Home » Jazz Musicians » Lisa Sokolov
Lisa Sokolov
Lisa Sokolov is a frontline New York jazz vocalist, improviser and composer. Her work embraces the best of new music, free and straight ahead jazz. Her recordings angel Rodeo, Lazy Afternoon and Presence have all received Best CD of the Year citations and press kudos. DownBeat magazine cites “Presence” as 5 stars, Best new Release of 2004 and their 2005 critics poll adds Sokolov onto their rising star vocalist list. Her new long awaited “A Quiet Thing” has once again made the CMJ Music charts and is being met with wide critical acclaim. Her own studies began as a classical pianist and singer with conservatory prep education and traditional musical training. Her intrigue with the music of John Coltrane led her to search out Coltrane's bassist Jimmy Garrison at Bennington College in Vermont. Choosing this school, she found herself able to study with trumpeter Bill Dixon, saxophonist Jimmy Lyons, and drummer Milford Graves, as well as composers Vivian Fine and Louis Calabro.
Arriving on the New York scene in 1977, Lisa began collaborating with bassist William Parker. This collaboration continues. These years included working in trio with singers Ellen Christie and Jeanne Lee. Lisa also was heard regularly with pianists Wayne Horvitz and Robin Holcomb in the days of Studio Henry. Indeed over the years she has worked with many new music and jazz notables including Cecil Taylor, Rashid Ali, Badal Roy, Andrew Cyrille, Mark Dresser, Jimmy Lyons, Irene Schweitzer, Steve McCall, Butch Morris, Gerry Hemingway, Didi Jackson, Blue "Gene" Tyranny, Hilton Ruiz, Mike Richmond, and Jim McNeely.
Her performances include solos, duets, quartets, big bands, (she has recorded with William Parkers Little Huey Orchestra and in duo for William’s Song Cycle) and her own Voice/Movement/Theater work and choral works. She has been heard at the Montreaux Jazz Festival, The Stimmen Festival, Opera House of Lyons, the Spoleto Festival, the Kool Jazz Festival., The Vision Festival, Havana International Jazz Festival, the Tampere Jazz Happening, Brisbane Festival, The Knitting Factory, The Bottom Line, Alice Tully Hall, Symphony Space and many other venues. Lisa has recorded on Soul Note, Uneet, Aum, Boxholder, Between the Lines and Laughing Horse Records.
Sokolov is the originator of the method of Embodied VoiceWork, a vocal improvisation method which she teaches at The Experimental Theater Wing at New York University, Tisch School of the Arts where she is a full professor. She was also on the faculty of The Graduate Program of Music Therapy at NYU for ten years. Ms. Sokolov is invited internationally to perform, teach workshops and master classes in her vocal techniques to artists, therapists, physicians and people just wanting to contact, connect and sing. Her performance and vocal techniques have been written up in magazines, newspapers and in texts on improvisation.. Her work as a lay cantor has been featured in A CBS Special, “Sacred Art; Ancient Voices” Lisa is also acknowledged for her contribution to the field of Music Therapy in her trainings, work and writing on the wider application of the role of voice in this culture. She is the Director of The Institute for Embodied VoiceWork in New York where she trains post-graduate music therapists and physicians and is often the keynote speaker at conferences, institutes and universities throughout the world.
Read moreTags
William Parker: Migration of Silence Into and Out of the Tone World
by Karl Ackermann
If multi-instrumentalist/composer William Parker's ten-CD Migration Of Silence Into And Out Of The Tone World suggests a cohesive, high concept plan, it is something more. The beautifully packaged clamshell box set is comprised of mutually exclusive projectsone dating back ten yearswith some common themes. There is an overall dedication of the music to all people of the world who are searching for freedom...." Pandemic downtime resulted in Parker's accumulating enough material for many of these albums. Viewed as a whole, ...
read moreWilliam Parker: Migration of Silence Into and Out of the Tone World
by Giuseppe Segala
L'attività musicale di William Parker è stata copiosamente documentata da circa centocinquanta dischi, che spaziano in un caleidocopio di gruppi fondati dallo stesso contrabbassista, formazioni cooperative, omaggi, collaborazioni. Ma nessun singolo lavoro, fino a questo momento, aveva focalizzato l'attenzione su un ventaglio di ispirazioni così ampio e completo come si fa ora nei dieci CD del cofanetto The Music of William ParkerMigration of Silence Into and Out of The Tone World. In questo lavoro monumentale, che viene ...
read moreLisa Sokolov: A Quiet Thing
by Donald Elfman
No song is a simple thing in Lisa Sokolov's hands, for she delves into the magical possibilities of the voice and the beauty and mystery of words. Her third album, A Quiet Thing, extends the power of her earlier recordings, continuing her progression towards the majestic and ecstatic silence" of the universe. She bills her new recording as solos, duos, trios and quartets," utilizing Cameron Brown (bass), Todd Reynolds (violin), Gerry Hemingway (drums), John DiMartino (piano) and Kermit Driscoll (electric ...
read moreLisa Sokolov: A Quiet Thing
by Eyal Hareuveni
Singer Lisa Sokolov knows how to make songs her own. Master vocalist, renowned improviser, music therapist, and lay cantor, New York-based Sokolov reaches into the inner, quiet soul of the 12 songs, standards, and even the Jewish liturgy and a modern poem on A Quiet Thing. She rediscovers songs that become an important part of our emotional and intellectual world in times of crises, doubt, and solitude. She breathes new life in these songs, reshapes and reharmonizes them, charging them ...
