Okonski: Entrance Music (orange & black swirl coloured) LP

In tomorrow.... After nearly two years, Okonski returns with "Entrance Music", an album that finds the trio at the height of their improvisational prowess and celebrating the spontaneous and meditative. On the heels of 2023's debut "Magnolia", pianist and leader Steve Okonski has reconvened long-time musical collaborators (Durand Jones & The Indications bandmate Aaron Frazer on drums and bassist Michael Isvara "Ish" Montgomery) for another session in the spirit of artists like The Bad Plus, Gerald Clayton, and The Breathing Effect. Ultimately "Entrance Music" serves as an invitation to early hours, where songs linger in the doorway, announcing their presence before returning to the air, in a meticulous drift into the next. From the rippling notes of the pastoral opener, "October", "Entrance Music" is lush with anticipation, both band and listener feeling the tension in the tranquility - where the interplay of jazz improvisation and boom bap beats never shortchanges the musicianship but the talent is ever in service of the song.