The Brass Ring

The Brass Ring emerged in the 1960s as a New York City ensemble whose sound echoed that of Herb Alpert. Reed player Phil Bodner guided the outfit through a brief vogue for the largely instrumental idiom known as “the Now Sound,” whose relaxed grooves departed from Alpert’s customary precision. Several modest chart entries appeared during the decade, the most prominent being “The Love Theme from the Flight of the Phoenix”; another selection, “The Dis-Advantages of You,” later accompanied Benson and Hedges cigarette spots on television. Across their short span, Bodner and the Brass Ring released a handful of little-noticed LPs—Love Theme from the Flight of the Phoenix, Lara’s Theme, The Dis-Advantages of You, The Now Sound, Gazpacho, and Only Love—plus assorted best-of collections.