Afro-Cuban Tsunami Sweeps Mainstream Shores

There have been waves of Latin jazz over the years, but the latest tsunami of the Afro-Cuban hybrid has been particularly potent and wide-ranging. From saxophonist Paquito D'Rivera's myriad projects to Jazz at Lincoln Center's Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra led by pianist Arturo O'Farrill, Latin jazz has surged into the mainstream.

In March, trombonist Conrad Herwig held forth with his band at New York's Blue Note to celebrate "Another Kind of Blue: The Latin Side of Miles Davis," a live album recorded at the club and released by its Half Note Records imprint. With new arrangements written by Herwig and trumpeter Brian Lynch, the band reimagines Davis' classic album "Kind of Blue" with an Afro-Cuban and Afro-Caribbean slant.

The evening's rousing festivities were punctuated by fiery percussion and horn-section brio. The all-star cast of players, including pianist Edsel Gomez, bassist John Benitez, baritone saxophonist Ronnie Cuber and flutist Dave Valentin, cavorted through such tunes as "So What" rendered in 6/8 time and a boogaloo-cha-styled "All Blues" before easing into a bolero take on "Blue in Green."

"The genesis of this project comes from playing with Eddie Palmieri," says Herwig, a longtime member of the pianist's La Perfecta II and Afro-Cuban Jazz Octet. "Most of the guys involved with this came through Eddie's band."

In the late '90s, Herwig released "The Latin Side of John Coltrane" on Astor Place Records. "I've led two lives as a musician," he says. "I've played straight-ahead with people like Clark Terry and Buddy Rich, but I've also been playing Afro-Cuban music for years. It's been rewarding."

Half Note VP Jeff Levenson, who produced the album, says, "Miles' material fits perfectly with a Latin-jazz point of view, especially when it's played by guys who are steeped in that world. There's an authentic pedigree at work here.

"Conrad's Coltrane project opened my ears, so when he approached me about Miles, it was an obvious fit."

Reuters/Billboard