Second Wind (1996)

Conjuring up images of dentists' offices, confining elevators, and other unpleasant environments, an ultra-mellow record like Second Wind winds up producing the opposite of its intended effect. Herb Alpert, an unpretentious, unremarkable trumpeter who's got his lite-jazz licks down cold, works here with fusion schlockmeister Jeff Lorber to concoct a sonic wet blanket of mechanized rhythms and colorless keyboards. Whipped cheese and lesser delights? C+