Review by: Stewart Brennan ~ World United Music
My
passion for good music compels me to write especially when good music moves me,
and “Hartland Street Echoes” by John Sokoloff has certainly moved me in ways
that I never expected, as I now, better understand, empathically, a small part
of a displaced community after the 1917 Russian Revolution. One hundred years
later, the spirit, culture and art of that community continue to grace our
world in the most passionate of ways, expressed so profoundly in the music of
Russian American composer and artist, John Sokoloff.
In
many ways, the emotional expression present in John Sokoloff’s music mirrors that
of my own Irish Community. There is a similarity in the depth of pain
experienced by both communities through their tragedies as well as the euphoria
of joy in their triumphs expressed through art, which, to me, is the soul of
the people in all communities.
The
strength of heart and character of the Russian people is as ever present today
as it was yesterday and carries on from generation to generation through its
preservation of culture, its artforms and its people.
“Hartland
Street Echoes” is an empathic window to the life and experiences of not just
one man, but of an entire community and perhaps a nation. History is said to be
written by the victors, but it is also written by the vanquished through the empathy
and artistic passion of its people.
“Hartland
Street Echoes” by John Sokoloff contains the pulse of the Russian heart
expressed brilliantly by John Sokoloff and band through a music that is
thoroughly engaging, empathic and meaningful.
Be
sure to subscribe to John Sokoloff’s Official website and / or his Facebook and
YouTube channels here and here to keep up to date with music tours and everything else.
First, a little
about John Sokoloff and what he’s been up to:
John
Sokoloff's music comes from his Russian-American heritage. Melodic and soulful,
John's piano-based songs are unique in their lyricism and passionate honesty.
Combining a variety of instruments and styles seamlessly, The John Sokoloff
Band has released five compact discs of compelling, instrumental music.
John
served as composer for the critically acclaimed CBS Primetime "The Bonnie
Hunt Show" for David Letterman's Worldwide Pants Productions. He composed
and played on the theme and all incidental music for the show.
A
song from his debut cd Vacation Beach, was the featured theme for Moscow’s
850th Birthday official documentary, produced by award winning director Tofik
Shefardeev. Commissioned by Mayor Lushkov and sanctioned by the Moscow
government,
DVD
copies of the documentary were distributed to the gathered mayors of the
world’s major cities.
Additionally,
The John Sokoloff Band has been heard on radio and television in the United
States and Russia.
The
piano-based band also allows for eclectic instrument combinations and a variety
of influences - from Blues and Classical to Russian Folk.
From
congas to violin, electric guitar to balalaika - the common denominator is
soul…
John’s
influences include Rachmaninoff, Van Morrison, Tchaikovsky, Sting, JJ Cale,
Neil Young, Roy Buchanan, The Band and Bulat Okoudzhave, among others.
Discography:
1993 - Vacation
Beach
1996 - Valleys
1998 - Eastern
Shadows
2000 - Bliss
Misplaced
2004 - The Melancholy
Way
2017
- Hartland Street Echoes
Hartland Street
Echoes Album Review:
Band Members:
John Sokoloff – Piano / Synths
Tony Mandracchia – Electric,
Acoustic and Slide Guitars
Denny Croy – Fender Base
Craig Fundyga – Congas, Vibes
and Percussion
Willie McNeil – Drums
Guests on
“Hartland Street Echoes”
Alexander “Lulu”
Podresov
– Acoustic Guitar and Balalaika on “Hartland Street Echoes”
Gee Rabe – Accordion on
“Vanowen Girl”
Nikolai Kurganov – Violin on “Dom
Veteranov”
SONGS:
Song
# 01 - She Lives at 4 View Road
“She
Lives at 4 View Road” begins the musical journey with youthful carefree
ambiance, a delightful presence that moves into a natural build up with layers
of comforting musical impressions as if thoughts and memories joined-in to
greet a friend from youth. A pleasantly engaging song from beginning to end.
