In 1972 she attended Bennington College, where she studied with musicians Milford Graves, Bill Dixon, Jimmy Lyons, voice teacher Frank Baker, and composers Vivian Fine and Louis Calabro.
[1][3][4] She was part of the Studio Henry scene, a cooperative performance space, with musicians John Zorn, Wayne Horvitz, Robin Holcomb, Elliott Sharp, and Dave Sewelson.
She appeared on the album Songs (2002) by percussionist Gerry Hemingway, with Ellery Eskelin, Herb Robertson, Kermit Driscoll, James Emery, John Butcher, Thomas Lehn, and Wolter Wierbos.
[8] Sokolov has worked with Cecil Taylor, Robin Holcomb, Rahn Burton, Rashid Ali, Badal Roy, Jeanne Lee, Jimmy Lyons, Wayne Horvitz, Hilton Ruiz, Irène Schweizer, Butch Morris, "Blue" Gene Tyranny, Jim McNeely, and Cameron Brown.
"[15][16] Lazy Afternoon received three out of four stars in a Los Angeles Times review, and the critic stated that Sokolov "stretches the envelope of jazz singing" and is "courageously adventurous.
[19] The Down Beat review stated: "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."
"[20] Donald Elfman of AllAboutJazz stated that Sokolov "delves into the magical possibilities of the voice and the beauty and mystery of words...A Quiet Thing extends the power of her earlier recordings, continuing her progression towards the majestic and ecstatic 'silence' of the universe.