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Contributing Members

About the Contributing Musicians

Toshimaru Nakamura (electric guitar)
Toshimaru Nakamura (guitar) started his music career playing the electric guitar in various bands before joining SADATO (1991-1995) and recorded two CDs with them. 1992, Nakamura formed his own A Paragon of Beauty and released a CD in 1995. In 1997, he gave up playing his guitar for personal and musical reasons. He started to produce electronic music, becoming well-known internationally in the ONKYO scene by making electronic sounds with a No-Input Mixing Board. In addition to releasing solo projects and collaborations, he performs live concerts in Tokyo, Europe, North America, Argentina, New Zealand, Australia, Korea, China, Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia.
Masaki Shimizu (fretless bass)
Rei Shimizu began his professional career while still in university. Subsequently, he participated as a session player in recordings and concerts for artists such as Makoto Kawamoto, Ayaya Matsuur, Miki Fujimoto, Morning Musume, and Turf. As a member of the band SADATO, he participated in live performances and recordings in New York and Hong Kong. He has also been active with other bands, including PON, SOH BAND, Gen Hosokawa, and Coyote. Besides, he also teaches bass online.
Ryo Kato (drums)
There’s not much information about him, except that before joining SADATO, he had played with various Pop bands and was the drum assistant for the well-known drummer Hideo Yamaki. After the breakup of SADATO, he retired from playing the drums and became a truck driver.

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Additional info about Masaki Shimizu
Rei Shimizu began his professional career while still in university. Subsequently, he participated as a session player in recordings and concerts for artists such as Makoto Kawamoto, Ayaya Matsuur, Miki Fujimoto, Morning Musume, and trf. As a member of the band SADATO, he participated in live performances and recordings in New York and Hong Kong. He has also been active with other bands including PON, SOH BAND, Gen Hosokawa, and Coyote.
Shimizu has composed and arranged music for commercial jingles, as well as for video games such as “WWE SmackDown.” Since 1993, he has studied under Motohiko Hamase, and since 2007, he has been a part of the Motohiko Hamase The ELF Ensemble. In 2015, he launched his own band, “Rei Shimizu Elements of Quartz.”
In terms of writing activities, he contributed a year-long series of slap bass seminars titled “Brush your SLAPup!” starting from the January 2003 issue of Bass Magazine. He has also served as an instructor for seminars held by electronic instrument manufacturers ROLAND and BOSS.
Furthermore, Shimizu is currently active as an ambassador for the innovative string instrument manufacturer PROiX.
Starting from 2021, he has launched a YouTube channel with the aim of realizing his concept of creating and performing his own video works.

Ground Zero (1994)
Music Style: noise/rock/improv
Jazzy Rock Noise Unit formed by Otomo Yoshihide in 1990 and disbanded after their last concert in 1998. Otomo Yoshihide (samplers, turntable and guitar), Hideki Kato (bass: replaced in 1992 by Kazuyoshi Kimoto), Yasuo Sano (drums), Makio Tada (drums), Uemura Masahiro (drums), Kyoko Kuroda (piano) with guest Koichi Makigami (vocals), Yamatsuka Eye (vocals). The line-up changed in 1994-95: Otomo Yoshihide (sampler, turntable), Sachiko M (sampler), Kazuhisa Uchihashi (guitar), Mitsuru Nasuno (bass), Masaki Shimizu (bass), Yasuhiro Yoshigaki (drums), Uemura Masahiro (drums). 1996: addition of Kikuchi Naruyoshi (soprano sax) and Tanaka Yumiko (gidayu shamisen and futozao shamisen) as regular members.

P.O.N. (https://ru.rateyourmusic.com/artist/p_o_n) – Creativeman Disk (1995)
Music style: Progressive Rock
Members: Masahiro Uemura (drums, percussion), 広瀬淳二 [Junji Hirose] (saxophone, noise), 鬼怒無月 [Natsuki Kido] (guitar, percussion), Masaki Shimizu (bass), 高良久美子 [Kumiko Takara] (vibraphone, percussion), Kazuyoshi Kimoto (bass)

Rinnesya – Creativeman Disc(1995)

Music style: electronic/jazz/rock

Members: Tadasu Yoshida: drums, Kido Natsuki: guitar, Masaki Shimizu: fretless bass, double bass and Tadashi Watanabe: violin.
Music style: Progressive Rock/Art Rock

A Japanese rock act RINNESYA were founded as a one-off hard-avantgarde-jazz rock trio by Natsuki KIDO (guitars), Tadashu YOSHIDA (drums), and Masaki SHIMIZU (bass). They released an eponymous album in 1995 in collaboration with Tadashi WATANABE (violin) via a Japanese independent label / distributor Double Trap / Creativeman Disc, after gigging a couple of times around Tokyo.