Song
# 02 - Her Voice
“Her
Voice” is a short departure from John Sokoloff’s traditional musical style but
no less emotionally impacting through a combination of music and spoken word
poetry of a young man talking over the phone with an old girlfriend in hopes of
reuniting, only to find that her heart belongs to another. A song and poem
about a true-life experience of sinking heartbreak.
POEM:
HER VOICE
Her
voice, it sounded happy
I
listened selfishly
Three
years I haven’t seen her
But
she is still in me.
Our
talk was small, by standards
I
didn’t really care
Since
on this night of empty words –
It’s
feelings I would share
She
told me of her college days
While
work wore out the nights
Why
she “hasn’t done a social thing”
Her
time has been so tight.
I
closed my eyes
And
thanked the clock
for
playing kindly thief
No
mention of another -
I
blew the sigh relief
Euphoria
begins
with
quivers in the soul -
And
how do you stop a rock
that’s
begun it’s downhill roll
Aching
was my heart –
At
hearing that voice again
Take
this letter now –
to
heaven my feelings send..
It
came without much warning
A
shower in summertime
She
mentioned it in passing –
The
truth so hard to find.
“My
boyfriend can’t communicate
but
treats me really nice.
Our
future is together..
John...can
you lend me some advice..”
Sometimes
we expect
the
blue sky to turn green
Sometimes
we can’t face,
what
we have always seen..
But
tell me how to stop,
what
has begun to roll
This
rock has stopped its tumble –
It’s
resting on my soul…
Song
# 03 - Vanowen Girl
The
more I listen to “Vanowen Girl”, the more blown away I am. Not only is it
infectious, it's truly a modern day classic that I'm sure, would have been
loved and envied by all the great classical composers. The music is so
delightfully simple yet also very complicated in its structure, its essence and
its emotional reflection...
”Vanowen
Girl” is a modern day classical masterpiece… a waltze made by a master that
will grace all of our communities to the end of time…this is simply a brilliant
piece! Here is a musical composition that needs to be heard by the world as
much as an André Rieu Orchestral Dance and performance is viewed by millions
throughout Europe.
Song
# 04 - Chasing Hara
I
view an album as a life journey or story told through music and so “Chasing
Hara” continues the story of a youthful composer, lost in the emotions of love,
chasing yet never capturing the elusive dream.
Song
# 05 - Covello
“Covello”
is a cheery upbeat composition that is seemingly filled with the hustle and
bustle of life that builds and builds with infectious instrumental hooks
telling of youthful experiences; a piano instrumental piece that lifts the
spirits and energy level.
Song
# 06 - Coronado Terrace
“Coronado
Terrace” is a very reflective piece as if looking back through time at the
experiences and roots to what life was like in the Russian American community
with all the stories that drift to mind in old silent black and white news
reels complete with a hint of melancholy and longing. A wonderfully engaging
and artistically inspiring composition.
Song
# 07 - Waltz for Anastasia
“Waltz
for Anastasia” is another brilliant composition and expression brimming with
emotional reflection that tells through its melancholy ambience, the catastrophic
loss of innocence and the tragedy that befell the Romonov family, and indeed
the entire Russian nation during the 1917 Russian Revolution.
Anastasia
was one of the Romanov children and so this composition brings emotional
reality to the loss of innocence and the tragic death of a child through an empathic
expression of music by John Sokoloff.
Song
# 08 - Hartland Street Echoes
The
title track of the CD, “Hartland Street Echoes”, encompasses a period of time
in the composers life where he lived in a small house isolated from the hustle
of the world but was intimate with nature which influenced the artists
creativity. The composition profoundly resonates the comfortable feelings and memories
of home and could easily be a soundtrack to an academy award winning movie.
Song
# 09 - Solo Ari
Solo
Ari is the deepest and most complex song on the album as it seemingly plays out
the emotional thoughts of one waiting with a candlelit dinner for someone that
does not show up. A very engaging song that builds musically and emotionally to
a climactic finally and then peacefully closes a chapter.
