About the album “Chuck Weirich … You Don’t Know Me” If you love the music of Herb Alpert, Chuck Mangione, Rick Braun and others, this compilation will take you back to the good times, when music had a distinct and memorable melody that you could sing-a-long with. “You Don’t Know Me” my smooth jazz trumpet tribute, honors these trumpet legends plus vocalists James Blunt, Ray Charles and James Ingram. I would bet you haven’t heard some of these songs in years, and neither have your parents. I would be honored if you will allow this album to be the perfect gift for the music lover in your life. The thought of recording an album now, though it had been a dream of mine for over 40 years, happened quite by accident. I asked a friend to sequence Herb Alpert’s “Tijuana Taxi” and some other songs by the TJB, and to make them as authentic as possible. The outcome was truly exciting and magical. Robin Foreman used his Yamaha Motif 6 and his talent, and created a new age Tijuana Brass! When the track was finished he asked if I would record the trumpet part so he could use this as a demo for his music production business. Of course I said yes, and that’s when a monster was born. I came home from that session so excited and wanting to do more that I started thinking about my favorite “must record” songs. One of the most unique things about this album is that only a few of us were in the studio together at any one time. The songs produced by Skip Nallia and Dennis Smith were done in their own personal studios with the tracks sent to me on DVD’s to be manipulated in Tampa. Skip and Dennis had worked together while living in the Houston area, so they knew each others’ style and had experience in putting tunes together via the internet when Dennis moved to Atlanta over 20 years ago. Robin Foreman started his production of the Herb Alpert selections with us in St. Petersburg, FL, but then moved to Connecticut, thus emailing his tracks to us. My recording engineer, Mike Conway, did such an amazing job of mixing everything, that if I hadn’t told you this background you would have never known that three quarters of this album is basically “virtual” in nature. To complete this project Dan Hause, Stacey Knights, Brad Carlton, Mike Conway and I were in Mike’s studio at different times laying down tracks. Other than the background horn section parts on a couple of songs, we were seldom together at the same time. I hope you will truly enjoy this album, and I’m positive you’ll be very surprised once you hit “play” knowing how we did this. About The Music ….. “Tijuana Taxi”, “Whipped Cream” and “A Taste of Honey” were produced to be as close to Herb Alpert’s arrangements as possible, as a personal tribute to the man who virtually taught me how to play trumpet, Herb Alpert! Robin Foreman captured every beat, musical phrase, dynamic and all of the subtle “Herb” nuances to make these songs swing and pop like the original recordings. Because you really can’t duplicate perfection, and I do mean the legend Herb Alpert, I had my work cut out for me. Even growing up and playing his music every day for hours on end, I had to listen closely and practice diligently to recapture Herb’s sound some 40 years later. After the recording was completed it was Mike Conway’s turn to shine. Mike grew up listening to Herb Alpert too, actually … who didn’t? Mike was determined to mix and master these tracks just like they did at A&M. The track separation that opened up the huge hole for Herb’s trumpet to come barreling through was opened up for my horn too. Mike used every trick he knew to make this project something that I hope Mr. Alpert will be very proud of. Writers: Tijuana Taxi: Ervan Coleman / Whipped Cream: N. Neville / A Taste Of Honey: B. Scott and R. Marlow “You Don’t Know Me”, the title track, has always been a personal favorite of mine. I first came across this song on a Boots Randolph album called “The World of Boots Randolph” back in the early 70’s. Ray Charles had a huge hit with it and the duet by Ray and Diana Krall is what inspired me to record it. On this track you’ll enjoy the musical talents of Skip Nallia on everything except the drums. Drums were played by my personal friend Dennis Smith. Picking a favorite song, one that really says who I am today as an artist, I would have to say it’s this one. You may notice a hint of Doc Severinsen in my style on this track, as he was a definite influence while learning to play. Writers: Eddy Arnold and Cindy Walker "Rise", another one of Herb Alpert’s huge hits (#1 on Billboard in 1979) was written by Andy Armer and Randy Badazz. Once again Robin Foreman nailed it, but this time we added a little modern day funkiness and fun to this track. I chose to improvise on this tune, adding some riffs here and there, and complimenting Brad