New Release: SoSaLa “1994 – Live at CBGB”

“…releasing “old stuff” makes SoSaLa feel like living through these songs.’
memories again, revisiting, re-gaining messages that still ring true, and
collecting what was forgotten. It still gives him what it did back then, maybe
more now.” – Mark C (LIVE SKULL)

SoSaLa logo by Nikola“1994 – Live at CBGB”

A Resurrected Masterpiece of Japanese No Wave in NYC

 

Artist: SoSaLa
Title: 1994 – Live at CBGB
Formats: CD (autographed limited edition of 100 and high-end 24-bit product) and digital album
Cat. #: DBDCD004
Label: DooBeeDoo Rec
UPC Code: 198595498392
CD Release: December 16, 2024
Digital and International Releases: January 3, 2025
Distributed Worldwide by CD Baby

Stream here: https://soundcloud.com/sohrab-saadat-ladjevardi/sets/sosala-1994-live-at-cbgb

Buy here: https://doobeedoobizllc.thrivecart.com/sosala-1994-cd/

© Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi ℗ DooBeeDoo Worldwide Music / BMI Produced and photos by Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi

Live recording by legendary producer and sound recording engineer Martin Bisi at CBGB (New York), January 8, 1994

www.Sohrab.info

11/19/24—SoSaLa (whose Japanese artist name was Sadato at the time this album was recorded) has released his next retrospective recording. This album follows up on the previous one, 1993. This time, he looks back to 1994, a significant year in SoSaLa’s music career.

The music was performed live at New York’s legendary Punk venue, CBGB, with SoSaLa’s favorite Tokyo quartet, SADATO (1993 -1994). Sadato played soprano and tenor saxes and vocals, Toshimaru Nakamura played guitar, Masaki Shimizu played fretless bass, and Ryo Kato played drums.

CBGB’s manager, Louise Parnassa Staley, to whom this concert was dedicated, loved their music so much she invited them to perform twice in the same week. All shows were recorded live by legendary recording engineer and producer Martin Bisi. This album is the recording of the first show on January 8, 1994.

SADATO was a notorious Japanese indie rock band representing and advocating the DIY spirit on and off stage. Because of this, “35 Cent Puppy Sandwich” was dedicated to the DC hardcore band FUGAZI and their DIY attitude. Angry, but with much love and compassion, they became the only social-political performing band in the Japanese indie music scene. No Japanese band sounded or performed like them. Sadato had the vision – and balls – to introduce NO WAVE into the Japanese independent rock music scene and make it work. It is clear evidence of Sadato, Shimizu, Kato, and Nakamura’s skills, talent, and charisma that they made this music accepted in a foreign environment.

 

Stylistically, the music on this album is related to bands such as DNA, the Lounge Lizards, James Chance and the Contortions, and Pere Ubu. NO WAVE, harmolodic jazz, indie-progressive rock, nu-blues, oriental modal jazz, the Downtown Music scenes in New York, and dadaism meet in the vitality and celebration of a live music event. Listening to this album, one relives the days of an earlier age when musicians fearlessly experimented with forms and concepts. It emphasized artistic expression and pushing boundaries but with love and compassion. Where old rules were broken, and new ones were being written – and broken.

All tracks composed by Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi except track #1 Yurei (Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi/Toshimaru Nakamura/Masaki Shimizu).

This retrospective album is another must-have for fans interested in SoSaLa’s unique and accomplished music career.

About the Tracks

  1. Yurei (Ghost) 2:25 (English lyrics) 

Yūrei are mythological creatures in Japanese folklore analogous to Western ghosts. Sadato used this to express how it feels to be a foreigner and an outsider in Tokyo. The Japanese tend to treat foreigners like ghosts. After Sadato dedicated the performance to Louise Parnassa Staley, Shimizu’s wobbly ostinato, Kato’s relentless drums and Nakamura’s jagged feedback provide a backdrop for Sadato’s howl of frustration from his saxophone.

