Herb Alpert wasn't the first musical Captain Cook to take music from another culture and make it his own - and he won't be the last.
 
But while trumpet legend Dizzy Gillespie is credited for bringing the Latin element to jazz in the '40s, Herb Alpert made it popular. During the '60s, Alpert and the Tijuana Brass dominated the pop charts, at one point even staving off the Beatles and the British invasion.
 
Whipped Cream & Other Delights and A Taste of Honey are distant vinyl memories by now, but fans might be surprised to know that the 62-year-old trumpet player's been digging those Latin vibes ever since.
 
And he'll never escape the Tijuana Brass.
 
Shouted requests for old hits punctuated Alpert's show at the sold-out Westin Hotel Ballroom on Saturday night.
 
"So you wanna go retro on me, eh?" he replied with a knowing grin.
 
The multi-millionaire musician, a gregarious host quick with the one-liners, gave a sly wink and obliged the faithful by leading his authentic 10-piece Cuban band through a wacky medley of old favorites about halfway through the two-hour show. The crowd of 825, packed like sardines into the ballroom, cheered as each familiar melody marched through a clownish parade. Recast in every rhythm imaginable, the medley started with a big "ole!" and a fanfare and ended some 10 minutes later in a snappy Latin groove that was so fast it was funny. All that was missing was a lady with fruit on her head. The crowd had to wait for the encore for another nod to the past - a loungy rendition of the TB's 1968 hit, This Guy's in Love with You, with vocal stylings by Herb Alpert.
 
That was it for the Tijuana Brass, kids, now back to the real stuff.
 
A quick romp through memory lane aside, the true purpose of the concert was so that Alpert could show off "His Band," as it is called, rather like Paul Simon (another, more modern Cap'n Cook) showing off Ladysmith Black Mambazo on Graceland.
 
"It's like driving a Ferrari," Alpert said recently of His Band, an apt comparison if there ever was one. With two percussionists, horns, guitars, keyboards and a rock solid rhythm section, they were all incredibly skilled and totally authentic. They were "evil" (in jazz lingo, that means very, very good). Alpert couldn't hold a candle to his Latino band-mates when it came to improvised solos, but his expressive, simple style provided a cool topping to the hot salsa rhythms. The dance floor (gosh, imagine that at a Jazz City concert) didn't take long to fill up.
 
The show mostly focused on songs from Passion Dance, Alpert's latest album, arranged in a rich variety of melodies, instrument combinations and grooves. With exuberance and effortless expertise, every player in the band had his chance to shine. Leading his band like a hip Lawrence Welk (sometimes quite literally), Alpert seemed to enjoy it as much as the crowd. Given how much this guy is worth, that's really why he was here.
 
In a short opening set of original jazz fusion, Edmonton's own Pazzport balanced self-indulgence with taste and impressive musicianship and came out ahead.
 
Keyboardist and chief songwriter Andrew Glover was the stand-out soloist (in a show that perhaps had too many solos), leading the quartet through challenging but ultimately ear-pleasing arrangements. While the band at times became background music for an inattentive crowd, at least people clapped in all the right places.