Pop trumpet icon
Herb Alpert returned to regular activity after an extended hiatus with 2009's
Anything Goes. Since then, he has averaged an album a year, even picking up his eighth Grammy award for 2013's
Steppin' Out and a Grammy nomination for 2016's
Human Nature. 2019's warmly produced
Over the Rainbow keeps this latter-career streak moving as
Alpert offers another set of beloved pop standards reworked in his distinctive contemporary style. Once again joining
Alpert is Grammy-winning producer
Jochem van der Saag, who previously helmed the trumpeter's 2017 album,
Music, Vol. 1, and 2018 effort
Music, Vol. 3: Herb Alpert Reimagines the Tijuana Brass. As with those productions,
Over the Rainbow finds
Alpert putting his bright instrumental stamp on some of his favorite songs. Here, we get a dusky, flamenco-tinged interpretation of
Bill Withers' "Ain't No Sunshine," a sultry rendition of
Earth, Wind & Fire's "Fantasy," and a jaunty, reggae-pop reinvention of the
Willie Nelson classic "Always on My Mind." Elsewhere, there is a moody, synth-backed version of
Eden Abaz's "Nature Boy" and a Brazilian carnival-meets-Mexican fiesta take on "South of the Border." Particularly successful is his Latin reading of
Barry Manilow's "Copacabana," featuring warm vocals by
Hussain Jiffry and
Alpert's wife
Lani Hall. Also pleasing is
Alpert's burnished take on the title track standard, played here with lyrical simplicity following
Michael Shapiro's sung verse. We also get one original in the infectious album-opener "Skinny Dip," a buoyant Latin anthem that, as with much of
Over the Rainbow, evokes the feel-good, cross-border mood music of his classic work. ~ Matt Collar
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