A Jones for Bones Tones

The two-trombone small-combo jazz concept of J.J. Johnson and Kai Winding is alive and well, as Conrad Herwig demonstrates. These eight pieces, all written by Herwig (who plays lead melodies), have Steve Davis playing counter-harmonies alongside the leader on the front line. Herwig pays tribute to eight of his trombone heroes — Frank Rosolino, Raul DeSouza, Slide Hampton, Barry Rogers, Albert Mangelsdorff, Johnson, Curtis Fuller, and Eje Thelin. Pianist Orrin Evans is exceptional, as usual, in his role as a contributor, and goes beyond the call with his inventive chording and comping. Known as a "Latinizer" of music written by Wayne Shorter, Miles Davis, and John Coltrane, Herwig keeps that trend up on the clean, bright, and moving tribute to Rogers (via Eddie Palmieri) "Que Viva Barry," while going more Brazilian on the sharp, biting jazz samba "Raulzinho's Ride." The exceptional "Eje's Dream" has the trombonists trading musical shards and sharing unison harmonies on a very modern neo-bop Latin-tinged piece in homage to the late Swedish 'bonist, unique to the rest of the CD. There's typical hard bop on "Jay Dot" (similar to Johnson's classic "Wee Dot"), the easy bluesy swinger "Slide's Routine," Herwig's multiphonic intro "For Albert," and Davis in beautiful off-minor harmony during "Dubois' Delight" (Dubois is Curtis Fuller's middle name). The title A Jones for Bones Tones, aside from being an appropriate title for this concept album, is also a play on words based on the Chick Corea composition "Tones for Joan's Bones," and is another exceptional effort in a string of them for Herwig. ~ Michael G. Nastos, Rovi