OF POWER | DOWNBEAT

The year 2020 has been described as one of wide-scale awakening. But viral videos and tragic hashtags are not wake-up calls to the oppressed, they are relentless reminders of inequality. Curtis Stewart’s solo exercise Of Power is a tribute to the nauseating sensation of being haunted by those souvenirs.

Reworkings of material by a range of artists (including a notable adaptation of a Stevie Wonder composition) make up much of the album’s content. “After The Rain” is a radical modification of John Coltrane’s masterwork that somehow keeps the verve of the original amidst a dizzying ocean of effects.