A new side of guitarist Szymon Mika emerges from his latest album for quintet, Agma. After intimate solo and duo projects in his previous releases, there is a much more outward-facing feel to this album. As Mika has mentioned in interviews, the music was written with this specific line-up in mind: vocalist Song Yi Jeon, trumpeter Oskar Török, double bassist Andrzej Święs and drummer Péter Somos.
The repertoire is ideally suited to this line-up, indeed the album’s greatest strength is the teamwork and great understanding and chemistry between the musicians. The truly remarkable thing is It was all achieved without any prior rehearsals – the material was recorded in two days, and the musician’s first encounter with the music was in the studio. Szymon Mika had focused on precision in the arrangements in order to highlight the strengths of each member of the band. At the same time, he left room for improvisational freedom.
The album lasts almost an hour and contains nine tracks. Most of them are extended in order to give each instrument a place in the narrative, including the singer. The notion of ‘instrument’ including the vocalist is key here, because apart from ‘Cosmic Sand’, where we find classic vocals with lyrics, Agma treats the voice as an instrumental layer.
The open-ended form is best exemplified by “Night Waltz”, with its delicate guitar lines intertwined with vocals, eventually evolving into a collective exploration of still-restrained yet decidedly avant-garde improvisation.
Similar “excursions”—though in a more expressive vein—can be found in “Wire Face”. Meanwhile, the album’s first two tracks center around melodic dialogues between guitar and trumpet “Sacred” and double bass (“Reinvented”). “Outline 26” (video below) draws inspiration from Coltrane’s “26-2”, while the warm tone of the trumpet shines in the ballad “Agma”.
Agma is a breathtaking listen. It has been carefully planned, and is flawlessly executed by ensemble. It is filled with intriguing melodies, inventive improvisations, and the quintet’s extraordinary unity. Perfection.
