Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass & Other Delights at Tilles Center March 31, 2026

Wednesday marked a twice in a lifetime experience for me. I got to see Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass & Other Delights at the Tilles Center for the Performing Arts, mere steps from the Abrams Communications Center, home to WCWP, on the campus of LIU Post. I was part of a capacity (sell-out) crowd!

Here is the Tilles Center exterior, as seen in December 2025:

The Paumanok Stompers Traditional Jazz Band played in the Goldsmith Atrium, but were finished by the time I got inside.

51 weeks and one day had passed since the first time I saw Herb and his band at Jazz at Lincoln Center. Read the linked recap for more information on the set’s songs and their etymology.

Thanks to Bobby Guthenberg for giving away two tickets for me and my dad Bill. Bobby’s daughter Katie was also with us in row J. I was in seat 134, the aisle seat, with Dad in 133, Katie in 132, and Bobby G. in 131. Lori Downing and her friend Regina sat ahead of us in row H, and Jeff and Pat Kroll were in row G. (Jeff’s the biggest Herb Alpert fan I know.) For Bobby, Lori, the Krolls, this was also a twice in a lifetime experience after seeing the Lincoln Center shows. (Jeff and Pat were at Herb’s 90th birthday show last March 31.)

I’d be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge meeting fellow WCWP and then-C.W. Post alumnus Joe Townley outside the Abrams Communications Center before reaching Tilles’s south entrance. Joe is currently EVP of content, programming, and new business for the production company MyEntertainment.

As for the show, I was much closer to the stage at Tilles Center, and I have a better smartphone: an iPhone 17 Pro. (My Canon EOS R7 wasn’t allowed, meaning a return trip to Dad’s car before going inside.)

Admittedly, some photos required enhancements in Photoshop, and not just color filtering. I think you’ll like what you see, though.

The show began 13 minutes past the scheduled 7:30 start, but it was nonstop action after that.

The modern Tijuana Brass was made up of:

• Herb Alpert – lead trumpet
• Kris Bergh – trumpet and percussion
• Ryan Dragon – trombone and percussion
• Bill Cantos – piano, synthesizer, marimba; music director
• Kerry Marx – acoustic and electric guitars
• Hussain Jiffry – bass
• Ray Brinker – drums

My dad loved Ray’s drumming, and Bill Cantos was delighted when I told him after the show that I knew Jay Rowe. Clasping his hands together, he said “tell him I said hi,” which I did (via text message) as Dad and I exited Tilles Center. I spoke to Jay on the phone back in the fall and mentioned the Herb Alpert concert on my pre-Smooth Jazz for Scholars itinerary. That’s when Jay revealed that Bill is another friend from his days at the New England Conservatory. (I already knew about Nelson Rangell and David Mann.)

The set list was mostly identical to last year’s. In fact, the first 12 songs were the same and in the same order. From there, the set diverged. Herb’s wife Lani Hall couldn’t make it this time, which meant no Sergio Mendes and Brasil ’66 medley. (Hearing their music on the sound system before the show made up for that.) Otherwise, four songs were new to this set: “Route 101,” “Mae” (partial), “Casino Royale” (partial), and “Up Cherry Street.”

Compare and contrast the set on this night with the one from last year. Some tidbits have been recycled. (The original album and release years are in parentheses.)

