Photo by Dewey Nicks
(MORRISTOWN, NJ) -- Music icon Herb Alpert and his wife Lani Hall, Grammy-winning vocalist and former lead singer of Brasil 66 with Sergio Mendes, perform an evening of jazz at Mayo Performing Arts Center (MPAC) on Friday, July 28, 2023 at 8:00pm. Tickets range from $49-$79.
Herb, Lani and their incredible band perform an eclectic mix of American standards, Brazilian jazz, some classic Tijuana Brass & Brasil '66 songs as well as many surprises. The shows are informal as Herb loves to discuss his and Lani's storied music careers, A&M Records and the many iconic artists they have both worked with over the past 50 years.
He recently announced that his new album Wish Upon A Star will be released on September 15. The 49th studio album from the prolific trumpeter is filled to the brim with new takes on classic songs from Jerry Reed, Elvis, The Beatles, Cat Stevens, and The Carpenters among others. Produced by Alpert and recorded at his home in Los Angeles, the album continues to serve up the unmistakable trumpet playing of the Tijuana Brass master, who just turned 88 this year.
Wish Upon A Star will be the followup to 2022’s Sunny Side of the Street which reached #7 on the Billboard Current Contemporary Jazz Albums chart, and 2021’s Catch the Wind which reached #2. Herb's Grammy-winning album and title track Rise, released in 1979, again surged to the top of the 2022 charts, 42 years after it last dominated the airwaves, thanks to the classic soundtrack of the NETFLIX hit film, Spiderhead, starring Chris Hemsworth and Miles Teller. Sunny Side of the Street contained the hit singles - "I'll Remember You," Louis Armstrong's "On the Sunny Side of the Street," as well as "Tickle Time," "Here She Comes" and "Pata Pata."
In January 2022, Lani Hall released Seasons of Love, her first album in 24 years. Emotionally and thematically, Seasons of Love reflects the depth and breadth of Lani and Herb's 49 years as marriage partners and artistic collaborators. On the LP, Lani brings her rich life experience, deepened perspective and accrued wisdom to a song cycle that explores the nuances of an enduring relationship. Speaking to the title track of her album from the Broadway musical hit Rent, Lani said, "I love the beautiful message and I love how this song breaks down life in increments." The album reached the top 10 on the Contemporary Jazz Album chart.
As an industry leader, Alpert’s commitment to artists with personal vision guided A&M Records (with partner Jerry Moss) from a Hollywood garage operation into one of the most successful independent record labels in music history, with stars including Janet Jackson, Quincy Jones, Cat Stevens, The Carpenters, Carole King, Sheryl Crow, Peter Frampton, The Police and scores of others.
Tickets for the July 28th show at Mayo Performing Arts Center (MPAC) range from $49-$79 and are available for purchase online. MPAC is located at 100 South Street in Morristown, New Jersey.
Through the Herb Alpert Foundation, Herb and Lani have dedicated their lives to philanthropy, funding programs that help bring creativity to young students and keep creativity alive for all the arts, for artists young and old, including jazz education and programs that teach compassion and well-being. May 2022 marked the 28th anniversary of the Herb Alpert Award in the Arts celebrating 140 awardees over the past 28 years. 2021 also brought the opening of the newly remodeled Harlem School of the Arts at the Herb Alpert Center, funded entirely by Herb and Lani Alpert. During the pandemic, the Foundation dramatically increased its emergency funding to artists in need through organizations such as Chrysalis, the Jazz Foundation, the Good People’s Fund and Artists Relief.
