The results are in, and the Eddie Brookshire Quintet is the best local non-rock group in the Dayton area.

Heard a group I have written about before and try to catch every time I can, The Eddie Brookshire Quintet. [...] The band was clicking on all cylinders. It has been a while since I have heard a Bebop oriented band that listened to each other so well and played together so well, playing off each other like they had practiced a million times. It was quite a treat. [...] If you havent heard The Eddie Brookshire Quintet you are in for a treat and if you werent there last night, you REALLY missed it. Thank goodness I made myself head down to Gillys. Thank you Jerry Gilloti.

The young energetic music comes courtesy of Keigo Hirakawa, an immigrant from Japan who made his name at hotspots like Foundation Lounge and Wally’s. Known for his spontaneous style on the piano, Hirakawa and his partner, bass player Matt Hogan, will play bebop, a jazz style characterized by fast tempos and improvisations. “I like the spontaneity in a conversational way,” said the 2006 New England Conservatory graduate. “When I play with other people we’re constantly interacting. I’ll play something and Matt will respond, then I will respond to that.” Hirakawa first played at Icarus during the Boston Music Festival in September and the venue seems the perfect opportunity for him and Hogan to make a statement about jazz. Hirakawa said it was a good fit because the venue he was looking for matched the artists they were looking for. They have a good history of musicians, Hirakawa said. It’s a platform to say who we are. [Icarus] supplies a good mix between an intimate environment where people can walk in knowing they are going to listen to good music and eat good food. It’s a dinner environment, people aren’t expecting loud music.

Hirakawa is an interactive and creative jazz pianist from Boston, Brookshire said. After three or four months talking on and off with Brookshire before he came to Dayton, Hirakawa asked if he could play with him, Brookshire said. Without a doubt he fit the band perfectly, Brookshire said