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Esakoff is a singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist based in Ventura, California. His latest single titled “Glory Slava” is something he started writing around 10 years ago as an unfinished Christmas song. Years later he got inspired to finish it by weaving his Russian ancestry, his rock ‘n roll roots and his deep faith. The result is a harmonious blend influenced by The Trans-Siberian Orchestra featuring old Russian spiritual chants and lyrics in both Russian and English. Slava in Russian means glory. And there are balalaikas. You will know them when you hear them...
His self-titled album ESAKOFF (2017) are songs that were written years ago, during his time traveling abroad. A lot of these tunes never found their way into the recording studio but have now been given a second life. Time has changed Esakoff, giving him a new outlook on these “outtakes”. The rediscovery of this music sounds better to him now than when he originally wrote it. That in turn spawned this solo record project. It is a collaboration with a younger version of himself. Likewise, the same guitar (Alvarez 4950) he wrote these songs and traveled with, was played on this album and is pictured on the cover.
Mark Esakoff was born in Montebello, California to parents of Russian immigrants. At the age of 13 he was given his first guitar and began taking lessons. He was inspired by rock and folk music, and later while studying music at San Diego State University discovered jazz and flamenco. Upon graduating he took his guitar, Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass, and for the next two years traveled through America, Europe and North Africa. During this time he honed his performing skills as a street musician playing from the streets of Sweden to the streets of Egypt, all the while meeting many weird and wonderful people. Upon returning to the states, he soon got into the recording studio. Being influenced by the likes of David Bowie, Kinks, and XTC; he made over forty recordings at four different studios with eight different sound engineers from 1982-1987. These songs were released under the name of Mark Freddy & The Flanger Managers and were played on college radio around the country. The Flanger Managers were not a band per se, but a loose group of musicians who were friends, friends of friends, and family who mingled together through recording sessions and live performances. Mark Freddy & The Flanger Managers single “Work Is A Four Letter Word” debuted November 1, 1982 on the Los Angeles radio station KLOS 95.5 FM.
Esakoff went on to form the world jazz band Chasm (est. 1987) that has recorded five albums and still continues today...