The first notes of “Entrance Music” trickle in like the morning’s first light—soft, deliberate, and brimming with quiet intention. Pianist Steve Okonski and his trio return with a record that trades in the after-hours introspection of 2023’s “Magnolia” for something more meditative, a soundtrack to dawn rather than dusk. Where their debut conjured late-night city streets, its follow-up settles into a different rhythm, exhaling into the spaciousness of the early hours.
Over the course of five days at Portage Lounge in Loveland, Ohio, Okonski, drummer Aaron Frazer, and bassist Michael Isvara “Ish” Montgomery laid down a collection of compositions that feel simultaneously precise and unhurried. Guided by Terry Cole—whose production touch is so integral that Okonski calls him the group’s unofficial fourth member—the trio lets these pieces unfold with the kind of organic ease that only comes from deep musical trust.
The album’s opener, “October,” is an exercise in restrained beauty, its rippling piano lines evoking shifting autumn leaves. “Passing Through” builds from Montgomery’s fluid, meditative bass into a delicate interplay with Okonski’s keys, the trio moving as one, their communication near telepathic. While improvisation sits at the core of their approach, it’s never indulgent—every note serves the composition, every space left open feels intentional.
What sets “Entrance Music” apart is its ability to exist in two worlds at once. It’s equally at home alongside ECM’s most ethereal jazz recordings as it is nestled between Stones Throw’s left-field instrumental explorations. The presence of hip-hop’s rhythmic sensibilities—subtle nods to boom-bap beats—never feels forced, instead lending a gentle pulse beneath Okonski’s evocative piano work.
While the trio doesn’t play together as often as they might like, the chemistry here is effortless. And that ease is felt in the way these songs move—never rushed, never overstated. Instead, they drift, linger, then fade like morning mist burning off in the first rays of sun. If “Magnolia” was the sound of last call, “Entrance Music” is the soundtrack to the first sip of coffee, the quiet hum of a world waking up.
Photo: Whitney Pelfrey
