Conrad Herwig
New York jazz artist Conrad Herwig has recorded almost 30 albums as a leader, receiving four GRAMMY®-nominations for his own projects. His previous recording for Savant Records was The Latin Side of McCoy Tyner. This album marked 27+ years of the "Latin Side . . ." series, and is a follow-up project to The Latin Side of Mingus (Savant, 2022), and The “Latin Side of …” tributes to Horace Silver (Savant, 2020), Joe Henderson (Half Note, 2014), Herbie Hancock (Half Note, 2010) Wayne Shorter (Half Note, 2008), Miles Davis (Half Note, 2004), and John Coltrane (Astor Place, 1996). These exciting and individualized projects feature an array of special guests including Randy Brecker, Ruben Blades, Michel Camilo, Joe Lovano, Eddie Palmieri, Paquito D’Rivera, Dave Valentin and many of the hottest players on the international scene.

Herwig, one of the most adventurous voices in Latin jazz, is back with a terrific new Savant release, Reflections-Facing South. This time, he’s teamed up again with the late Eddie Palmieri, a true icon of the genre, and bassist Luques Curtis, forming a trio that breaks all the rules. What sets this album apart, besides featuring the legendary Eddie Palmieri? There’s no drummer. In a musical style as rhythm-centric as Latin jazz, going drum-less is almost unheard of – but that’s precisely what makes this project so exciting. Curtis keeps the pulse moving forward with his rock-solid, melodic bass playing, while Palmieri fires up all his usual excitement and rhythmic complexity, using the piano like a percussion instrument. Herwig, of course, soars over it all with his high-flying, bold and fluid trombone sound. Herwig and Palmieri go way back, having played together on several of Palmieri’s Grammy-winning records.