Okonski - Magnolia (Dark Grey Marble Vinyl)

Limited edition new pressing on
Dark Grey Marble Vinyl. For Fans Of... John Carol Kirby, Pharoah Sanders, Bill Evans, Durand
Jones & The Indications, Misha Panfilov. Debut LP from Okonski. Features current and former members of Durand Jones & the
Indications (Steve Okonski, Aaron Frazer, and Michael Montgomery). Follows the debut single 'By The Lake', a collaboration with
Germanbased artist and new Karma Chief signee Pale Jay (500k Monthly listeners). The studio at 122 West Loveland Avenue was not
an unfamiliar space for Steve Okonski, the leader of his eponymous trio Okonski. Ever since the Colemine label set up shop in
Loveland, Ohio it has been a host to a number of groups passing through town, including Durand Jones and the Indications who all of
this trio’s members have connections to. After setting aside some time in winter of 2020, Okonski, trained initially as a classical pianist,
invited Michael Isvara “Ish” Montgomery and Aaron Frazer to work on an album that was initially planned to be beat driven and fully
composed trio instrumentals. After finishing this first session with some improvisations, a second week was booked in the summer of
2021 to try and capture some more of that spontaneous energy. During this session, the tracks were all improvised and recorded live to
a Tascam 388 during several late nights at the Colemine HQ. They were structured to allow the group’s collective intuition to fully
shape the melodies and arcs of the music. The album opens with Runner Up, where a triumphant yet melancholic melody in the piano
leads to a more reserved B-section driven by the drums and bass of Frazer and Montgomery. As you journey through the remainder of
the album you are met with a plethora of evoked and explored emotions. The calmness one has walking down a moonlit street after
midnight, the connection one has for a person who comes into their world for just a moment or a lifetime, and the nerves and catharsis
one feels when starting upon a new, unknown journey. Magnolia closes with Sunday, a track that was recorded late into the night at the
close of their first recording session. Without the spontaneity of Sunday, the remainder of Magnolia would likely have never come to
fruition. Magnolia was composed from the heart and from the spirit of those in the studio those late nights in Loveland. It is the
culmination of an emotional and artistic release that was not afforded or recognized before the band sat at their instruments, and
because of that it is introspective, meditative, spiritual, and new. Tracks: 1. Runner Up 2. Field Museum 3. Old Friend 4. Dark Moon 5.
Song For My Sister's Son 6. Walking To A Home 7. Sunday