Herb Alpert
Over the Rainbow
(Herb Alpert Presents)


The call-to-action bleating solo horn intro of “Skinny Dip,” flowing into a MOR, almost Latin beat, opens Herb Alpert’s Over The Rainbow. A musician of Alpert’s bearing and talent knows not to overstay his welcome, and the kick-off tune here ends just about where it should, leading us into the sweet read on this dozen.

“Ain’t No Sunshine,” falls with blurping beat under Alpert managing round Bill Wither’s famous melody perfectly. An “AutoTuned” vocal marks something interesting as do the female backing vocals.

The title track starts with very soft with piano and harmony vocal. When Alpert’s horn slides in over the piano and rising strings, we have a masterpiece take on the classic.

Not that I was ever a big fan, but “Copacabana,=” here is a nice big send up with great heavy percussion, a solid mix of singers, and Alpert’s horn fitting smack dab in the middle of the heady mix. “You Are So Beautiful,” is a competent read, but there’s nothing much happening with what Alpert and his players are managing, sorry to say, while “You Are Always On My Mind,” flicks along at a steady pace and has a fun background layering of instruments. This might be one of the best here where Alpert really has a good time with the melody.

“What A Wonderful World,” begins with a slightly icky talk-lesson from Alpert, but thankfully the slips into another island-like blurping beat with Alpert providing a solid melody.