read moreLisa Sokolov at Enzo's Jazz Room
by Budd Kopman
Lisa SokolovEnzo's JazzThe Jolly Hotel MadisonNew York, NYApril 18, 2007 Lisa Sokolov is one of those performers who must be experienced. Yes, her 2004 CD Presence won Best CD of 2004 from Downbeat Magazine, but I had not heard it. Enzo Capua told me she was something special, and he was not kidding. The most important thing was that Sokolov gave a total, one hundred percent, no-holding-back performance in ...
read moreLisa Sokolov: Presence
by Elliott Simon
Musical genres become extraneous on Presence, as originals, standards, folk, and R&B are transformed, through diva Lisa Sokolov’s texturally thick tones and changing tempos, into emotionally powerful encounters. Set in the context of a piano trio, Sokolov uses her lyrical dynamism, vocal range and innovative command of rhythm and phrasing to expand the boundaries of this conventional format. The title piece is an original multitracked singing experience that sucks you in like a cyclone and then hurtles ...
read moreLisa Sokolov: Presence
by Dr. Judith Schlesinger
This is one of the times I'm grateful that this magazine doesn't have a rating system. I've never heard anything like this before (although Sokolov has two previous CDs out that were reportedly well-received), and I'm honestly not sure how I feel about it. I do know that Presence" is terrifically innovative, with Sokolov exploring the myriad textures of her voice like a daring instrumentalist, and whether she's pure or raspy, shrill or rounded, whispery or full-throated, she's always passionate. ...
read moreNew Work From William Parker Featuring Lisa Sokolov & Cooper-Moore To Be Released On April 1, 2016
Source:
Steven Joerg
On April 1, 2016, a new album of William Parker's luminous compositions will be released on his own Centering Records imprint (distributed via AUM Fidelity). Stan’s Hat Flapping In The Wind presents new work from one of the jazz avant-garde’s most essential individuals, presented in one of the most traditional of forms: voice & piano duets; by fully illuminated masters of their instruments. 19 new songs composed by William Parker, and performed by Lisa Sokolov & Cooper-Moore. Parker is—among his ...
read more
Lisa Sokolov Solo Live New DVD
Source:
Jim Eigo, Jazz Promo Services
Extra-ordinary Sokolov is one powerful fierce open-hearted artist. She is a masterful technician and a channel of the human soul. She befuddles the business of music and challenges the world of art.
Laughing Horse Records announces the release of Lisa Sokolov's new DVD Lisa Sokolov Solo Live"
Here is an opportunity to hear and see the singular vocalist/composer Lisa Sokolov solo live in concert. Sokolov is a force. Her work has been lauded internationally with dozens of Best of the ...
read more
Lisa Sokolov Quartet Sunday January 15 at The Stone 8:00 PM
Source:
All About Jazz
Sunday January 15 Lisa Sokolov Quartet W. John DIMartino Gerry Hemingway Mark Helias @ 8:00 The Stone Ave. C and 2nd St., NYC $10 As far removed stylistically from the reigning royalty of female jazz vocalists as John Coltrane is from Grover Washington, Lisa Sokolov fills every moment of Presence with just that. Exceptionally expressive, dramatic, and ecstatic... a tour de force, masterful and life-affirming. This is jazz vocalizing filled with passion and commitment." DownBeat The most impressive single song ...
read more
Lisa Sokolov Quartet At Sweet Rhythm Tuesday September 20th 8pm and10pm
Source:
All About Jazz
Lisa Sokolov Quartet At Sweet Rhythm Tuesday September 20 8pm and10pm
Source:
All About Jazz
September 2, 2005 To: Listings/Critics/Features From: JAZZ PROMO SERVICES Press Contact: JIM EIGO, [email protected] LISA SOKOLOV QUARTET AT SWEET RHYTHM Tuesday September 20 8pm and 10pm Sweet Rhythm 88 7th Ave and Bleecker St., NYC reservations: (212) 255-3626 Lisa Sokolov - Vocals and keyboards, with Cameron Brown on bass, John DiMartino on piano, and Gerry Hemingway on drums. Lisa premieres new material from her upcoming recording as well as selections from her widely acclaimed CD Presence" Presence" won 15 Best ...
read more
Lisa Sokolov's "Presence" Five Stars Best of 2004 Down Beat Magazine
Source:
All About Jazz
Jazz Vocalist Lisa Sokolov Headlining Jazz Celebration
Source:
All About Jazz
Jazz performer Lisa Sokolov will be headlining a Jazz Celebration with her combo at Temple Beth Torah on Saturday, January 22, 2005 at 7:30 PM. Lisa is a frontline New York jazz vocalist, improviser and composer. Her work embraces the best of new music, free and straight ahead jazz. Her recordings Angel Rodeo, Lazy Afternoon and Presence have received Best CD of the Year citations and press kudos. Her 2004 release, Presence, received 5 stars in Downbeat Magazine. Lisa has ...
read more
Jazz Performer Lisa Sokolov Headlining Jazz Celebration
Source:
All About Jazz
Jazz performer Lisa Sokolov will be headlining a Jazz Celebration with her combo at Temple Beth Torah on Saturday, January 22, 2005 at 7:30 PM. Lisa is a frontline New York jazz vocalist, improviser and composer. Her work embraces the best of new music, free and straight ahead jazz. Her recordings Angel Rodeo, Lazy Afternoon and Presence have received Best CD of the Year citations and press kudos. Her 2004 release, Presence, received 5 stars in Downbeat Magazine. Lisa has ...
read more
Primary Instrument
Vocals
Clinic/Workshop Information
A Workshop in Embodied VoiceWork with Lisa Sokolov "Voice through the Body to the Self" is a workshop exploring the resources and the power within the process of finding and freeing one's voice. Through free vocal improvisation each person connects with their own music, as well as the experience of improvising with others. The tools of this work are breath, tone, touch, imagery and vocal improvisation. Through a series of developmentally sequenced exercises we use these tools to connect to impulse and information in the body