The term “jam band” is insufficient in describing what Sokoband is all about.  It’s a term that carries a certain crunchiness, evoking images of tie-dyed shirt-wearing festival attendees traveling across the country to see their favorite ensemble play.  This is not to say that Sokoband isn’t worthy of such devotion.  Playing together since 1990, this Charlottesville, Virginia-based trio has fine-tuned their ability to not just perform compositions, but to play within them as well.  Their skill for improvisation allows them to color outside the lines of selections without straying too far from a song’s original theme.

Michael Sokolowski serves as the band’s pianist and main composer while Houston Ross holds down bass and guitar duties.  Percussionist Nir Z rounds out the trio on the drums, making for a tight-knit harmonic core.  A pair of tracks on the band’s self-titled album focuses solely on the threesome:  “Lullaby for E” and “Half Sleep.”  The former is a tranquil and touching instrumental while the latter finds them meandering over a locked groove.  It is within “Half Sleep” that you can hear Sokolowski and Ross dance around the song’s main pattern through their performances while Nir Z provides the rhythmic foundation.

A collection of guest artists appear throughout the album, lending superb musicianship to their respective cuts and lifting Sokolowski’s compositions beyond the confines of piano/bass/drums arrangements.  “Jiriki” makes this immediately apparent, as each musician in turn converses within a Latin rock framework.  Sokolowski’s piano accents atop Nir Z’s highly expressive drumming is one of the highlights of this selection.  “Jiriki” is the only song on this album to feature vocals and it certainly doesn’t hurt to have Dave Matthews singing the lyrics.  His appearance is brief, but very effective, and by the end of the song his voice has become another instrument offering its own perspective on the conversation.

This is not the first time that Sokoband has crossed paths with the Dave Matthews Band.  In fact, several members of the band appeared on their 1997 debut album, In November Sunlight.  The entire contents of that album are revisited for Sokoband’s latest and  saxophonist LeRoi Moore absolutely shines on “In November Sunlight.”  His solo is reflective to the point where it tugs at your heart; emotion pours out of every note he plays.  Moore switches from soprano sax to tenor on “And Yet Your Smile,” giving him a robust and romantic tone for this smooth jazz number.  On the flip side of things, “Energy Changed” is the sonic about face of the album, a power quartet featuring blistering guitar work from Mike Colley.  Co-written by Sokolowski and Colley, it is easily one of the strongest collective performances on the album, a shining example of jazz/rock fusion at its finest.

Sokoband explore a range of moods on this album and master them all through exceptional musicianship and the full-bodied compositions of Michael Sokolowski.  Hopefully the Dave Matthews Band connection will garner more interest for this ensemble, but make no mistake…this trio clearly stands on its own merit.  That which the Charlottesville live music scene has birthed will not stay secret for very long.
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The third release by Charlottesville-based Sokoband is a step in a new direction from their previously mellow origins. The band took the songs from their debut album, In November Sunlight, and re-recorded and mastered them for what is overall a huge improvement over already great songs.

Music
In November Sunlight was a very jazzy, smooth album that could be described as "easy listening." The new versions of these songs really pick up the pace.
"Jiriki," somewhat of a classic song from this band which features Dave Matthews on vocals, used to be a light, vaguely tropical 5/4 jam with chords similar to "Take Five." The redone version of this adds rock 'n' roll flair, with electric guitar spicing it up and much more lively drums. Over the past years, Dave's voice has declined in some areas and improved in others, and I have to admit, on this track I prefer him in 1996. Still, it's wonderful, and would be fine if I hadn't been spoiled by the old version.
"Energy Change" went through an energy change, and was thoughtfully renamed to "Energy Changed" on the new album. Just like "Jiriki," it gets a heavy dose of electric guitar to bring it closer to rock. In the middle of the song, it even borders on techno. The new recording has a revised baseline which opens up the "sound space" for these new instruments. In addition to this we also find a new transition into the double-time section which makes it seem like a segue into a new song rather than the continuation. This could be either a pro or con, but I like it. Note: The band recently tweeted me mentioning that this is actually the old (1979) version of the song. So it changed back, not forth.
Added to "Coast to Coast" are horns or saxophones (I don't know how to tell the difference). The old version of this song was somewhat repetitive; the melody didn't really "pick up." In its new slot on the album, as opener, it gets it going with solid horns/sax, then mellows down to become like the In November Sunlight version. The sax solo on this track gives the listener a real feeling of adventure. It's exciting.
"And Yet Your Smile" is one of two all-new songs on this album. It's very percussion based. Perhaps I'm just impatient, but I feel like this is a bit drawn out. I would love to see it as a 1-2 minute intro to "Jiriki" or maybe "Body Home."
The other new track, "Nightfall," is also a percussion song. This song, while not particularly outstanding as-is, is a perfect finisher for the album that really cools down the ears well.
There are 5 more tracks on this album that I didn't get to, but trust me, they're all great. This album is one of the better ones I've purchased in a while. It has more guests than band members (17 vs 3), but this gives the songs somewhat of a "communal" feel that is nice to hear. All in all, it's a solid album and is a great introduction to this band.

Cross posted from Give Or Take
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