I Am Doing My Best by Curtis Nowosad

I Am Doing My Best by Curtis Nowosad

Therapeutic-speak can be minefield where sincerity and helpfulness collide with navel-gazing and self-absorption. But when Winnipeg-native/New York City-based drummer Curtis Nowisad speaks of his decade in therapy as the basis for his fourth album as a bandleader, I Am Doing My Best , the result isn't merely a musician’s creative catharsis. Nowasad wants his Best to inspire healing and kindness.

You need not be on board with his extra-aesthetic intentions to get behind the retro-futuristic fusion jazz he and his band lay down throughout the eight tracks here. With percussive power and intuition, Nowasad places his drum kit in the mix as practically a lead instrument a la Tony Williams. Guitarist Andrew Renfroe recalls some Pat Metheny and Al Di M