Brandon Guerra & Jonathan Leal - After Now
Raymus Media - Rio Grande Valley alternative music site
Follow us on Instagram
An expansive jazz album with profound reflection on the crises of today, and the possibilities of the future.
Score: 9/10
Climate change, political strife, and mass gun violence. Given the history of resilience and counter-culture that fueled jazz music, it’s a fitting medium to express this global turmoil.
The adventurous six-song suite by RGV native and LA musician/scholar Jonathan Leal, and San Antonio multi-instrumentalist and drum specialist Brandon Guerra, is a meditation on the issues of today, and the possibilities of the future (or as they put it, “after now.”) Along with cerebral jazz, there are haunting ambient passages and neo-soul sentimentality. It’s all brimming with multifaceted prowess — the meticulous and the improvised, the technical and the abstract, acoustic and electronic. Adding concreteness to the message are the spoken-word performances by Andrea “Vocab” Sanderson that are delivered with strong rhythm, euphony, and emphasis.
“On an Uneven Plane” is a storm of blaring saxophones, swift syncopated drums, and frantic piano stabs that evoke panic and turmoil. The song takes a breather at the midpoint before rebuilding toward a cascading climax.
The slower and more poised “In Perforated Time” strolls along with smooth lo-fi boom bap and a sputtering agile flute. It’s a more levelheaded reflection, with a subtle tension that looms throughout.
It’s not all doom and gloom. The ambient “In a Now Beyond Then” is a reminder that we aren’t alone in all this unrest. “I acknowledge, and say a prayer for all those who are weeping from their windows of pain,” Sanderson asserts in solidarity. The short monologue then gives way to an interlude of chirping birds and a glistening dynamic piano solo.
The next track “Right Outside My Window” is darker than the last. It’s another ambient soundscape, but it hits closer to home as Sanderson’s vivid words take the lead. She lists contentious issues of today, from the Capitol attack to the border crisis. It’s a chilling moment, especially when she broaches the topic of mass shootings. “No one feels safe anymore . . . in the grocery store, in the church meeting, in the high school, middle, elementary school.“ Then, she presses the urgent need to come back to civility. “We are desperately in need of something uplifting. . . Some sun shining apart the heavens. Rays of light to slice away the intolerance.”
Finally, the music bleeds into “We Reach Into the Undefined.” Its monologue and mournful ambience are a reprise of the album’s introduction, giving closure to its time motif. A gracefully winding saxophone accompanies us as we await what the future holds.
With a profound sense of inspiration, a full cast of expert musicians, and thematic and sonic cohesion, its an album that shouldn’t be forgotten, even when we get to a time after now.
Score: 9/10