Twelve ‘spirit totems’ created by music legend Herb Alpert displayed at National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson Hole.

By BILLY ARNOLD, Jackson Hole News & Guide

JACKSON, Wyo. (AP) — It seems like every once in a while you run into someone who can do anything. When that person seems to do it with ease, it’s another thing entirely.

“I never tried to make a hit record,” said Herb Alpert, famous trumpeter and band leader.

Still, Alpert released nine No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200. He has also sold 72 million records and picked up nine Grammys during his six-plus-decade career.

But he would probably balk at even being in relation to his awards. Sitting in front of a view of the Gros Ventre Range at the National Wildlife Museum of Art, he came across as humble, relaxed and genuine. He wasn’t there to talk about a career that saw him lead his band, Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, to commercial success and fame in the ’50s and ’60s. He also wasn’t interested in talking about starting, running and selling A&M Records.

Alpert was there to talk about his art. He isn’t into the awards (“I don’t want to sound double humble, but I’m not into that,” he said.) or anything in that vein.

He’s just into doing “his thing,” which at this point in his life is a little bit of music and a little bit of visual art, including 6- to 12-or-so-foot (2- to 4-meter) bronze sculptures that he calls “spirit totems.”

Those pieces are on display on the sculpture trail at the museum.

Originally published www.usnews.com