- HERB ALPERT AND THE TIJUANA BRASS
- Kaufman Center, Kansas City, Missouri
- August 5, 2025
The decade of the 1960s gave us some great music. The Beatles. The Supremes. The Doors. Their sound changed the industry forever. You wouldn’t know it by listening to today’s music, but when I was a kid instrumental music – loud horns and sweet strings with no or minimal vocals – ruled the airwaves. Al Hirt. Sergio Mendes and Brasil ‘66. But the king, at least in my house, was Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass. At age 90, Alpert and the Brass took over the Kaufman Center and had the crowd on their feet for two solid hours.
Accompanied by vintage film clips, the show began with the great Louis Armstrong, no slouch on the trumpet himself, introducing the band. As the opening notes of “The Lonely Bull” began, the crowd roared. Something about a trumpet that gets your blood flowing. At age 90, Mr. Alpert could have been excused for taking the occasional break. But he played every note as strong and as sweet as if he was still in his 30s. In between songs he addressed the audience and even invited questions. He told some great stories, from how the “Whipped Cream and Other Delights” came to be to how he met his beautiful wife of 52 years, vocalist Lani Hall, who joined him on stage later in the show for a medley of some of the songs she did as the lead vocalist for Sergio Mendes and Brasil ’66, including “The Look of Lovke” and “Fool on the Hill.”
Before introducing Ms. Hall, Mr. Alpert choked up when talking about his dear friend Sergio Mendes and gave a loving tribute to songwriter Burt Bacharach, who penned his #1 hit “This Guy’s in Love with You.” I’m not sure if Mr. Apert knew it or not, but Bacharach not only grew up in Kansas City but lived about 20 blocks from where the Kaufman Center now stands.
As the band played hit after hit (“Tijuana Taxi,” “A Taste of Honey,” “Rise”) the crowd clapped along, giving many of the numbers well deserved standing ovations. The music brought back so many great memories for my wife and myself. As we left I noticed several young children among the capacity crowd and each one I asked, “did you like it?” gave a resounding “yes!”
The tour runs through January 2026. If you have the opportunity to see Mr. Alpert and the Brass, I urge you to take it. For information on upcoming shows, please click HERE.
SET LIST
The Lonely Bull, Work Song, Whipped Cream, Spanish Flea, Lady Fingers, Lollipops and Roses, Bittersweet Samba, Mexican Shuffle, Tangerine, I’m Getting Sentimental Over You, Love Potion No. 9, This Guy’s in Love with You, a medley of songs with Ms. Hall, Rise, A Taste of Honey, Smile, What Now My Love, A banda, Tijuana Taxi.
Just went to the Herb Alpert concert at Harris Theater in Chicago on August 10th. Totally agree! Loved the concert. Lani Albert’s voice was definitely frail compared to 60 years ago since it was hard to hear her over the instrumentalists. We still love and appreciate her. So wonderful that she and her husband are willing to share some good feelings with the audience by playing those old numbers for us.
At our concert, Herb introduced each member of the the current lineup by name and birthplace, then they stood altogether to a roaring applause, then went right back at it by playing another number or two before calling it a night. Some of the band members stuck around for a few minutes afterwards to answer questions. Was such a pleasure to listen to Herb Alpert in person!