The boldly colored cover of Fantastic Thoughts features a sinewy band of horses heroically galloping out of the clouds above and into the foreground. Believe it or not, even that image might still be a little understated for the mood of the music.
Multi-instrumentalist Nate Mercereau is a prolific MVP of the L.A. post-jazz scene, frequently found in the company of similarly ubiquitous, outside-the-box musical thinkers like Carlos Niño and Josh Johnson on projects including 2025’s transcendent Openness Trio album and Andre 3000’s head-turning ambient-jazz solo debut. But while Mercereau’s solo sojourn shares a sense of spiritual uplift with those projects, it couldn’t be further from their quietly contemplative tone.

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