Legendary musician, artist, record label executive, and philanthropist Herb Alpert has shared a new single “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” ahead of the release of his 50th studio album, aptly titled 50, next week. The Elvis Presley favorite serves as the album’s oldest composition. Written in 1927, it embodies everything Alpert looks for in a tune: “simple and striking at the same time,” he says. Alpert gives the melody the most space of any on the album; his trumpet line cuts through, stark and intimate, over a bed of piano and synthesized strings.
Listen To “Are You Lonesome Tonight?”
Pre-Order/Pre-Save 50 HERE
“Are You Lonesome Tonight?” follows lead single “Dancing Down 50th Street,” an infectious dance track mixing the flavor of his Tijuana Brass days with a modern groove, and also one of Alpert’s several brand new original compositions featured on the album. Stereogum raved “The legendary trumpeter Herb Alpert has had one hell of a life in music...He’s still going now. Amazing."
50 will mark an extraordinary milestone in Alpert’s storied six-decade music career, and will also commemorate another significant landmark as it celebrates 50 years of marriage to his wife, collaborator, and touring partner, Lani Hall, their golden anniversary.
"I am fortunate to still be exploring and having fun making music,” stated Alpert. “When I first started recording, I had a one-track wire recorder. Today I make music using digital recording with unlimited recording tracks. The one thing, for me, that has always remained the same, no matter one-track, two-tracks or 100 tracks, is that it is ALWAYS about finding a great song or melody. A great song or melody recorded on one-track will always be a great song.”
50 distills everything that makes a great Herb Alpert release, combining evocative originals and ingenious covers from throughout pop music history, with Alpert’s unmistakable trumpet melodies leading the action. Many of the songs on 50 date back to the 1950s, including pop-vocal, rock’n’roll, and jazz favorites. It was the decade when Alpert got his start in the record industry, still a few years out from his career-making success with the Tijuana Brass, the young songwriter was learning lessons that helped him shape his signature musical voice. Integrating modern techniques into retakes of older songs is one of Alpert’s signatures. His tasteful adaptability is part of what has helped keep him at the front of the cultural consciousness for nearly seven decades.
Track Listing:
01) Dancing Down 50th Street
02) Sh-Boom
03) Are You Lonesome Tonight?
04) Baubles, Bangles And Beads
05) Morning Mist
06) Never Too Late
07) Where Do We Go From Here
08) Sleep Walk
09) Corcovado
10) Jeannine
Tour Dates:
10/08 - Folsom, CA @ Harris Center
10/09 - Campbell, CA @ Campbell Heritage Theatre
10/10 - Walnut Creek, CA @ Lesher Center for the Arts
10/12 - Santa Barbara, CA @ Lobero Theatre
10/13 - Scottsdale, AZ @ Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts
12/10 - Nashville, TN @ TBA
12/11 - Chattanooga, TN @ TBA
12/13 - Atlanta, GA @ TBA
12/14 - Metairie, LA @ TBA
12/15 - Houston, TX @ TBA
02/11 - Ft. Lauderdale, FL @ TBA
02/12 - Sarasota, FL @ TBA
02/13 - Orlando, FL @ TBA
02/15 - Augusta, GA @ TBA
02/16 - Charlotte, NC @ TBA