1. The Lonely Bull (El Solo Toro) (The Lonely Bull, 1962) – Original composition by Sol Lake
2. The Work Song (S.R.O., 1966) – “Work Song” was by cornet player Nat Adderley
3. Memories of Madrid (What Now My Love, 1966) – Another original TJB composition by Sol Lake
4. Whipped Cream (Whipped Cream & Other Delights, 1965) – One of two music cues used on The Dating Game
5. Spanish Flea (!!Going Places!!, 1965) – The other Dating Game cue – Original composition by TJB member Julius Wechter (also leader of the Baja Marimba Band)
6. Ladyfingers (Whipped Cream & Other Delights, 1965) – As alluded to last year, this song found new life in TikTok videos
7. Lollipops and Roses (Whipped Cream & Other Delights, 1965)
8. Bittersweet Samba (Whipped Cream & Other Delights, 1965) – Still another Sol Lake composition for TJB – Serves as the theme to All Night Nippon, a Japanese radio show
9. Mexican Shuffle (South of the Border, 1964) – If you’re keeping score, that’s four Sol Lake compositions in the set – Used in TV ads for Clark’s Teaberry gum (shown on the monitor), where it was known as “The Teaberry Shuffle”
10. Tangerine (Whipped Cream & Other Delights, 1965)
11. I’m Getting Sentimental Over You (!!Going Places!!, 1965) – Preceded by Ray Brinker drum solo (photos below were upscaled from video freeze frames)
12. Love Potion No. 9 (Whipped Cream & Other Delights, 1965) – The album’s requisite striptease song
13. This Guy’s in Love with You (The Beat of the Brass, 1968) – Herb’s lone vocal song of the set – Contrary to popular belief, the song was later reworked as “This Girl’s in Love with You” for Dionne Warwick and other female singers, not the other way around for Herb
14. Route 101 (Fandango, 1982) (solo album) – One of several Juan Carlos Calderón compositions for Fandango
15. Rise (Rise, 1979) (solo album) – Rap fans may recognize one part from its sampling in “Hypnotize” by The Notorious B.I.G. – The performance this year was almost as long as the original thanks to many solos
16. A Taste of Honey (Whipped Cream & Other Delights, 1965) – Again, Ray Brinker perfectly matched The Wrecking Crew member Hal Blaine‘s drumming from the original, right down to the bass drum taps to note the 4/4 time signature
17. Zorba the Greek (Zorba’s Dance) (!!Going Places!!, 1965) – A clip of the titular film‘s dance scene (with Anthony Quinn as Zorba) was shown during the slow middle (seen below in an upscaled video freeze frame)
18. Encore 1-1: Smile (Midnight Sun, 1992; Catch the Wind, 2021) (solo albums) – Requiem for departed friends, including Sergio Mendes, Karen Carpenter, Burt Bacharach (co-writer [with Hal David] of “This Guy’s in Love with You”), and A&M Records co-founder Jerry Moss – “Smile” by Charlie Chaplin is not to be confused with “Sweet, Sweet Smile,” which was introduced and popularized by The Carpenters
19. Encore 1-2: Medley: Mae (!!Going Places!!, 1965); Casino Royale (Sounds Like…, 1967) – another Bacharach/David composition; What Now My Love (What Now My Love, 1966); A Banda (Herb Alpert’s Ninth, 1967) – Fittingly preceded by band introduction (“a banda” literally means “the band”); Tijuana Taxi (!!Going Places!!, 1965) – original composition by TJB guitarist Ervan “Bud” Coleman
20. Encore 1-3 (True Finale): Up Cherry Street (South of the Border, 1964) – Second composition of the set by Julius Wechter

Now that you’ve seen the set and know the band, it’s photo time.

“The Lonely Bull”:

“Mexican Shuffle” with Clark’s Teaberry Gum commercial clips:

Herb talking to the audience between “Memories of Madrid” and “Whipped Cream”:

He noted that this was his first performance on Long Island since 1984 at Jones Beach Theater. Jim Carrey, then a stand-up comedian, opened for him.

Herb and Louis Armstrong in an episode of Kraft Music Hall:

Bill Cantos vocalizing at the piano during “Tangerine”:

Ray Brinker’s drum solo between “Tangerine” and “I’m Getting Sentimental Over You”:

Ryan Dragon’s trombone solo during “I’m Getting Sentimental…”:

“Love Potion No. 9”:

Despite Lani Hall’s absence, Herb Alpert still spoke of how Sergio Mendes played Cupid and matched him with her.

Sergio Mendes explaining the Brasil [year] origin in Portuguese:

Herb’s “translation” turned out to be the origin of the Tijuana Brass:

Sergio replied in fluent English that isn’t what he said at all.

Perhaps because an audience member requested it, the Sergio segment dovetailed into the origin of “This Guy’s in Love with You.” Prompting the audience to sing along, Herb performed a moving rendition of “This Guy’s…” (in a lower key).

And there was another after “Rise”!

“A Taste of Honey”:

The last song before the encore was “Zorba’s Dance,” known on !!Going Places!! as “Zorba the Greek.”

Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass gathered at center stage and took a bow:

Then, it was back to their posts – no pun intended at LIU Post – for the encore.

Encore song 1 was Charlie Chaplin’s “Smile.”

The mood lightened back up for the five-song medley that featured a little bit of “Casino Royale”:

The medley ended with “Tijuana Taxi,” featuring a marimba solo by Bill Cantos:

He also played a horn honk on his synthesizer.

A night to remember ended with “Up Cherry Street”:

The end!

Before departing, I grabbed two selfies. One with Regina and Lori…

…and the other with Katie, Bobby G., and my dad Bill:

Tilles Center marked a 7-day resumption of Herb Alpert’s tour. One night later, he and his modern Tijuana Brass were in New Haven for another sell-out show at College Street Music Hall. The rest of this paragraph was revised on 4/1: The week concluded with the 51st consecutive sell-out, fittingly on Herb’s 91st birthday, at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. Ryman just happens to be where Brass guitarist Kerry Marx serves as music director of the Grand Ole Opry. The tour resumes on May 10 at The VETS (Veterans Memorial Auditorium) in Providence, Rhode Island.

My next music event will be down the road from New Haven in Milford, Connecticut, at Jay Rowe‘s 23rd anniversary Smooth Jazz for Scholars on May 1 and 2, held in a different Veterans Memorial Auditorium in the Parsons Complex.

April 25, exactly one month after seeing Herb Alpert at Tilles, I’ll be at the Roosevelt School the south end of LIU Post for the WCWP Hall of Fame Ceremony Dinner, honoring the Class of 2025 (revealed on Homecoming Weekend last September) and this year’s Arthur Beltrone Service Award recipient. Until I recap that, thank you for reading.