Jazz has no shortage of albums dealing with the past-present-future continuum—quite the opposite, in fact—but few carry as personal a tone as trombonist Elliot Mason's debut leader date. While speaking to broad concepts in dealing with the music's history and the notion of time taking form as one giant through line, Mason also inserts family ties into the Before, Now & After framework. Vocalist Sofija Kne?evi?—Mason's wife, who was expecting their first child when the album was recorded and gave birth to that baby boy shortly before its release—takes her rightful place in the front line here, adding literal and figurative resonance to these songs. Her meditations on love—originals like "Vulnerable" and "Let Me Ask You Something"—address something beyond music while still relating directly to the project at hand.

Mason, best known as one of the low brass titans in the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, fills out the rest of this quintet with the rhythm section from that high profile big band—pianist