The Lonely Bull in Bloomington, MN

The colossus that is
A&M Records
starts right here with the first album by the 1960s instrumental juggernaut known as
the Tijuana Brass
. True, there was no "Tijuana Brass" per se at this time; just
Herb Alpert
and a coterie of Los Angeles sessionmen, with
Alpert
overdubbing himself on trumpet to get that bullring effect. Also,
was just getting the TJB concept underway; the textures are leaner, the productions less polished, and the accent is more consciously on a Mexican
mariachi
ambience -- the relatively square rhythms, the mandolins, the mournful, wistful siesta feeling -- than the records down the road. The hit title track (originally a tune called "Twinkle Star"!) is a cleverly structured, exciting and haunting piece of record-making -- and its composer,
Sol Lake
, becomes the charter member of
's team of TJB tunesmiths with several more ethnic-flavored numbers. In accordance with the newly emerging
bossa nova
movement,
does a nice, straightforward, authentic cover of
"Desafinado,"
even departing a bit from the tune with some spare
jazz
-inspired licks, and
"Crawfish"
pleasingly adapts the
horn sound to a
bossa
beat. ~ Richard S. Ginell