We know Herb Alpert for so many accomplishments. Grammy-winning trumpet leader of the Tijuana Brass. Singer of Burt Bacharach’s “This Guy’s In Love With You.” Co-founder of legendary A & M Records.

And the artist who gave us one of the most memorable album covers of all time, 1965’s “Whipped Cream and Other Delights,” with model Dolores Erickson wearing only whipped cream.

But here’s something you might not know.

“She was three months pregnant at the time,” Alpert says.

Alpert’s got lots of stories. His legacy was sealed in the 1960s, but the now 77-year-old Alpert is also a visual artist, nightclub entrepreneur, and philanthropist who takes breaks from the spotlight to focus on other passions.

Now, he’s kicking off his latest tour Friday night at the Kravis Center, performing with his wife of nearly 30 years, vocalist Lani Hall. Alpert and Hall are about to release their third album together, “Steppin Out.”

“We’ve been recording for months,” Alpert says. “We’d have finished the album by now if I didn’t keep finding new songs to fool around with. It’ll be a mix of new originals and covers, and it feels like my best work. We look forward to playing the material at the Kravis Center.”

Nothing excites Alpert more than being in concert. “I love to play; I get a rush of energy from it,” he said. “Playing jazz, we get to be spontaneous and improvise every night and we have some great musicians playing with us.”

Lest one think that the comparatively lesser-known Hall is along for the ride, think again.

She and Alpert met in 1966, a few years after he and Jerry Moss founded A&M Records. Hall was the original lead singer with Sergio Mendes and Brasil ‘66, and both the group (which became a star for A&M) and vocalist made distinct impressions. Alpert produced Hall’s critically-acclaimed 1972 A&M debut album “Sun Down Lady,” and the couple married two years later.

A Chicago native, Hall sang the title track to Sean Connery’s 1983 James Bond comeback film “Never Say Never Again” and won a “Best Latin Pop Performance” Grammy Award for her album “Es Facil Amar” in 1986.

Hall’s career was sidetracked by a mid-1980s bout with chronic fatigue syndrome. She’s completely recovered, and recently published her first book, the collection of fiction and non-fiction tales “Emotional Memoirs and Short Stories.”

“Lani’s a world-class singer,” Alpert says. “She’ll even do a couple songs in Portuguese.”

Alpert’s got his share of Grammys, too: eight overall, and the 1965 instrumental hit single “A Taste of Honey” earned him four. He also scored a #1 hit as a vocalist in 1968 through the band’s performance of “This Guy’s in Love With You.” His instrumental title track to the 1979 comeback LP “Rise” also reached #1. No one has duplicated that chart-topping feat as both singer and player.

Not that Alpert needed to perform financially after the 1960s.

Despite the fact that his first royalty check in 1958 was for $2.48, or that he and Moss each invested $200 to start A&M, the label became home to other hit-making artists: Stan Getz, The Carpenters, Cat Stevens, Joe Cocker, Peter Frampton, Quincy Jones, The Police, Janet Jackson, Sheryl Crow. When A&M was sold to Polygram in 1990, the payoff reportedly neared $500 million.

“We set out to make good records, not necessarily make money,” Alpert says. “But good things come through following your passions.”

Since the early 1980s, Alpert has passionately given back through the Herb Alpert Foundation. His grants, awards, fellowships, scholarships and endowments have helped artists and schools across the country.

The biggest gift was $30 million to UCLA, which realigned its music, musicology and enthnomusicology departments into the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music in 2007. In 2008, Alpert’s $15 million donation to the California Institute of the Arts caused a similar renaming to the Herb Alpert School of Music at CalArts.

“Both schools are doing great,” Alpert says. “At UCLA, we have the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz in the program now, which means master classes from people like Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter. That helps kids understand and appreciate jazz, which helps it survive. I’ve been blessed beyond my wildest dreams, so it’s great to help out others.”

The trumpeter’s paintings and sculptures (“I live in the right side of my brain,” he says) are on display on his Web site, and his jazz nightclub Vibrato, located close to the Malibu home he shares with Hall, is one of Southern California’s most elegant.

Touring again involves a series of homecomings for Alpert and Hall — except for their next stop, where they’ve never performed. That’s why this guy’s looking forward to it.

“I’ve heard great things about the Kravis Center, and the people there,” Alpert says.