Lisa Sokolov

Inspired by Betty Carter and Sheila Jordan, NY resident Lisa Sokolov is among the more interesting and chance-taking jazz vocalists who surfaced within the ’90s. Sokolov isn’t as radical as Ann Dyer — for example, she isn’t as left-of-center as Carter, although you can find components of Carter in her phrasing. The matter that makes the expressive, big-voiced Sokolov uncommon is her capability to combine the impact of jazz’s avant-garde with components of spirit and blues in addition to cabaret and movie theater music; it is not every day which you listen to a singer that has benefited from Carter’s abstraction but also offers the type of soulful grit you’ll anticipate from Patti LaBelle. Sokolov does not have any problem getting earthy, bluesy, and down-home, but she actually is just as comfy getting cerebral and abstract. Sokolov’s initial record, Angel Rodeo (which highlighted tabla participant Badal Roy), arrived on Laughing Equine in 1993 and was accompanied by her second Laughing Equine launch, Lazy Afternoon, in 1999. Her most uninhibited materials up to now was captured on her behalf 2004 effort, Existence.