More Tijuana Brass and Herb Alpert Reissues Coming!

Great news for fans of the Tijuana Brass and solo Herb Alpert recordings: Herb Alpert’s nephew, Randy “Badazz” Alpert, has informed us at A&M Corner that they are preparing the next round of reissues for release on the Shout! Factory label. (Randy and Herb worked together with Andy Armer on the Rise and Beyond albums.) Do we have any idea what is going to be released in the second wave?

No, not yet. However, as Tijuana Brass was mentioned, we can probably guess that Volume 2 will get the remastering and tweaking it needs to make it sound good, as Alpert had commented in an interview that the sound of this album (the TJB’s second) was too metallic. Of all the unreleased TJB albums so far, Volume 2 has been mentioned the most. Beside that, the remaining titles that haven’t been released are Warm, The Brass Are Comin’, Summertime, You Smile–The Song Begins and Coney Island.

The whole solo era is wide open. We do know that Rise will be among the reissues, and we’re also hoping that Fandango, a definite fan favorite, makes the cut. Up in the air would be some of his lesser-selling solo recordings, as well as the two albums he cut with fellow horn player Hugh Masekela. Actually, the only solo recording not to get a domestic release prior to now would be the Beyond album, where the title track was a Top 40 hit that followed “Rise” by a year or so. And from what Randy Alpert hinted, they were finding some unreleased tracks…could we see these as bonus tracks, or do we see a Lost Treasures, Vol. 2 in the near future?

What’s on my own personal wish list? Well, yeah, I could say “everything”, and have it be partially true. As these will all be limited in supply, you can bet I’ll wind up getting them all. However, if I were given the ability to pick, I’d probably choose Warm due to its warm Brazilian influence, Coney Island for its exploration into jazz, and Main Event Live since it has never made it to CD. In fact, an expanded version of Main Event Live could include more tracks from that session at A&M’s soundstage–the complete concert, or most of it, would be a welcome addition to the collection, as there actually has never been any other live recording of Herb or the Brass on CD thus far, other than a one-off bonus track on a Japan CD version of Second Wind. Aside from that, I’d like to get Beyond, as it’s the only solo recording of Alpert’s I don’t own on CD. And while I don’t really expect it, Just You and Me would be as surprise to see on CD, as it is an acquired taste, certainly not among his best sellers!

So, we do have great news ahead! We do not yet have a timetable for these releases, but we will have a full report once we get imminent release information from Shout! Factory.