50

Pop trumpet legend Herb Alpert marks his 50th album and updates his classic 60s Tijuana Brass sound on 2024s aptly titled 50. Its a contemporary lounge music aesthetic hes been cultivating for over a decade and one that has garnered him yet more accolades, including a Grammy award for 2013s Steppin Out and a Grammy nomination for 2016s Human Nature. As with those albums and its predecessor, 2023s Wish Upon a Star, 50 finds the 89-year-old Alpert reworking a mix of beloved jazz and pop standards along with several original songs. Prominently featured is the Broadway standard "Baubles, Bangles and Beads," which strike a familiar cocktail party jazz vibe. Yet more unexpected is his jaunty rendition of the Chords classic 1954 doo wop hit "Sh-Boom," which fits surprisingly well into the Tijuana Brass style. We also get a smoky take on the Elvis Presley ballad "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" and a sparkling electronic jazz reimagining of pianist Duke Pearsons hard bop number "Jeanine," made famous by Cannonball Adderley in 1960. Elsewhere, he revisits his passion for bossa nova on Antonio Carlos Jobims "Corcovado" and even takes on the surf classic "Sleep Walk," his warm tone framed in a nostalgic sea of orchestral strings. Of the originals, both the upbeat "Dancing Down 50th Street" and the romantic, vocal harmony-tinged "Morning Mist" evoke the best trumpet-led mood music of Alperts long and influential career. ~ Matt Collar