Search - Herb Alpert :: Midnight Sun

"Midnight Sun" . . . I Love This CD!

Rebecca*rhapsodyinblue* | CA USA | 11/29/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

""This album is dedicated to my Forever "Friend" Stan Getz." ~ Herb Alpert ~



In the early seventies, Herb Alpert made his first hit single "This Guy's In Love With You." This is also the very first number one hit song by the talented songwriting team of Burt Bacharach and Hal David. And yes, this is also one of the songs my high school classmates from an exclusive school for girls and I were crazy about back then.



My late father owned a good number of Herb Alpert's LP records from his vast collection, so the trumpet player's music is not new to me when I started my very own collection. A dear friend of mine knowing how much I appreciate exquisite trumpet playing unselfishly gave this delightful CD to me as a just-because-gift and we both loved this collection of beautiful tunes and its arrangements and flawless interpretations. I call it to-die-for music and I can't stop listening to it. It's one of my Desert-Island-CDs. The kind of music you want to hear for all seasons and will never tire listening to it. Many thanks to the very talented Herb Alpert, the brilliant arranger/conductor/pianist Eddie del Barrio, the legendary sax player Stan Getz and the rest of the finest musicians in the jazz scene for making this recording stunningly pleasing to the ears, Monty Budwig (bass), John Pisano, Barry Zweig and Larry Carlton (guitar), Jeff Hamilton and Harvey Mason (drums) and Frank Collett (piano).



This CD, which was released in 1992 opens up with the hauntingly beautiful and my very favorite "Midnight Sun," a tune composed by Lionel Hampton and Sonny Burke in 1947. One of the greatest and my all-time favorite songwriters who has written lyrics to more than a thousand melodies, Johnny Mercer, penned the wonderful lyrics seven years later in 1954. There's a delightful anecdote behind Mr. Mercer's discovery of this song. He was driving along the coast one night and heard this tune being played on the radio and was enchanted by its charming melody. He then called the radio station and asked the DJ about the artist (Lionel Hampton) and the title of the tune. The rest is history.



Two of my spotlighted tracks showcase not only Mr. Alpert's expertise in trumpet but also his soft and mellow vocals, Gershwins' "Someone To Watch Over Me," and Lerner & Lowe's "I've Grown Accustomed To Her Face."



"Friends" featuring his "forever friend" Stan Getz is one of the very highlights and he co-wrote this tune with Eddie del Barrio. The tuneful "In The Wee Small Hours" is poignantly affecting as well as Charles Chaplin/John Terner/Geoffrey Parson's classic "Smile." The beauty of "All The Things You Are," "Mona Lisa," "A Taste Of Honey" and "Silent Tears And Roses" will leave any listener mesmerized.



These are the nice stuff that made this recording a special treat not only to all Herb Alpert fans but also to any music lover who appreciates charming instrumental music.



1. Herb Alpert's exquisitely beautiful trumpet playing.

2. A repertoire of impressive standards penned and composed by the most brilliant songwriters of all-time, Gershwins, Mercer, Hampton & Burke, Hammerstein & Kern, Hilliard & Mann, Lerner & Loewe, Livingston & Evans, Scott & Marlow, Chaplin, Terner & Parson, and Alpert & del Barrio.

3. A bevy of the finest back-up musicians, an outstanding arranger/conductor and a pianist, Eddie del Barrio and not to mention his special guest, Stan Getz.



Who could resist listening to this CD? Get it and enjoy it. This would be a great addition to your collection of the finest music ever recorded. You'll have a lifetime of listening enjoyment. It deserves not five but ten stars.



Very highly recommended!

"

This is one of my favorite recordings of Herb Alpert.

Rebecca*rhapsodyinblue* | 06/09/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This album is not for those desirous of loud and heavy rhythms. Instead, Alpert combines mellowness, melancholy, and melody. All his pieces are tasteful and soothing. "Someone to Watch Over Me" and "I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face" includes Herb's singing."

It's been too many years . . .

Rebecca*rhapsodyinblue* | 03/14/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Midnight Sun has been getting alot of airplay on my local jazz public radio station, so I decided to pick up the CD. This sure wasn't the Herb Alpert I remembered, and that's a positive comment. This CD has some of the coolest hot sounds I've heard in quite a while. It's a great combination of straight forward jazz playing with just the right amount of added texture from strings to give it a sound I've been looking for but hadn't found to date. Now I will definitely have to check out his latest offering that he and Lorber worked on."