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<\/a>Sokoloff\u2019s musical roots go back to her early days in Toronto, where she was exposed to all types of genres: classical, musical theatre and singers like Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland and Sammy Davis Jr.<\/p>\n\u201cMy two older sisters studied piano and, at 4 years of age, I demanded to also take lessons. I learned left from right at the piano keyboard,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Singing, too, was part of her daily life. With her sisters and father, who had \u201ca powerful, magnetic voice,\u201d said Sokoloff, they often sang multi-part harmony. Her older sisters introduced her to various types of music, including rock and roll and folk music. A guitar found its way into the house, and Sokoloff used her babysitting money to learn how to play it.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy 15, I was writing songs. I\u2019d been writing poetry, and guitar gave me a way of writing, singing and playing my own songs,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
As a university student, Sokoloff created and performed music for several theatre productions, including at the University of Manchester, England, while a visiting student. She later worked in Toronto theatres and freelanced for CBC Radio, where she gravitated to music-related topics, such as a 90-minute documentary on composer Harold Arlen.<\/p>\n
A hankering to go west took hold in the 1980s. First, to a communications job at the Banff Centre, where she was exposed to vocal jazz by singer Jay Clayton, who invited Sokoloff to the final session of her workshop.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was enthralled,\u201d Sokoloff recalled. \u201cIn 1986, I moved to Victoria and raised children with my husband, poet and playwright Richard Olafson, publisher of Ekstasis Editions. We had met in Banff, drawn together by mutual interest in poetry and theatre.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In Victoria, she purchased an old piano, hoping to approach the instrument in a different, more improvisatory way, not reliant on reading and memorizing sheet music. For 20 years, she studied with local jazz musician George Essihos.<\/p>\n \u201cI was privileged to study with him,\u201d Sokoloff said. \u201cThe understanding of jazz harmony gained enabled me to start writing songs in the style of the great songwriters of the American Songbook standards. At the same time, I realized my greatest interest was in singing my own and others\u2019 songs, with piano a way to accompany myself.\u201d<\/p>\n Sokoloff sang in and then took over the artistic direction of Victoria\u2019s Jewish Community Choir, which gave her the opportunity to arrange and compose choral and prayer music, such as \u201cLament for Kristallnacht\u201d and a version of \u201cAdon Olam.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe choir performed songs I had written, including \u2018The Music of the Earth,\u2019 \u2018Together and Free\u2019 and a choral version of Karel Roessingh\u2019s \u2018Cedars,\u2019 featuring my lyrics,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n At the launch of Change in the Weather<\/i>, Sokoloff performed with a new group of musicians, the Island Dream Band, which features Sokoloff (rhythm guitar and vocals), Chris Coey (lead guitar), Alex Olson (bass), Martina Peladeau (flute), Dave Pretty (drums) and Kenny Seidman (piano).<\/p>\n Over the summer, Sokoloff is sharing the music widely throughout Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland. In the fall, she wants to return to Nashville to complete a second album, which is two-thirds recorded.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m excited by this next batch of songs, which features an old country-style ballad as well as some jazz tunes given an infectious Nashville treatment,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Additionally, Sokoloff, who has written several books of poetry, will release a middle-grade novel, Kayla\u2019s Song, based on her experience as a girl who loved songs and singing. It is scheduled to come out this fall.<\/p>\n