2023 – A Night At The Englert.

The Englert Theatre – Iowa City’s grand old theater – is located at 221 E. Washington Street, and was constructed at a cost of about $60,000 (equal to $1.5 million today). Opening on September 26, 1912, The Englert was designed to seat 1,079 patrons for both live entertainment and motion pictures, rivaling the finest stage and movie houses throughout the Midwest. Today, she is now the lone surviving theater of dozens of movie houses that flourished in downtown Iowa City during the first half of the 20th century. Read more here.

The **Englert Theatre**‘s owner – **William H. Englert** – was a third generation descendant from the Englert brewing family, and with his brothers, Englert owned and operated the **Englert Ice Company**.

During the days of vaudeville, national tours made regular stops at The Englert, including those by such notables as Ethel Barrymore, Ed Wynn, Lynn Fontanne, and Sarah Bernhardt. By the 1920’s, early block-buster silent pictures such as The Covered Wagon (1923) and All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) played here and were accompanied by a 60-piece orchestra. On June 9, 1928, the Englert also hosted Iowa City’s first ‘talkie’ motion picture – The Jazz Singer featuring Al Jolson.

In 1926 – six years after William H. Englert’s premature death – a fire destroyed the original interior, but Englert’s widow, Emma, was determined to keep the theater alive. By the 1930’s, the upper floors of The Englert had been converted into apartments, and for many years (1950’s-1990’s) the old lady became just another run-of-the mill movie theater. But, after a historic “Save The Englert” campaign, and the completion of an historic rehabilitation, the Englert Theatre was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 30, 2001 and stands today as one of the iconic buildings of Iowa City. The Englert was – and still is – Iowa City’s finest.

When it was announced, in the late spring of 2023, that Herb Alpert and his wife Lani Hall were booked for The Englert in September, my heart jumped a bit. You see, Alpert was one of my musical heroes when I was in high school and college here in Iowa City. Read more here.

Now today, admittedly, not too many young people recognize the name – Herb Alpert, but over the last 60 years, this amazing trumpeter/jazz/pop artist has sold an estimated 72 million records worldwide, recording over thirty albums – five of which became No. 1, and fourteen turning platinum, with sales of over 1,000,000 units!

This video from 1967 features the TJB performing one of their many hits – The Tijuana Taxi.

Between 1962 and the mid-1970’s, Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass were one of the hottest tickets in pop music, and when combined with his knack in finding and signing new musical talent, Herb’s record company – A&M Records (formed with partner, Jerry Moss, in 1962) – became a haven for cutting-edge talent like Burt Bacharach, The Carpenters, Quincy Jones, Joe Cocker, Sting, and others.

1968 – Surprisingly, Herb’s first #1 hit – a vocal – was This Guy’s In Love With You. Made for the TV special, The Beat of the Brass, this Burt Bacharach tune went right to the top of the charts.

Interestingly, Alpert still holds two impressive records in the music industry. First, he is the only musician to hit No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 as both a vocalist – This Guy’s in Love with You (1968) – and an instrumentalist – Rise (1979), and secondly, until matched this year (2023) by another talented artist – Taylor Swift – Herb was the only artist to have four LP albums simultaneously on the top ten charts!

1979 – One decade later, Herb returned to the top of the charts with his jazz-oriented hit – Rise. The video features Herb and his wife Lani Hall, who was the lead singer with another A&M hit group – Sergio Mendes & Brazil ’66.

In 1966, Herb & the TJB were headliners on the ABC-TV hit – The Hollywood Palace.

So, as I mentioned earlier, when I was in high school and college here in Iowa City, my main interest (besides girls) was pop music. So, in 1967, as I was finishing up my sophomore year at Iowa City High, The Daily Iowan announced (see below) that Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass would be doing a one-night stand at the UI Field House (below) on Mother’s Day weekend – Saturday, May 6.

When tickets went on sale, I convinced my dad to act quickly, and it’s a good thing that I did, because the TJB tickets (12,000 of ’em) sold out in less than 48 hours! Below is a review of that May 6, 1967 concert from The Daily Iowan…

Between 1965 and 1970, the popularity of **Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass** was, literally, off-the-charts, with large arenas around the world – like U of I’s Field House – selling out a concert in a matter of hours. By the mid-to-late 1970’s, Herb had disbanded the TJB. transitioning into more of a jazz sound, but a reunion tour with the Brass in the mid-70’s still filled arenas. After moving to Chicago in 1973 to take my first music teaching position, my parents and I took in a reunion concert at Chicago’s McCormick Place (below) in 1974.

Herb absolutely loved the acoustics he found in the restored Englert Theatre – which opened in 1912. The 88-year-old trumpeteer quipped, “It’s so wonderful to play in an auditorium that’s older than me!

So, when it was announced that Herb Alpert would be returning to Iowa City, Sandy & I agreed that for my birthday present, we’d get our ticket order in early enough in so we could snag front row seats at The Englert. And just like the old days, it’s a good thing we acted when we did, because the old lady was sold out – filled with more grey hairs than Taylor Swift fans – but still, quite a turnout for the 88-year-old Alpert and his talented wife – Lani Hall.

Like the TJB concert in 1967, Herb’s show was simply outstanding, with the SRO crowd certainly enjoying Herb & Lani’s occasional medleys that took us back to the 1960’s. At age 88, Herb was certainly a bit more relaxed on the stage, and less “showy”, but, quite honestly, the 90-minute concert revealed more of Herb’s raw musical talent as he flawlessly flowed with the amazing trio of young jazz musicians – Bill Cantos (keyboards/vocals), Tiki Pasillas (drums /vocals), and Hussain Jiffry (bass/vocals) – who backed him up throughout the night.

Thanks to Herb’s Facebook page for providing these great shots from The Englert!

Here’s a good example of one of the old TJB tunes that Herb has made new again.

Yup, there we are – Sandy & I (see below) giving Herb & Lani a standing ‘O’ at the end of one great evening of entertainment!

Thanks, Herb & Lani. You made The Englert all that William & Etta Englert envisioned it to be – back in 1912!

In February 2024, I received this sweet letter from one of our blog readers – Barbara Schenck (formerly from Dubuque). I love how our post here led her to a wonderful reunion with family and Herb Alpert in California! We are blessed!

But wait! There’s more! In the Summer of 2025, Marty & Sandy celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary – taking in a sold-out concert in Chicago featuring Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass. Read more & see the pics here…