Socrates Garcia Latin Jazz Orchestra: Shadows of Tomorrow

Do not let the word "Latin" in front of the Socrates Garcia Jazz Orchestra's name sway you. Shadows of Tomorrow is bright and spirited contemporary jazz albeit with a southerly twist. The salute to Latin America is for the most part rhythmic; everything else leans resolutely toward el norte, and the orchestra (which is actually based in Colorado, where Garcia teaches at the University of Northern Colorado) lends its considerable weight and savvy to every one of the leader's half-dozen fiery compositions and arrangements.

Those works include a three-part suite, "Illusions, Delusions...A Glimmer of Hope," which consumes nearly half of the album's hour-plus playing time. Preceding the suite are a brace of barn-burners ("AG's Resting Face...Scary!!!," written for Garcia's lively teen-age daughter, and the adventurous "Sultry Villa Mella Twilights") along with "Brad's Dreamy Samana Night," a colorful showpiece for the orchestra's stellar lead trumpeter, Brad Goode. The suite's movements are "The Wizard's Wicked Charm," "Liars and Fools" and "The Mold Breaker (Bringer of Joy").

Although Garcia names no names, those who can read between the musical lines should have little doubt about who Movement 1's "Wizard" is: "A conjurer in a red tie whispers half-truths and weaves illusions. With sleight of tongue and a stage of screens, he builds a world in his image, a theater of ego, a cult of mirrors." Sound familiar? Hint: this isn't about Oz. As to "Liars and Fools," Garcia writes that "every false prophet needs a chorus," which is what Garcia provides: "a dance of hollow drums, blind applause, smoke and mirrors, and truth silenced beneath a smiling mask." All to an irresistible Latin beat.

Even so, there is hope, as embodied in Movement 3's "Bringer of Joy," a "new figure" who steps forward "and speaks not to deceive, but to awaken." The rhythm here, Garcia writes, "is hope reborn, not naïve but earned." Messages aside, it is the music that must carry the day, and neither Garcia nor the orchestra is less than superb in that area. The ensemble sprints from the starting gate on "AG" and keeps its collective foot on the accelerator through the last shout chorus of "The Mold-Breaker." Soloists? There are plenty of standouts from which to choose. Besides Goode (who is far better than his name suggests), they include alto saxophonist Wil Swindler, tenor Don Aliquo, baritone Eduardo Moncada, trumpeters Clay Jenkins and Jeff Jarvis, trombonists Jonathan Bumpus and Paul McKee, guitarist Alfredo Balcacer and pianist Dana Landry.

As rhythm plays an outsize role on every number, Garcia has placed those duties in the capable hands of Balcacer, pianists Landry and Manuel Tejada (on "The Wizard's Wicked Charm"), bassist Erik Applegate and drummer Ivanna Cuesta Gonzalez, reinforced by percussionists Pablito Peña, Felix Garcia, Daniel Berroa and timbalist Miguel Montas (on "The Wizard"). Whatever the label, jazz recognizes few musical boundaries, geographic or otherwise, and Shadows of Tomorrow provides a textbook example of that truism. Latin jazz? Call it what you will, but when music swings like this, whatever name it bears is entirely irrelevant and immaterial.

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