Rise

 

Rise

I am a fan of Herb Alpert with or without the Tijuana Brass, although his time with the brass is my favorite period of his music overall.

If you don't know about Herb Alpert here's a link to his wiki page.

Yet, I am addicted to the song Rise which doesn't feature the brass at all.

Rise is a disco era song.

The backing music is pure disco. It's not great, its kind of standard disco.

So why am I hooked on this song?

It's all about Alpert's playing.

I can hear his playing in the jukebox of my mind without the backing track and it sounds glorious, but it even sounds better with it.

Because his playing is so purposeful that it elevates the material and gives it a life it otherwise wouldn't have.

Alpert's playing starts off low, haunting, almost nostalgic, then it does indeed rise to become joyously triumphant, then slowly descends down into longing melancholy. 

Sublimely beautiful. Most times I don't even think about the fact that the track is over seven minutes.

I've been lucky enough to see Herb Alpert on his current tour and he's played Rise both times and nailed it both times. 

Here's a video I shot of him playing it on the current tour.

Yours in wonderful music,

Count Robot