Song of the Day: Okonski - Song For My Sister's Son

Durand Jones & The Indications' piano player Steve Okonski released his debut album Magnolia with a very personal beautiful new single Song For My Sister's Son.

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 which all of this trio’s members have connections. After setting aside some time in the winter of 2020, Okonski, trained initially as a classical pianist, invited Michael Isvara “Ish” Montgomery and Aaron Frazer to work on an album initially planned to be beat-driven and fully composed trio instrumentals.

Okonski says on the track: Song for My Sister’s Son was written for my sister’s son, Otis, who was born shortly before the recording sessions for this album. To me, the simple melody makes it feels like a lullaby, with calming moments of cascading piano lines over the constant ride cymbal and bass movement helping propel the song forward. I think it’s the most unique song on the record and evokes a happiness and calmness from front to back.

Listen to Okonski new single Song For My Sister's Son, from his debut solo album Magnolia:

#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 result of these sessions is the debut full-length Magnolia. 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.

Watch the below video for Okonski new single Song For My Sister's Son, from his debut solo album Magnolia: