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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 and the Indications bandmate Aaron Frazer on drums and bassist Michael Isvara InchIshInch 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. Recorded over a five day session, Entrance Music was one of the first albums committed to tape at Portage Lounge, Terry Cole's studio in Loveland, OH. InchIt was a new setup, but with Terry behind the dials it was very familiar,Inch says Okonski. InchI can't emphasize enough how much Terry feels like a fourth member [of the band] because of the space he's curating, the energy he is bringing, and the production ideas.Inch The energy and sound created with the Colemine labelhead at the helm makes for a listening experience equally at home with ECM or Stones Throw catalogs. From the rippling notes of the pastoral opener, InchOctober,Inch Entrance Music is rich 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. While the band does not play together as often as they would like, not much time is needed for the three to lock in. Montgomery's bass opening to InchPassing ThroughInch bends and moves with a singular meditative grace before piano and percussion joins the daylight filling a room with b
