Brooklyn-born, Los Angeles-based guitarist Nicholas Mycio will release his new trio album Please Plant Flowers on March 20, 2026. The record features bassist Kyle Colina and drummer Sam McCarthy in a live-in-the-room session that documents the trio’s interplay without overdubs or heavy arrangements.
The material developed over several years marked by war, displacement, illness, and bereavement in Mycio’s life and family circle. He continued writing throughout that period without planning a concept album, allowing the circumstances to filter into the music.
Mycio focuses on the classic guitar trio format for this project, leaving the guitar to carry the harmonic weight without piano. He brought only lead sheets to the studio and relied on group improvisation for form and direction. McCarthy, a longtime collaborator from their Berklee years and a member of Mycio’s debut recording, returns on drums, while Colina adds the perspective of a more established New York bassist.
The opening track, “Siny,” is an E-flat minor blues that nods to Kurt Rosenwinkel’s The Next Step and avoids a strict chorus structure to give the trio rhythmic and harmonic flexibility. “Shadow Puppets” reflects lingering reactions from time spent in active war zones, including moments when everyday sounds in New York triggered memories of air-raid sirens. “Elegy for Norman” was written after the death of Mycio’s great-grandfather Norman Cohen.
“Signals in Black” grew out of Mycio’s effort to recognize positive moments during a difficult stretch and connects to his study of Thelonious Monk’s music. The title track Please Plant Flowers was written after years marked by war and uncertainty and expressing a wish for a future calm enough that “someone can plant flowers at my grave.” “Melancholia” returns to the period after Mycio’s teenage hospitalization following a suicide attempt, focusing on the subdued, ambiguous calm that followed. “Dreams of Many,” one of the earliest compositions here, recalls a more optimistic time, while closing track “When I’m Gone” completes the phrase implied by the album title and looks toward a hoped-for peace for his scattered family.
Mycio’s path to Please Plant Flowers began early. He started guitar at four under the guidance of his father, guitarist, and music theorist Wasil Mycio, and grew up immersed in jazz. That foundation carried into his studies at Berklee College of Music on a full-tuition scholarship, where he worked with Terri Lyne Carrington, Kris Davis, and Nir Felder. His style brings together a clear technique, jazz improvisation, and electronic influences.
His discography to date reflects a broad range. The debut album Secrets frhttps://amzn.to/4bF5FXEom the Streetlights (2021) combined original compositions with standards drawn from his working repertoire. It grew out of touring in Europe, including performances at the Ivan Franko National Academic Drama Theater in Kyiv and the Moscow Jazz Festival. Nonstandard (2024) presents jazz standards alongside breakbeats and electronic production.