From August 10 through August 14 2013 SoSaLa played three concerts in Baltimore and Washington DC. Due to budget reasons Sohrab’s NY regular musicians couldn’t join him. Instead he invited local musicians to join him under the name of SoSaLa. Before each concert Sohrab had a rehearsal of 90 minutes with the members. It was the first time that he had no oud player in the band. The sound of each concert was different and equally good. All musicians had no problem to follow Sohrab’s instructions and guidance.
The response of all audiences was exceptional positive. Especially the Bossa audience which was attended by many Iranian-Americans, had a good time and danced to songs like “Khorasan”, “Nu Persian Flamenco” and “Heavy Funk.” After the shows Sohrab was able to sell many CDs, especially at Bossa.
After all shows all managers were very happy about the music and invited SoSaLa back to play again in the near future. Spring 2014 maybe?
Venues/Cities
1. An Die Musik (Baltimore, MD)
Date: Saturday, August 10, 2013
The SoSaLa members are: Sohrab on tenor sax and vocals, Rob Fontana on keyboards, Luke Stewart on bass and Louie Rozier on drums.
2. Bossa Bistro & Lounge (Washington, DC)
Date: Sunday, August 11, 2013
The SoSaLa members are: Sohrab on tenor sax and vocals, Rob Coltun on electric guitar ( Cheick Hamala Diabate Band), Michael Coltun on electric bass (Les Rhinocéros/Tzadik Rec), Mosno Al-Moseeki on djembe and Byron McWilliams on drums.
Opening acts: The Chakavak Ensemble (traditional Persian Music) and Rumi poetry by Rogan Tousi in Farsi and in English with music by The Barefoot Revolution.
3. Shaw’s Tavern (Washington, DC, Tuesday, August 13, 2013)
The SoSaLa members are: Sohrab on tenor sax and vocals, Luke Stewart on bass, Louie Rozier on drums and Rob Fontana on keyboards.
Special thanks to the venue owners and mangers: Henry Wong (An Die Musik), Rob Coltun (Bossa) and Rob Heim (Shaw’s Tavern)
FM Radio Interviews and concert announcements
Sohrab interview (starts from 0:35:17) with WPFW FM (Washington DC) host Luke Stewart, August 8, 2013: http://archive.wpfwfm.org/mp3/wpfw_130808_000001onitejazzc.mp3
Doc George Manning/ WEAA 88.9FM (August 5, 2013)
Radio Kouche: http://youtu.be/p646f-rte_o (August 24, 2013)
Bobby Hill/WPFW 89.3FM (concert announcements)
PR support by following organization and individuals
Thanks to: PAAIA DC, Fariba Khonsari, Nasser, Teporah Bilezikian, Rob Coltun, Ardavan Roozbeh (Radio Koocheh), Seyed Moussavi, Massama Dogo, Bernard Lyons, Tiffany DeFoe, Abbas Fathi, Ali Tabatabai, Behrooz Moazam, Ali Banifazl, Miyuki Williams, Paul Iwancio, Mustafa Nuri Sakarya and John Lewis (Life-Changing Art: Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi).
Special Thanks to all musicians
Luke Stewart, Louie Rozier, Rob Fontana, Rob Coltun, Michael Coltun, Mosno Al-Moseeki and Byron McWilliams