Carlton’s smokin’ guitar and Mike Conway’s “moose calls” and funky bass. What a fun song to play! Once again this is a personal tribute to Herb Alpert and his trumpet mega dance hit, so feel free to turn this one up a little and dance! I have always enjoyed taking a vocal tune and making it an instrumental. Capturing the soft whisper and subtle nuances of the human voice and translating this through a trumpet is not only fun but extremely challenging. In selecting music for this album I chose to play some of the most popular vocal songs ever recorded. "You’re Beautiful", the 2005 smash hit by James Blunt, and a major instrumental hit by Kenny G in 2006 is the fourth track on the album. Pete Falck did an incredible job arranging and performing the track, and with the combination of open and muted trumpet along with the acoustic guitar, this becomes a very interesting musical conversation that I hope you’ll enjoy being a part of. Writers: Sacha Skarbek, Amanda Ghost, James Blunt “Just Once” by James Ingram and produced by Quincy Jones in 1981, is one of these unforgettable vocal hits that I felt must be a part of this album. Once again, Skip Nallia and Dennis Smith really came through “virtually” on this track. With the addition of Brad Carlton’s smooth and tasty guitar, and Mike Conway’s vocal effects, chinky guitar and production expertise, this track will take you back to that "first love moment" in your life. I’ve done my best to play like James Ingram sang this, while adding my own improvisational thoughts and musical style to honor one of the most influential producers of all time. Thank you Quincy Jones! Writers: Barry Mann and Cynthia Weill. “Grazing In the Grass” will take you back to 1968, first recorded by the great trumpeter Hugh Masekela. This being a tribute album of sorts I decided to honor another “trumpet hero” of mine and recreate Rick Braun’s version of this from his “Sessions Volume 1” album. Rick’s original version has received a ton of airplay over the years, but this rendition in my mind is ‘da bomb”. Skip Nallia and Dennis Smith team with Tampa Bay’s Stacey Knights (sax) and Brad Carlton (guitar) to join me on this energetic and fun jam tune. Rick, thank you for being my modern day trumpet inspiration! Writers: Philemon Hou and Harry J. Elston Grover Washington Jr.’s 1980 smash “Winelight” is track 7, and I really enjoyed recording this classic hit. The tempo is light and bouncy, the style is funky-swing, and after hearing Gerald Albright perform this I just had to give it a try. The combination of muted trumpet and doubled flugelhorn makes this track reminiscent of being in a jazz club with the lights low and the band smokin’. It’s another Skip and Dennis creation with Mike Conway getting funky on guitar. If asked about my favorite song on the album, I’d be torn. Writer: William Eaton “Feels So Good”, recently chosen by smooth jazz radio stations around the United States as their “#1 Song”, is my tribute to the one and only Chuck Mangione. This distinction as the most requested song holds true to what I’ve heard ever since the song was released nationally in 1978. Being a trumpet player, with the name Chuck, “Feels So Good” has been the number one requested song from fans throughout my career. In the late 70’s and all throughout the 80’s, I was asked if I could play “you know… that song” (and then they would stand there and hum it, forgetting the title, but knowing the melody). It’s 2011 and I’m still asked if I can play this song! I have to hand it to Mr. Mangione for writing and recording a killer song, in more ways than one. Somewhere in the 90’s I had to quit playing it, seriously, it was killing me! People would ask this to be the last song of the evening … it was almost impossible. This album wouldn’t be complete without this song. Once again, this is another “virtual track” from Skip Nallia and Dennis Smith, augmented by friends Brad Carlton on guitar, Dan Hause on the tenor solos and Mike Conway on funky bass. One of my best friends, Don Gallehue, did the latin flavored horn riffs, and Stacey Knights and I come together to spice up this uptempo arrangement. Thanks also to Mike Conway for the creative “Brecker Brothers style interlude” after Dan’s solo. Writer: Chuck Mangione You can have the best musician's, recording engineers and play to your best of abilities, but if your final product doesn't look professional, what do you really have? I’d like to thank Michael Crabb, from Tampa, for the incredible graphics and art work! I really feel blessed to have been able to work with such talented friends, and to have such awesome music to recreate and share with you. Thanks to the song writers, the recording artists who made these songs a part of our lives, and to you for listening. I hope you will enjoy “You Don’t Know Me”.