Search - Conrad Herwig :: Another Kind of Blue: Latin Side of Miles Davis

Well-Executed Sacrelige

Sor_Fingers | Boulder, CO USA | 02/01/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"It's a bold move to mess with one of the classics in the jazz canon like Kind of Blue. This album is a little hard to take on the first listen especially. It totally changes the feel of Miles' original. Instead of a laid back, cool modal setting, many of the charts turn into latin burners, a very odd shift. I feel like Kind of Blue could be put into a latin medium while still paying respect to the original groove that Miles established with his 1959 album. "All Blues" becomes an upbeat fiery tune, "So What" becomes a wild abandoned version of the cool laid back. If this album and the original were to be described in terms of color, they would be at opposite ends of the spectrum; Miles' album being blues and greens and purples while Herwig goes with more reds, yellows and oranges. Also, sometimes the improvisation feels a little inapropriate for the tunes. I felt like I was urged to be too technically impressed rather than impressed by the melodic creativity that made Miles' album famous. The most glaring wrong in an improvised solo was when "Tequila" was quoted in a solo on "Freddie Freeloader." Down right unacceptable.



Even though it seems like all I've done is complain, I still give this album four stars. The arrangements though far out of character are very intelligent and impressive. Every player on the album is an absolute monster and the material is well performed, just not well displayed. The most shining moment on this album is the ballad "Blue in Green." Despite the strange medium of latin grooves with such a classic album, its an album worth having around. Just a warning to Miles Davis fans that you may be upset by Herwigs heresies."

Conrad's Second Latin Attempt

David Wilder | Raleigh, NC | 07/27/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This latest CD by Conrad Herwig is very good, but something seems to be missing from it. Maybe it had been hyped up too much in my mind, but when I played the music, I felt like it was missing an element. An important element, sadly. Just like the Latin Side of John Coltrane album, I didn't hear as much inspired playing as I am accustomed to hearing on Herwig's albums. He certainly has set a high standard level for himself! I have seen Conrad Herwig live and was BLOWN AWAY. If you have the chance, I would suggest hearing him play at any price.



Back to this CD though... I think I was missing his compositional capabilities, although his arrangements are always strong. Regardless, this is a strong CD, and if it was the first CD I had heard by Herwig, I know that I would have been hooked on him forever. Unfortunately, I have heard many CDs by Herwig that had more inspired solos than this one."

Not quite as good as his latin Coltrane

David Wilder | 04/05/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Granted it's a live set (a plus) and perhaps not the beneficiary of as much rehearsal time but some of the arrangements (So What and Blue in Green) are a bit ragged. Five stars for what Conrad is trying to do. A bit lacking in the execution. Would be interesting to see what trumpeter/conguero jerry Gonzalez would do (better yet if he occupied the trumpet spot in this session)>"