Independent record label helped launch the career of newer artists with her Maverick label. A&M Records is widely believed to have been the most successful independent label in history due to its 37-year run and catalog of commercially successful and critically acclaimed records. Founded in 1962 by trumpeter Herb Alpert (A) and record promoter Jerry Moss (M), A&M was initially the label and distributor for Alpert's own Tijuana Brass recordings, but the label quickly began signing other artists. Over its 37-year run, A&M sold records from such artists as Sergio Mendes & Brazil '66, Claudine Longet, The Carpenters, Phil Ochs, Carole King (A&M
Herb Alpert for the culture jamming activists The Yes Men. In 2012, the Foundation gave a grant of more than $5 million to the Harlem School of the Arts, which allowed the school to retire its debt, restore its endowment, and create a scholarship program for needy students; in 2013, the school's building was renamed the Herb Alpert Center. In 2016, his foundation also made a $10.1 million donation to Los Angeles City College that will provide all music majors at the school with a tuition-free education, beginning in fall of 2017. This was the largest gift to an individual community college