NEWS
5/23/2026
SoSaLa on Air…on “WORLD OF JAZZ #794” which is available from Podbean and Substack on Sunday, May 31st, 2026 at 1 pm ET.
PLAYLIST
Miho Hazama “The Pioneer’s Quest” from Frames (Edition Records)
Arturo Sandoval “With The People” from Sangú (TM Records)
Elsa Nilsson Band Of Pulses “Mourning For Two” from Liminal (Adhyâropa Records)
Tumbao Bravo with Paul Vornhagen “Chan’s Song” from Joy of The Mambo (Global Pulse Records)
Jacques Kuba Séguin “Éphémère” from La Triologie Des Odeurs : Parfum No. 1 (Odd Sound)
Jacques Kuba Séguin “Paysage pour Muniak” from La Triologie Des Odeurs : Parfum No. 2 (Odd Sound)
Jacques Kuba Séguin “How We Start Again” from La Triologie Des Odeurs : Parfum No. 3 (Odd Sound)
Ben Wolfe “If Only” from Any Time After Now (Resident Arts Records)
Dave Douglas “Oclupaca” from Transcend (Greenleaf)
Adam Rudolph “Inception” from Sunrise (Meta Records)
Alexis Martin Ensemble “Pimbina” from Les pôles Volume 1 (Les Productions Alexis Martin Inc.)
Doug MacDonald “Captain Bacardi” from Tribute To South Central (Dmac Music)
Your Brother’s Keeper & Gary Bartz “Cauldron” from Where Rivers Meet (Brownswood Recordings)
Onilu “Holocene Serene” from Jakuta’s Dance (577 Records)
SoSaLa “Leila” from 1987 – Hajime (DooBeeDoo Records)
Mick Goodrick, Fred Hersch “Five Excursions” from Feebles, Fables and Ferns (ECM Records)
Kemuel Roig “The Peacocks” from Both Sides Now (Life In Music)
Norma Winstone & Steve Gray with the NDR Symphony Orchestra “A Timeless Place” from A Timeless Place (Enodoc Records)
Alejandro Falcón “Bolera Para Brenda” from Falcón in Blue (Dot Time Records)
Miles Davis “Great Expectations” from The Complete Bitches Brew Sessions (Columbia)
4/17/2026
The SoSaLa 2026 CD Release Countdown has started!!!
Based on three jam sessions with guitarist-bassist-synthe Mark C of Live Skull and drummer and percussionist Andy Weintraub. Yes, they just played and improvised. Two jams in 2024 and one in 2025 at Mark C’s studio. SoSaLa played tenor and soprano saxophones, and in between, I sang or played percussion.
After a while, he listened to all the recorded tracks and was surprised to hear NU NO WAVE music. Music created in the moment and without rules. Without knowing, they all were in sync and played the right notes and scales. SoSaLa’s improvised lyrics became messages nobody can ignore.
By today, SoSaLa has selected 15 tracks. He invited two musicians and spoken-word artists to participate: Isa on congas and percussion; Volker Goetze on electronic trumpet and flugelhorn; and David Belmont and Ed Haas. Except for Isa, all are members of Musicians For Musicians, Inc (MFM).
This CD is a follow-up to SoSaLa’s Nu World Trash, released in 2011. It took him 14 years to record my next album. Why, because life didn’t want me to do that. But when LIFE connected me with Mark C, things started to happen: a fruitful musical collaboration.
SoSaLa intends to submit this album for consideration at the GRAMMYs. This album will be very different from all submitted works.
Wish Mark C and SoSaLa luck that the Recording Academy and its membership have the “big” ears to appreciate our album.
More about the making of the album in the coming posts.
(Photo courtesy of Ed Haas)
4/8/2026
“This band created something that never existed before, and may never exist again.”
CD Review: SoSaLa “1987 – Hajime” – Another Innovative and Iconoclastic Retrospective Album – Dawoud Kringle (DooBeeDooBeeDoo NY), 4/8/2026
3/7/2026
New SoSaLa Release on APRIL FOOL’S DAY: “Hajime” LP Re-released on CD!!! A Refreshing Old Tokyo Story.
“I like his punishing saxophone solos, his creative use of props, and his obtuse criticisms of modern life delivered in various languages.” – Bryan Harrell (BOP SHOTS/JAPAN TIMES), August 29, 1989
Preorder CD here: https://doobeedoobizllc.thrivecart.com/sosala-1987-hajime/
Order Hajime LP here: https://doobeedoobizllc.thrivecart.com/alef-hajime-lp/
3/5/2026
Radio Kingston (NY) -Sound Forms Classical Music and Beyond Ep.282: Combos of 2
Host: Peter Wetzler
SoSaLa track played: WELCOME NEW IRAN
Listen here: https://radiokingston.org/en/broadcast/sound-forms-classical-music-and-beyond/episodes/sound-forms-282-combos-of-2
2/16/2026
Tom Burnett: People of SoSaLa’s Past are still Alive and Active
2/9/2026
Japanese fans…
Great news! EL SUR RECORDS in Tokyo Carries all SoSaLa CDs!!!
