The Offering of Curtis Andrews

Curtis Andrews is a Newfoundland-based musician with global persuasions. He creates music that is informed by his many years of experience with West African, South Indian and jazz traditions yet transcends most categories. In December 2008 he released his first record entitled “The Offering of Curtis Andrews”, a collection of 12 original pieces that draw from his studies and travels in Asia, Africa and at home in North America. Already it is gaining steady praise as some of the most original and refreshing music to come out of Newfoundland in a long, long time. Consisting of drumset, percussion, mridangam (South Indian classical drum), Ewe percussion (West African), electric bass, electric guitar, trumpet, alto/tenor sax, flute, vibraphone and Fender Rhodes, the pieces themselves range from the virtuosic and mind-bending to soothing and meditative. Listen with open ears, mind and heart and you will not be disappointed. Raised in the town of Carbonear, Curtis taught himself to play the drumset as a youth after being inspired by Max Roach, late 80’s/early 90’s hip-hop and heavy metal. Since then, he has become a recognized player of jazz, rock, reggae, funk, hip-hop, country, pop, improvisational music and world music. Over the years, he has performed and recorded with most of the major original groups and artists in Newfoundland. A graduate of York University, his personal musical journeys over the years have extended to villages and metropolises of Ghana, India, South Africa and Zimbabwe, and he has developed a deep knowledge of the history and performance of music from these areas. His personal mentors have included (the late) Don Wherry, Trichy Sankaran and Frederick Kwasi Dunyo. He continues to study and perform with these masters whenever possible. A leader in his field, Curtis is the founder and artistic director of Dzolali Drum and Dance Ensemble, which performs music and dance from West and Southern Africa. He is a teacher of African and Indian percussion, drumset, Zimbabwean mbira and West African music, dance and song. A regular participant in the international Sound Symposium, he has been a member of its artistic selection committee for the past 6 years. He has contributed deeply to the cultural diversification of the music scene in modern-day Newfoundland, both through his own projects and his endeavours to introduce musicians of other cultures into his environment.