Conrad Herwig
The Latin Side of McCoy Tyner
Savant Records SCD 2216
Conrad Herwig - trombone
Special Guest: Eddie Palmieri - piano (track 4)
Craig Handy – tenor & baritone saxophone
Alex Norris – trumpet & flugelhorn
Bill O'Connell – piano
Ruben Rodriguez – bass
Robby Ameen – drums
Camilo Molina – congas & bata
Music has a long history of cultural exchange and fusion, where artists draw inspiration from various traditions to bring forth new and innovative sounds. “Cultural appropriation,” a relatively recent term which carries with it the weighty albatross of all sorts of negative connotations, is to be avoided at all costs. But “musical cross-pollination” is something else entirely and, when done with respect and musical integrity, it leads to the evolution of rich and diverse musical genres. Conrad Herwig's current offering is just such a recording. The Latin Side of McCoy Tyner is the latest installment in a critically-acclaimed series that started in 1996 with The Latin Side of John Coltrane. It's the work of a musically gifted, bilingual artist, a master trombonist who grew up admiring jazz's greatest practitioners but, at the same time, cutting his Latin Jazz teeth with legends such as Mario Bauza, Tito Puente, Paquito D'Rivera and others.
The special guest here with Herwig, giving the recording, and by extension, the entire “Latin Side of…” project his personal seal of approval, is the great pianist and composer, Eddie Palmieri. Palmieri is surrounded by some of the most respected names in Jazz / Latin Jazz, including Craig Handy, Bill O'Connell, Alex Norris, Robby Ameen and others, all playing imaginative and challenging arrangements by O'Connell and their fearless leader. In The Latin Side of McCoy Tyner, Conrad Herwig goes directly to the very core of Tyner's compositions and imbues them with the vibrant essence of Afro-Cuban and Afro-Caribbean traditions.
