Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass - Warm (2015) [Hi-Res]

Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass shed almost all of the dust of Tijuana on this mellow, richly textured album; one reviewer at the time wrote that Alpert seemed to have exchanged bullrings for wedding rings. Lest one think that the TJB came down with a terminal case of the warm fuzzies, though, there are some selections here that sizzle -- particularly the old standard "The Continental" -- and in terms of arrangements and song selection, the accent falls on Brazil more than on any other TJB album. Shorty Rogers again was called in to provide voices and orchestrations, but he is more tasteful here than on the Christmas Album, the extreme dynamic range on Harry Nilsson's "Without Her" notwithstanding. A different take of "To Wait for Love" -- the lovely, Bacharach-penned, Alpert-sung follow-up to "This Guy's in Love with You" from 1968 -- is included here, as is the fine single "Zazueira." Yet Warm was the first non-seasonal TJB album in some time that couldn't crack the Top 20, for the Brass' cross-generational appeal was fading fast. ~ Richard S. Ginell