Echoes (Four Women)

Echoes (Four Women) pays homage to the spirit of four holocaust survivors - Emmie Arbel, Selma van de Perre, Judit Varga, and Batsheva Dagan - who were all imprisoned at Ravensbrück concentration camp. The song features vocals from the GRAMMY nominated musician Tommy Soulati Shepherd of the Alphabet Rockers, with music by composer Ken Primo aka Keith Pinto.

The idea for the song was born in 2018 when Tommy joined Dan for his project Sound in the Silence at Ravenbrück concentration camp memorial site. Sound in the Silence is history through art. ​Since 2011, Dan has been working with artists, historical educators, students, teachers, and organizers to develop a multi-disciplinary methodology (education, experience, expression) that uses the performing arts to explore our connections to the toughest historical locations and topics. They work on-location at memorial sites connected to the Holocaust where they conduct art and educational workshops that act as a prompt for the creation of new performance work, intercultural exchange, and personal connections to history. Each “edition” of the project culminates in an interdisciplinary, intercultural, collaborative, non-traditional, site-specific public performance that incorporates the creative responses of the individuals to the shared experience. The goal is to use art (theater, music, dance, sound) as a vehicle for young people to understand history, and their place in it, while giving voice to a passing generation. We believe deeply that this process, this approach, this creative and educational methodology, is transformational and can be applied to a variety of historical, cultural, and social projects. In 2018 the project expanded and began to work with survivors through a partnership with the Ravensbrück Generations Forum.

Dan Wolf says:

Lyrically, my song echoes the structure of Rapsody's album EVE, specifically the second verse. Where she focuses on a different powerful black woman for the theme and title of each song, I use the second verse to write each of the four ladies a letter that reflects our unique personal connection. I want them to know I see them as people, not just survivors. I want to celebrate them in the present moment. I want to give them their flowers while I still can.

The first verse is based on a moment I shared with Batsheva Dagan. We were walking somewhere during the Sound in the Silence/Generations Forum project and she put her arm in mine and we just walked. After a few moments of silence she whispered to me ‘this is like a dream I had once, young people coming together to tell our story. We are a passing generation and you are a devoted emissary of remembrance’

I use the chorus to draw a connection from the “four women echoing like Aunt Sara / similar struggle, different color, different era” to the protagonists of both Nina Simone's Four Women and Reflection Eternal's Expansion Outro.

Vocalist Tommy Soulati Shepherd says:

"When Dan asked me to join him on this journey I had no idea how much it would fill my cup. I was blessed to have met them and luckily a witness to all four of them being together in one place after a long time of not seeing each other. It was a true honor to be invited to be on this track. My experience with those four ladies was nothing less than divine. The struggles and experiences that brought them to the point of where I met them filled me with courageous fearlessness. These ladies had a love for life and determination to maintain, that honestly blew me away. I’m still in awe of their continued radical resistance!”

Beatmaker/composer Keith Pinto says:

“Initially the title of the beat [ROSE] was based on the name of the sample. Once Dan turned it into his song ECHOES, it became clear that there was a meaning to the music that was there all along. Now when I hear the music, every layer takes on new meaning. The drum sequence is fairly sparse with the percussion clicking like the ticking of time. The key bass bubbles upwards like a natural spring only to trickle back down until the kick drum bounces it back into another cycle. The gentle organ stabs truly echo like memories floating through a space like consciousness.”

Dan Wolf’s ‘Echoes (Four Women)’ is out now on all streaming platforms