Category Archives: Anouncement

R.I.P. Chris May

A couple of days ago, UK music writer and journalist Chris May died in London. His friend and ex-Fela Kuti manager Rikki Stein emailed SoSaLa this sad news. SoSaLa got to know Chris via the Jazz webpage or platform, All About Jazz, when he was looking for a writer for last year’s 1993 album.

Luckily, Chris agreed to review it.

“…SoSaLa’s message to the media announcing the release of this 1993 recording starts with the headline: “A Noisy Voice Again With Powerful Messages” and ends with the observation: “Doing nothing and staying passive are unacceptable.” You can say that again in 2023, as much of jazz, like much of the rest of liberal, educated America, appears—at least as viewed from London—to have rolled over and given in to the seemingly inexorable march of domestic neo-fascism, which will hit the fan with the 2024 elections. Where is the tidal wave of opposition? Why is rap and rock left to do the heavy lifting? What happened to jazz’s rebellious nature?

1993 is loud, aggressive, primal, confrontational, as nuanced as a honey badger and what else have you got? It is a ferocious blend of late-period no-wave and free jazz… Basically, 1993 puts the art in cathartic. …” – By Chris May, 

SoSaLa on Keyna Wilkin’s “New York Sessions” Digital Release

SoSaLa on Keyna Wilkin’s New York Sessions Digital Release

In April 2023, Australian musician-composer Keyna Wilkins visited New York and led several stream-of-consciousness recorded improvisation sessions with local New York musicians Michael Kevin Walsh (keys), David Belmont (percussion, poetry, and vocal sounds), Kevin Kuhn (electric guitar), Ron Wasserman (electric bass), and SoSaLa (tenor and soprano saxes, vocals, and clapping).

The sessions were arranged and facilitated by Musicians For Musicians, a New York-based musicians’ rights association, and SoSaLa. All tracks were recorded by Michael Kevin Walsh at The Smooth Spot (NY), mixed by Michael Kevin Walsh and David Belmont (a bandmate of SoSaLa), and further mixed and mastered by Matt Stewart at A Sharp Studios Sydney—artwork by Yoko Kuroda and Yogahatti.

Stream and buy here: