Drummer Curtis Nowosad leads a rich post bop team of Duane Eubanks/tp, Braxton Cook/as, Andrew Renfroe/g, Jonathan Thomas/key, Luke Sellic/g and guests Corey Wallace, Matthew Whitaker, Michael Mayo, Brianna T homas and Marc Cary through a clever set of originals.
With guitarist Renfroe out front, Nowasad leads from behind on a warm and Metheny-esque “Home Is Where The Hatred Is” while the strings get down and dirty on “Hard Time Killing Floor Blues.” The rhythm team gets into an Eddie Harris soul groove on “Song 4 Marielle Franco” and warm up a sauce with the Memphis horns for “Blues 4 Colin K” as the sticks snap with crispness on “See Line Woman” and the bopping “Never Forget What They Did to Fred Hampton” after a taped intro sample. As you can tell by the serious song titles, many of the songs reflect a passionate feel about social issues, but the music doesn’t reflect anything except a plethora of talent and rich ideas.