Conrad Herwig


Lee Conrad Herwig III is an American jazz trombonist from New York City.

Biography

Herwig began his career in Clark Terry's band in the early 1980s and has been a featured member in the Joe Henderson Sextet, Tom Harrell's Septet and Big Band, and the Joe Lovano Nonet. He also performs and records with Eddie Palmieri's La Perfecta II and Afro-Caribbean Jazz Octet, Michel Camilo's 3+3, the Mingus Big Band, the Jon Faddis Jazz Orchestra, and Jeff "Tain" Watts Family Reunion Band, among many others.
A Voice Through the Door on Criss Cross Jazz and the Tip of the Sword on RadJazz Music featured Richie Beirach and Jack DeJohnette. He has recorded several highly acclaimed projects in the Afro-Caribbean jazz genre, including the Grammy nominated the Latin Side of Joe Henderson featuring Joe Lovano for Half Note label. This is the follow-up project to the Latin Side of Wayne Shorter, Another Kind of Blue: The Latin Side of Miles Davis, and, the Latin Side of John Coltrane. All three were nominated for Grammy Awards and recorded live at the Blue Note Jazz Club in New York City. Featured musicians included Paquito D'Rivera, Dave Valentin, Eddie Palmieri, and Randy Brecker. Herwig's other solo recordings on Criss Cross are A Jones for Bones Tones, Obligation, Land of Shadow, Hieroglyphica, Unseen Universe, Osteology, and Heart of Darkness, which received 4 and 1/2 stars in Down Beat. He has been voted No. 1 Jazz Trombonist in the 1998, 1999, and 2002 Downbeat Jazz Critics' Poll and ranked highly on several occasions in the past decade. Herwig has been nominated for Trombonist of the Year by the Jazz Journalists Association on multiple occasions, including in 2015.
Herwig has conducted master classes, seminars and workshops at hundreds of universities and conservatories around the world including the Sibelius Academy, Finland; the Royal Irish Academy, Dublin; the University of Cologne, Germany; Eastman School of Music, Rochester, New York; and the University of Southern California.
The recipient of performance and teaching grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, Herwig is a professor of jazz trombone, jazz improvisation, and jazz composition and arrangement at Rutgers University. He was elected to the board of directors of the International Trombone Association. His personal instrument is a brass/nickel silver .
Herwig is an alumnus of North Texas State University in Denton, Texas, where he performed in the One O'Clock Lab Band. He attended Goddard College in Plainfield, Vermont, and Queens College, CUNY.

Discography

As leader

With Every Breath New York Hardball Intimate Conversation The Amulet Ao Vivo No Festival de Jazz de Guimaraes The Latin Side of John Coltrane New York Breed A Pesar Del Diablo Heart of Darkness Osteology Unseen Universe Hieroglyphica Shades of Light Land of Shadow Que Viva Coltrane Another Kind of Blue Obligation Sketches of Spain y Mas A Jones for Bones Tones The Latin Side of Wayne Shorter The Latin Side of Herbie Hancock A Voice Through the Door The Latin Side of Joe Henderson Reflections The Latin Side of Horace Silver The Latin Side of Mingus
  • ''The Latin Side of McCoy Tyner''

As sideman

With Toshiko AkiyoshiTen Gallon Shuffle Wishing Peace Wishing Peace from Liberty Suite Carnegie Hall Concert Desert Lady/Fantasy
With Michael DavisAbsolute Trombone Absolute Trombone II Hip-Bone Big Band
With Bill EvansPush Touch Big Fun
With Bill O'ConnellRhapsody in Blue Zocalo Imagine Heart Beat Jazz Latin
With Mingus Big BandLive in Time Blues & Politics Tonight at Noon... Three or Four Shades of Love I Am Three Live in Tokyo Live at Jazz Standard
With Eddie PalmieriPalmas Arete Vortex El Rumbero del Piano La Perfecta II Ritmo Caliente Listen Here! Full Circle Mi Luz Mayor
With Walt WeiskopfSimplicity Song for My Mother Sleepless Nights Siren
With others