Customer Reviews

Another Kind of Blue: Latin Side of Miles Davis

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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)>

Conrad has done it again with this high energy live show covering the whole Miles Kind Of Blue Album this is excellent all the way through I HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!! Also check out his other release The Latin Side Of Coltrane EXCELLENT!!!

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.

It's Neo-Latin-BigBand-BeBop with only 9 guys (who sound like 20)...with fire and timbales and congas and dissonant pounding piano and cowbells...what else do you need? Oh, yeah, the arrangements are full of inventive "snappy" riffs. Enthusiasm abounds judging from the shouting. I saw most of this group in Milwaukee in August 04 in a small club and they blew out the walls.

Conrad really shines when he gets down to his Latin "roots." The arrangements are quite as strong as on his other "Latin Side of..." works, but they definitely hold up to the playing that's going on. Check out Pacquito on "Freddie Freeloader" and Conrad on "All Blues" - great.

Holy Crap! I really love this album, as I do the Latin Side Of John Coltrane album. I have to buy it again because I keep loaning it out... and I have yet to recieve it back. I can spend all day transcribing and put it on again when the girls come by at night (and no one complains.) I enjoy this album on a different level than Miles' version. The original I take with me alone to the proverbial desert island: I can't exist without it. This one, however, is for that island that's a little less desert and a little more party. The original is good aged scotch, 2 fingers worth straight up; Conrad's version I can liken to a mojito. And no cheap bacardi mojito... Nothing but the best. Havana club rum, soda, raw sugar, lemon, soda and mint leaves. Sorry, I'm rambling. Buy the album. I'm buying it again and I'm not loaning it out anymore. So don't ask for it, Jacob.

Z

Perhaps if one has never heard Mile's original, this attempt might slip by. For those who know Kind of Blue, this CD is like someone trying to do a "latin" version of the Eiffel Tower. Rather than trying to push the originals through some kind of latin strainer, it would have been interesting to hear a fresh interpretation of the music.