Song
# 10 - Dom Veteranov
Song
Background: “Dom Veteranov” “Dom” meaning house in Russian, was a society
started in 1926 by Veterans who fought against the Bolsheviks. They had lost
their country and lived their entire lives in suitcases and died without being
able to return home... The house where they met for decades was filled with
their memorabilia .....and their Spirit. The composition, “Dom Veteranov” was composed
within those walls.
“Dom
Veteranov” is an emotionally empathic and moving tribute to the lives and
spirits of the many veterans who passed through the halls of “Dom Veteranov” in
the tiny California Russian community.
In
my mind, “Dom Veteranov” represents the sorrows of the entire Russian
community, many of whom were the families and descendants of those veterans and
while I write this album review just after “Remembrance Day” November 11th,
2017, one hundred years after the 1917 Russian revolution, I find a common
understanding of sorrow, loss and respect for those that gave their lives for
the greater good.
Song
# 11 - Balloons of Matilija
John
Sokoloff ends his “Heartland Street Echoes” album with “The Balloons of
Matilija”, a spoken word poem and music holding deep reflection of a once
vibrant Russian community long since gone but still thriving in the hopes,
dreams and artforms of its descendants. A wonderful creation and fitting end to
a wonderful reflective album.
Poem: The Balloons of
Matilija
The
balloons have
long
since drifted,
The
tinsel swept away...
The
din of voices...silenced,
It's
just another day.
Where
laughter once had reigned
And
cheer had once resided
Where
music once was heard
And
utopia - sighted.
But
vertical, the hands of time became
And
icy gusts blew candles dry
The
mighty steed had turned up lame:
Truth
transformed into a lie.
Where
once you passed
you
now must fail
Life's
lesson early learned -
Time
is not for sale.
The
balloon does drift
through
clouds and haze
It
drifts, serenely
thru
the days
It
drifts the nights
o'er
plain and hill
and
thru
the
early morning chill
Drifting
to a place beyond
where
rainbows smile
and
sunsets yawn.
Where
misty shrouds
of
yesteryear -
elude
the desperate
grasp
of fear
It
floats the fields
and
grassy knolls
where
fawn-like creatures
bare
their souls.
Where
perfumed flowers
reach
the sky
and
hands are held
in
manner shy
It
sees it all
from
up above:
the
common branch
of
hawk and dove,
A
bison sipping
lion's
tea,
a
cats embrace
of
canary..
the
boisterous bull
and
matador:
sharing
vintage, Spanish lore...
Wafting
by the balloon foresees:
an
end
to
all life's agony
The
scene shifts
to
a dark abyss
A
cruel, forbidding
precipice
-
from
which
a
gust escapes
the
void,
Motivation
- to destroy...
It
thrusts balloon
on
jagged edge -
a
pointed branch
or
rocky ledge
A
hiss is heard,
then
a cry -
The
lone balloon
begins
to die
It
sinks past clouds
and
through
the
trees
clutching,
grasping
for
a breeze...
while
down below
the
rocks await -
harsh
practitioners
of
Fate...
The
balloon quivers,
begins
to toss
It's
life air
all
but lost.
And
with what proves
it's
final gasp
from
balloon -
a
wish is cast..
And
with that
he
fights no more
and
succumbs
to
canyon floor..
Rainclouds
gather
and
skies do bleed
drenching
ground -
devoid
of seed.
The
distance darkens
while
winds moan dry
up
above
the
barren sky
But
somewhere, somewhere
way
beyond -
Rainbows
smile
and
sunsets yawn,
and
misty shrouds
of
Yesteryear
elude
the
desperate grasp of fear.
The
balloons have long since drifted
The
tinsel, swept away...
The
din of voices....silenced,
It's
just another day.
--------------------------
Last Word:
If
I had the vocabulary to describe my inner feelings, my poems would rain in
music. If I possessed the musical ability of expression, my music would be
filled with empathy for life and that is what I get from John Sokoloff’s 2017 CD
“Hartland Street Echoes” an album I treasure, which is now a part of me.
John
Sokoloff LINKS:
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