ryan Dragon on trombone and percussion and Kerry Marx on guitar — proceeded to power through hits, including “A Taste of Honey,” “Love Potion No. 9,” “Tijuana Taxi,” “What Now My Love,” “Zorba the Greek,” “Ladyfingers” and “Rise.”
The story of “This Guy’s in Love With You” was charming. Alpert, tasked with taking on vocals even though he really didn’t sing, called his friend Bacharach, who in a few days recommended “This Girl’s In Love With You”; Hal David adjusted the lyrics for gender and Bacharach played piano on the recording. “It caught me totally off guard,” Alpert said, when it became a hit. He added, “Bacharach and David’s first No. 1 record by was by a trumpet player.”
After the show, the line at the merch table in the symphony hall lobby was long. It was good to know that proceeds from the sales of T-shirts, albums and tchotchkes would be going to the Herb Alpert Foundation, which supports the arts.