2/2/2026
SoSaLa’s MFM Podcast Host Debut Feat. Leon “Kaleta” Ligan-Majekodunmi
Have you listened to MFM SPEAKS OUT yet? Check it out here: https://mfmspeaksout.simplecast.com/episodes/kaleta-F6R_FegB
Episode #1: host SoSaLa in conversation with Fela Kuti -Egypt 80 guitarist Kaleta.
1/8/2026
IRAN IN UPROARS!
Now, the Iranian people are all on the streets of Iran demanding a FREE IRAN from oppression. Bye-bye, bye-bye regime….https://on.soundcloud.com/BpgFK9LbOOFTt3c37k
11/26/2025
MFM 10th ANNIVERSARY Celebration Event at The Cutting Room (NY), September 5th, 2025
11/12/2025
1983 Reviews
“I found this disc to be rather disturbing, noisy, brutal, intense, and even scary at times. Better than some of the No Wave live sets that I caught in the late 1970s. SoSaLa recently played at the Cutting Room in NYC, more than 40 years after these sessions were recorded. He is still at it and still doing his own musical activism for just causes. He is still true to his original vision of poking fun at the powers that hold us down. He remains a brave soul.” – Bruce Lee Gallanter (DMG Newsletter), 11/7/2025
Read the whole review here: https://downtownmusicgallery.com/search.php?id=2025_11_06_09_13_47pm
10/23/2025
“This album of free jazz/ noise/ NO WAVE rock has a heavy, punky sound that seems to express the energy and anger of especially the young in 1983 and is still felt today. One wonders if such music will ever stop feeling relevant.” Fiona McTaggart (Scottish Jazz Space, 10/23/2025)
Read the whole review here: https://www.scottishjazzspace.co.uk/album-review-sosala-1983-live-at-the-montreux-jazz-festival-and-rathausplatz-bern/
10/21/2025
“In addition to the superb music it contains, 1983 – Live at Montreux Jazz Festival and Rathausplatz Bern is an intriguing historical document. It highlights the extemporized experimentations in which artists like the SADATO GROUP were engaged. Hopefully, more will be available from SoSaLa’s “vault” for modern listeners to enjoy.” Hrayr Attarian (Free Jazz Collective), Tuesday, October 14, 2025)
Read the whole review here: https://www.freejazzblog.org/2025/10/sosala-1983-live-at-montreux-jazz.html
4/28/2025
This is a drawing of SoSaLa by a sweet girl who calls herself HOPE. While listening to SoSaLa’s sax in Carl Schurz Park, she drew a portrait of him quietly.
This incident occurred on a lovely, warm afternoon, April 20th, at 6:28 p.m.
SoSaLa played his soprano sax at his favorite spot in the park. As always, all the music he played was improvised.
The soprano is a very expressive-sounding instrument, which makes people in the park stop and listen to the oriental-flamenco-like sounds.
7/3/2024
It was in 1993 that SoSaLa met legendary couple AIRTO MOREIRA (Miles Davis, RETURN TO FOREVER, WEATHER REPORT, etc.) & “FOURTH WORLD” FLORA PURIM at the Blue Note Club in Tokyo. Airto is a Brazilian jazz drummer and percussionist married to jazz singer Flora Purim. As a fan of both, SoSaLa attended their show privately and was lucky enough to meet both in the Green Room afterward. The show was fantastic. Airto’s playing was so energetic, uplifting, and sometimes funny. Flora’s singing and voicing were very original and passionate. Bravo!
Flora and Airto made time to chat with SoSaLa. Appreciating the couple’s kindness, SoSaLa presented Airto with a t-shirt from his music company, POP BIZ. At the end, they exchanged addresses. Airto invited SoSaLa, along with his horn, to see him in London. Unfortunately, this never happened because neither of us could make time.
Speaking of Airto’s health issues, Airto has been suffering from severe health problems for the last two years. He and Flora moved to Rio. Flora is now his full-time caregiver. A GoFundMe page was set up by their daughter Niura, who’s also a singer, to raise funds for moving Airto to a more suitable care facility.
I feel so bad for him and wish him a fast recovery. My love goes to Flora as well.
6/24/2024
SoSaLa found a new spot to play for the people, namely at Carl Schurz Park in New York’s Upper East Side. He’ll be playing there in the early evening.
5/31/2024
SoSaLa the actor…
In 1981, SoSaLa performed in a Japanese indie short film called Out To Lunch, directed by Tokyo’s filmmaker Hideaki Sasaki. He plays a gaijin (foreigner). The film was shot in Tokyo’s Shinjuku (Shinjuku is a whole city within Tokyo. Developed in the latter half of the 20th century, it has become synonymous with Tokyo and is one of its most famous neighborhoods. It’s a microcosm of Tokyo, featuring skyscrapers, neon lights, and yakitori stalls around the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building early in the morning. After digitalizing the video, SoSaLa is going to speak about the plot.
