Search - Conrad Herwig :: Osteology

Conrad is definitely "trombone for the 21st century

Ben McCormack | Atlanta, Georgia | 03/03/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I had the chance of hearing Conrad Herwig live at a jazz clinic. This guy is amazing. I love the songs he's picked out. He opens with a Coltrane number, which is awsome. This CD is meant to offer a wide variety of jazz styles. I really like the way the two trombones play together in the last song, Osteology. I highly recommend this CD or any other of his CDs."

Jay and Kai 50 Years Later

Richard Orr | Boyds, MD | 02/05/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This outing featuring bone buddies Conrad Herwig and Steve Davis is a welcome renewal (or should I say update?) of a sound pretty much lost to jazz for the last fifty years. OK, I'm prejudiced because I play trombone, but this CD offers a lot more than one more case of good horn players thrown into a studio with their charts and a super NY rhythm section. That's almost what it is, of course, but the group makes it sound like a band coming off the road. If I'm wrong and they're actually able to work this group commercially, that's even better.The rhythm section is one that Conrad uses regularly, so these guys do know how to play together. What's really impressive is that Conrad and Steve play their lines with real precision of time, phrasing and feel. Although this is a technical observation, the very fact of it contributes to the lack of any impression that these folks are sight-reading parts in the glare of the red light. The arrangements are well constructed, leaving room for what it is we want to hear in a jazz session, and obviously made for the specific players. Conrad is on the high note side continually while Steve picks up the harmonies and counterlines, which by nature he's extremely well suited to do.If you never heard J.J. Johnson and Kai Winding do the two-bone thing, you might be surprised that two players with quite different sounds and styles could mesh this well. Steve falls into the J.J. role automatically, since that's his musical lineage. Conrad is at least as brash as Kai and a lot more 21-st century angular. But it all hangs together very well, and is what you might have heard from Jay and Kai had they come along about now. Listeners who find the hard-driving style of today's New Yorkers a little strident will get some welcome relief here without actually losing any of the directed energy.Buy! Enjoy! Top-notch people have done a good thing here, and you shouldn't miss out."