Jazz<\/a> Albums chart and No. 5 on the Top Holiday Albums chart.<\/p>\n\n\t\u201cThey sell every year,\u201d Alpert notes. \u201cYou put \u2019em to rest for 11 months and they come back like they\u2019re almost fresh. They\u2019re good songs, and when you pick good songs, I think people appreciate that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tAlpert tried a few different things with some of the 12 tracks on Christmas Time Is Here.<\/em> Particularly notable is his new cover version of the Rodgers and Hammerstein standard \u201cMy Favorite Things\u201d from The Sound of Music,<\/em> which Alpert kept melodically faithful within a revamped arrangement. \u201cI always liked that melody,\u201d he explains. \u201cIt\u2019s written in 3\/4, like in a waltz time. I found a way to do in 4\/4 that seemed like it fit the song. There\u2019s been so many recordings of (the song), but this one certainly doesn\u2019t sound like something that\u2019s been overplayed.\u201d Alpert, who\u2019s joined by keyboardist Jeff Lorber on several of the songs, also lent a New Orleans flavor to the staple \u201cJingle Bells\u201d and incorporates some vocals into the mostly instrumental set on tracks such as \u201cSleigh Ride\u201d and Mariah Carey\u2019s \u201cAll I Want for Christmas Is You.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t\u201cIt takes relaxation and not thinking too hard,\u201d he says of the process. \u201cI\u2019m not trying to make a hit record that\u2019s going to sell a zillion copies. I\u2019m just trying to make something that feels good to me. I\u2019m always looking for that. That\u2019s my goal, to make music that feels good. So when I hit on a type of arrangement just felt right, felt interesting, that\u2019s when I felt like (the songs) deserved to be done again.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cAll I Want for Christmas Is You\u201d is the most contemporary selection on the set but one that\u2019s certainly been on Alpert\u2019s radar since its 1994 release. \u201cI always thought it was a really good song, good melody, nice lyric \u2014 it didn\u2019t surprise me that record of hers did so well,\u201d he says of the perennial Billboard Hot 100 topper. \u201cIt\u2019s always melody first; like Quincy Jones once said, you can take the greatest singer in the world, and if the song\u2019s not there the record won\u2019t be any good.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tChristmas Time Is Here<\/em> comes in the midst of a variety of celebrations for Alpert during the past year-plus. During September of 2024 he released 50<\/em>, his \u2014 wait for it \u2014 50th studio album. This year, meanwhile, he turned 90 (on March 31) and has been commemorating the 60th anniversary of his breakthrough Whipped Cream & Other Delights <\/em>\u2014 his first of five No. 1s on the Billboard 200 \u2014 by touring with a reconstituted Tijuana Brass, which hit the road again Nov. 9 with dates booked into next summer.<\/p>\n\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s this new renaissance; I can\u2019t believe what\u2019s happening,\u201d Alpert says. \u201cI\u2019m 90 years old and I\u2019ve got this audience that wants to hear music that I did 60 years ago. I\u2019m doing it for the right reasons; it\u2019s something I have to do. It gives me energy; It gives me a reason to be. I like it, and I get a chance to make a lot of people happy. That seems like a good deal. I didn\u2019t expect this to be happening at my present age.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tThere\u2019s more to come, he says. Alpert is planning to release a live album from the tour, though no release date has been determined. Meanwhile, he adds, \u201cI\u2019ve got a whole bunch of songs that are ready to be released,\u201d again without a firm plan yet, and he\u2019s confident there will be even more after that.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThat\u2019s what I love to do,\u201d he says. \u201cI love to record. I love to work. I have a Logic (recording) system, and it keeps my brain working. I play the horn just about every day of my life. I\u2019m a right-brain guy \u2014 I paint and sculpt and blow the horn. I\u2019ve got this gift, and I love that I get to share it with people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n