BY: DIGITAL WAX MEDIA STAFF

 

The wait is finally over – the highly anticipated sophomore LP from jazz trio Okonski, Entrance Music will be available everywhere on Friday. What’s more, this writer can attest that the triumphant album, has in fact, been well worth the wait.

 

Listeners had their first brush with Entrance Music earlier this year by way of lead single “October,” appropriately setting the stage for what was to come. The release of “October was soon followed by that of the moody second single “Dahlia,” and finally “Summer Storm,” which was made available just this week.

 

 

 

 

The preceding singles provide an informed overview of the various emotional facets of Entrance Music, which continues the development of Okonski’s characteristically intuitive and emotionally driven sound. Not dissimilar to the approach of jazz luminaries such as Bill Evans and Miles Davis, the work of Okonski as a unit has seemed to place a much greater emphasis on creative utilization of dynamics and sonic space, along with emotionally informed storytelling by way of song rather than on blatant displays of technical facility.

 

 

 

 

This approach is one which dates back to the group’s fantastic debut album as a collective, 2023’s Magnolia, released two years prior – nearly to the day – to Entrance Music. Driven by the melodic piano of work of bandleader Steve Okonski, Entrance Music makes brilliant use of the palpable chops of the band’s rhythm section – comprised of drummer Aaron Frazer and bassist Michael Isvara Montgomery.

 

Third single “Summer Storm” serves as an ample indicator of the pair’s substantial role in the establishment of the all-important mood within the music. Stuttering bass drum patterns supported Montgomery’s locked-in groove endow the music with a real “boom-bap” sensibility, lending the piano progression – which otherwise may have felt more akin to a ballad – a hip-hop leaning flavor not dissimilar to the work of Okonski’s Colemine label-mates, The Sure Fire Soul Ensemble.

 

 

Montgomery’s presence is also a key element in the emotional impact of numbers such as “Wind or Vertigo,” a delicate composition that seems to ebb and flow much like the wind itself.  Frazer lays back for much of the song’s runtime, accenting the proceedings primarily with restrained cymbal strikes which serve to keep time behind the conversational interplay of the bass and piano. The “longing” feel of the bass notes and real-time improvisational exchange of melodic expression between the instruments makes the song feel like a distant cousin of sorts to the material comprising the Bill Evans Trio’s Sunday at the Village Vanguard album, which features perhaps the finest recorded example of such interplay between Evans and bassist Scott LaFaro.

 

Montgomery’s tasteful double bass work take centerstage for mid-album cut “Passing Through,” which sees the musician working unaccompanied for nearly a minute in a Mingus-esque demonstration of the often under-acknowledged compositional facility of bass as a melodic instrument. Entrance Music has been characterized as a musical equivalent of sorts to “early mornings and first cups of coffee,” in contrast to Magnolia’s atmosphere of “last calls and late nights.” This distinction is perhaps most evident in the meditative “Passing Through,” which comes across like the feeling of a deep breath of fresh morning air translated to sound.

 

The thoughtfulness of Okonski’s compositional and performative approach are definitively discernible in song’s like Entrance Music’s ninth track, “Penny.” The piano work of Steve Okonski is spotlighted here, and the recording serves as a showcase for the remarkable nuance in the bandleader’s playing. Details such as the velocity with which a player’s individual fingers are striking piano keys generally go unnoticed by those not privy to the inner-workings of music performance on production, but such seemingly minute factors can make all the difference in how a piece of music is perceived.

 

In the case of “Penny,” the contemplative tune features saliently fluid instrumental execution, with divides between individual notes seeming to fade away entirely, giving each chord the feel of a rich and distinct note in and of itself rather than a collection of notes that have been grouped together. There’s a fluidity to the harmonic movement in the playing that is generally more heavily associated with the sprawling fretboard of a guitar, which allows for seamless sliding and blending of notes.

 

“Penny” serves as summation of sorts of the restraint and pensiveness which is so essential to the Okonski sound.  The track, fittingly, is positioned so as to bookend the album, bringing Entrance Music to a fulfilling resolution.

 

With the long-awaited and expertly realized emergence of Entrance Music, Okonski has masterfully avoided the curse of the dreaded “sophomore slump,” delivering a collection of music which is atmospheric, exploratory, accessible, unwaveringly true to the group’s identity and, perhaps most significantly of all, endlessly interesting.

 

Entrance Music will be available to stream and purchase everywhere on Friday, February 28, 2025. Additional information on Okonski, as well as other artists on the Colemine Records roster, can be found at the Colemine Records website.

 

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