AGORÀ 2

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AGORA were a six piece Jazz band from Italy. This album was released in 1976 and I concur with what is stated on the "Gepr" site, that their music is "similar to PERIGEO's better stuff".

"Punto Rosso" opens with electric piano as a fuller sound comes in quickly. Impressive ! Reminds me of MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA. Some excellent drum work here before it settles again. Sax comes blasting in before 2 1/2 minutes. There's so much going on .The guitar a minute later is fantastic. "Piramid Di Domani" has some atmosphere to open as acoustic guitar comes in. We get a melody 2 1/2 minutes in. The rest of the song is such a pleasure to listen to. "Tall El Zaatar" features intricate drumming with sax and electric piano early. It settles right down 3 minutes in then starts to build a minute later. Love the drumming ! The guitar 6 minutes in is great, very intricate and tasteful.

"La Bottega Di Duilio" has these solemn sax melodies before it kicks in before 1 1/2 minutes. Some nice guitar and drum work as sax plays over top. More impressive guitar 4 minutes in as the bass throbs. "Simbiosi (Vasi Comunicanti)" is a sad song with mellow piano and sax throughout. There is a brief outburst before 4 1/2 minutes. "Cavalcota Solare" is a great way to end this album. It's like everything is being held back here, lots of tension. A brief flurry 3 minutes in but it settles quikly. The next outburst is after 4 minutes as the guitar rips it up. And again after 6 1/2 minutes but it stays uptempo this time. I like everything about this track.

So 4 stars is a must for this extremely well played and arranged music.

If the post-74 years were not exactly kind to progressive rock, jazz-rock still thrived. Every country seemed to sprout multiple bands daring their hand at it, and while not reaching the ground-breaking levels of creativity and originality of the early 70's pioneers, many amazing albums continued to be released. Also this one from the Italian band Agora.

Agora only released two albums, this studio album and a short live document that preceded it. In every possible way, Agora 2 is a perfection of the potential they had shown on the preceding live album. Weather Report and Perigeo (another Italian fusion band) are the main sources for inspiration on this sax and keyboard dominated fusion album. There is a guitar player as well but his presence remains more subtle then the rock-out dominance of a John McLaughnin or Al DiMeola.

The album has a rich atmosphere, relaxed, melancholic and mysterious, just as on Weather Report's first two albums. The music is very harmonious, not as free-styled as Weather Report but not too melodic neither. To sum it up, it found a nice balance between musicianship, ambience, gracefully drifting compositions and accessibility. The interplay between the musicians is amazing, constantly changing lead sections as if in dialogue with one another.

Agora is hardly the most original band out there, but they sure crafted a brilliant and moving jazz-rock album. A recommended entry point into the more atmospheric realm of fusion.