  1. Death 6:16 (English and one word of Farsi and Japanese lyrics) 

The existential dread of inevitable Death is exorcised and brought to a place of acceptance. Kato’s kick drum pulse and Shimizu’s bass support Sadato’s lyrics. Nakamura’s jagged guitar cuts in and around the sounds. As the band drives the piece forward, Sadato implores, “There’s no reason to fear Death! Die like a gentleman!”

  1. WER WIE WO WAS WARUM (WHO HOW WHERE WHAT WHY) 3:26 (German lyrics) 

In this heavily punk-influenced song, Sadato expresses his disillusionment with his existence. He gives up trying to understand the meaning of life and how to live it. Nakamura’s guitar and Sadato’s saxophone Nakamura articulate the sense of dread and hopelessness.

  1. Life Drunk 4:12 (English lyrics) 

The song is dedicated to the UK band Gallon Drunk. Shimizu’s blues shuffle bass line and Sadato’s uncharacteristically optimistic saxophone improvisation set the stage for his exultations about feeling good about his dramatic life.

  1. POSTIV JA (Positive Yes) 3:10 (German, English, Farsi, French, and Japanese lyrics)

This song presents Sadato lashing out against people who endlessly complain about everything. He counters their gloominess with “Positivity. Yes, yes, always yes!” This is done in a punk/blues / psychedelic rock song form.

  1. Tavalod (Birthday) 4:26 (Farsi lyrics) 

Kato and Shimizu lay down a groove for Sadato, a framework for his Iranian-influenced soprano saxophone improvisation, and a chant of “Happy Birthday” in Farsi. The idea here is that every day is your birthday—every day, you’re born again.

  1. 35 Cents Puppy Sandwich 2:45 (English lyrics) – Dedicated to FUGAZI 

American post-hardcore band Fugazi was known for its style-transcending music, DIY ethics, manner of business practice, and contempt for the music industry. Sadato uses this song to express his solidarity with Fugazi’s DIY spirit.

  1. Kurushi Shiawase (Painful Happiness) 3:34 (Japanese lyrics) 

In this song, Sadato reflects on the euphoria after intense experiences, such as a painful martial arts fight, a recording session, or what he describes as “Happiness guilt.” As Kato and Shimizu drive a heavy groove, Sadato’s saxophone and Nakmura’s guitar weave fascinating melodies against each other.

  1. 65 3:44 (English, German, Japanese, and Farsi lyrics) 

This is a tribute (almost a love song) to Sadato’s favorite guitar amp, the Fender 65 Deluxe Reverb Amplifier. Sadato’s saxophone part explores some ornamental trills until settling into a counterpoint part for the rhythm section. Nakamura’s guitar answers with the same melody before drifting into dissonant feedback. Shimizu shines on this one. He starts with a dissonant, liquid bass line and ends the song with a brief but awe-inspiring bass solo.

QUOTES 

“SoSoLa’s live recording from CBGB 1994 is thrilling, chilling and drenched in authenticity. The interplay between SoSaLa aka Sadato’s voice and sax and Toshimaru Nakamura’s guitar is exquisite; the whole band is tight and loose, like well-worn boots. While this impeccably recorded music may be 30 years old, it is eerily prescient and timely. This music is just what we need, as we enter a period of dark uncertainty.” – Peter Gordon, New York, November 21st, 2024

“I have known Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi aka SoSaLa since 1985. Our vectors first intersected in Japan, and Japanese culture is an important factor in appreciating Sohrab’s musical aesthetic. His art came into focus during that exciting time in the 1980s when the genre classifications of marketing had not overtaken the music world. Sohrab’s music draws equally from the languages and cultures of free jazz, punk, and funk to form a potent mix outside of any simple branding. He carries that powerful tradition to this day in both his music and organizing work.” – Elliot Sharp, New York, 11/3/2024

“Yeah, Fela would have liked it!” – Rikki Stein (Fela Kuti’s manager and friend), London, 8/29/2024

“Man, you’re a real rocker! :-)” – Marc Ribot, New York, July 27, 2024)

“I can feel the power and passion in your music!” – Morgan Fisher (Mott the Hoople), Tokyo, July 7, 2024