Herb Alpert and Lani Hall Light Up Jazz Alley in Seattle

My grandparents owned a stack of records that included everything from classical to "champagne jazz" to opera. I loved thumbing through them all. The cover art alone was marvelous. Grandma told me she and Grandpa used to listen to records every night. They’d get ready for bed, set the needle on an album, and let it play out as they fell asleep.

I can see doing that with one of their albums from the Reader’s Digest collection, Mood Music for Listening and Relaxation. The music itself is like wrapping up in a warm blanket. It is soft and cozy. Listening to it on YouTube at the link below takes me back to riding around in the car with my grandfather, who always had his radio station tuned to music like it.

Other albums I found in their collection include Lawrence Welk, Billy Vaughn, and Guy Lombardo. These musicians are so similar in style, I can just see the Spotify algorithm compiling a playlist now.

Among all those albums, though, I was slightly surprised to find Herb Alpert. His sunshine trumpet tends to be bolder, more upbeat, and dare I say, groovy. They make you want to tap your feet, maybe even get up and dance. It’s not really music you’d fall asleep to unless you were very, very tired.

Even so, Grandma and Grandpa had at least one of his albums in their collection, and I’ve come to love his music because of it. Whenever I listen to Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass now, I am transported back to my grandparents’ living room, having long conversations over all the treasures I found in their stereo console.

I fell in love with Herb’s music long before I knew much about him. Turns out, he’s a legend in modern music. He is the "A" in the A&M Record label. His music is woven into the fabric of an era. Just listen to a few tunes, and you’ll swear you’ve heard them before—because you have. His spirit carries forth the joy and exuberance of someone who lives to create. And he continues to bring that joy to life in person to this day.

Check out a recent release of his song Puttin’ on the Ritz on YouTube. You can see Herb and his wife Lani laughing it up in the video while dancers in the video make the music visual.

Recently, Mike and I had the privilege of seeing him play at Dimitriou's Jazz Alley. He's 89 now and needs to sit down while he plays, but he's still got it.

Lani Hall, his wife of 50 years, was there, too, showcasing her own vocal talent from years spent as lead vocalist with Sergio Mendes.

So many familiar tunes. So many good memories. For two hours, I didn't stop smiling. I even shed a few happy tears.