Aga Derlak Trio – Healing (2017)

Aga Derlak Trio

Aga Derlak - piano
Tymon Trąbczyński - double bass
Szymon Madej - drums

Healing

HEVHETIA 0149




By Adam Baruch

This is the second album by Polish Jazz pianist/composer Aga Derlak, recorded again in a classic piano trio format, this time with bassist Tymon Trąbczyński, who also played on the debut, and drummer Szymon Madej. The album presents nine original compositions, all by Derlak.

Musically the album continues exactly from where the debut left off. The long, contemplative themes, introvert and full of silent breaths are still here, but they are much more condensed and compressed, which works all for the best. This music is very minimalistic, hinting more that it is actually saying, hiding more than it is actually disclosing. This clever game of hide and seek keeps the attentive listener on the edge at all times, trying to guess the next move. Derlak manages to define her very personal style on this album much more fluently and precisely that on her debut, which is quite understandable.

The performances are extremely hard to judge, as they are fragmented into short passages, which limit the possibility of displaying technical fluency. But perhaps the ability to play a myriad of fragments rather than a steady flow of notes is the true challenge here. If I might use a metaphor from another field of Art, Derlak's music is like impressionist pointillist painting, which in music is called divisionism. I have no idea if Derlak is at all aware of these terms, but that what her music is really all about. Of course in painting, as in music, the individual dots of paint/sound dots create a complete picture of uniquely structured beauty.

The rhythm section faces the same difficulties as the leader, with the music being introvert and constantly intervallic, which of course makes the traditional role of keeping time and pulse devilishly difficult. These young players stand up to the challenge bravely, supporting the pianist amicably, elegantly and with superb cohesiveness and harmony, which is nothing short of being brilliant.

Derlak and her fellow musicians mange to overcome the proverbial second album jinx with flying colors, producing a brilliant piano trio album, which is not only elegant and intelligent, but also completely innovative and unique. Even on the incredibly busy and productive Polish Jazz scene albums like this one are an exception. As a result Derlak becomes a talent worth watching, and considering her achievements in such early stages of her career, God only knows where she intends to take us in the future. Mon plus profond respect Milady!