Category Archives: Quotes

SoSaLa “Nu World Trashed” quotes.

Reviews / Quotes

News, Quotes, ,

Reviews

“The album was recorded over several hours of completely in-the-moment sessions where the musicians recorded without a score, inventing harmonies, melodies, and rhythms on the spot — how Coleman would have loved this. Later, some of the tracks were embellished with the addition of more musicians and written parts, but the base remains in free playing. Because it is built almost entirely on real-time improvisation, the music embraces unpredictability, allowing every performance to develop organically. It is not for passive consumption but is a recording for active listening and engagement. Put simply, this is just great music.” – Sammy Stein (UK, Medium Daily Digest), 10/3/2026. Read the whole review here.

Quotes

*To learn more about the authors, please click on their names.

“Making Music Is a Profession” is the longest cut on the new Sosala CD “American Dream Trash”; it contains elements of 60’s protest rock, as well as an extensive jam section with distinctive scat singing by the leader. The cut as a whole is very positive in spirit, despite some lyrics registering a degree of discomfort; a very creative and interestingly structured piece of music overall, and one which defies easy classification. Bravo!” – Roger Blanc, 10/2/2026


“SoSaLa, 
I have listened to some of the album, and I have to say, I am deeply
engaged with this music. Your playing, at times, reminds me of Ted
Milton ( Blurt), or Davey Payne ( Blockheads), but is also unique.” – Sammy Stein, 9/30/2026 

“SoSaLa intertwines beauty and anger, passion and politics. “In and Around the Loop” is gorgeous and meditative, while “Making Music Is a Profession” is an energetic manifesto that gradually transitions into a liberating improvisation. This is music only SoSaLa and his comrades could make.” – Matthew S, 9/29/2026.

In American Dream Trash, his recently released CD, SoSaLa deepens and contemporizes the musical and political/social themes he first developed in Nu World Trash (2011). Thanks to a wonderfully creative partnership with producer and multi-instrumentalist Mark C, we are treated to a far-ranging and sonically magnificent pastiche of styles and sounds that are engaging and energizing. The addition of spoken word elements created by poet friends adds some extra spice to the experience. I am proud to be among the poets included! One of the finest albums of the year, imho.” – David Belmont, 9/29/2026

“Finally listened to the album! Different from the rock/pop I normally listen to, and I need to listen to it a little more,

😁

But here are my favorites so far: “Goodbye Iphone,” which has got a nice chill vibe to it. “Gaza Open Air Prison” is heavy — it feels like a lament at times, you really feel the pain in it….maybe also because it touches me so deeply. “In and Around the Loop” is super trippy; it gave me Strawberry Fields vibes for some reason, eh eh. And “The Promise and the Proof “sounds so epic.” – Paolo Baretti (SoSaLa’s dear Italian neighbor), 9/28/2026

“I have really been enjoying the very organic tunes in this new set by SoSaLa. The band has, for me, an unexpectedly lyrical feeling (in a strange way), nicely shaped lines, and the feeling of collective, ensemble playing, but not leaderless. And c certainly not egocentric. Plus, as an old friend used to say, it’s got a good beat and it’s easy to dance to.” – Michael Hanish, 9/28/2026

“SoSaLa’s new release, American Dream Trash, is a marvel; each track a new journey of merging rhythms, genres, melody, and ideas. Sometimes edgy, sometimes lyrical, but always unique in its spontaneous expression.“ – Tom Burnett (multi-instrumentalist, poet, and educator. Member of the experimental improvisational band New Noise Continuum and the project New Agenda (via Music Starts from Silence records). In the 1990s and early 2000s, he was a key member of the ensembles Coocoohandler and Uncle Jimmy’s Dirty Basement.), 9/11/2026

“The album reminds me a bit of American Supreme by Suicide from 2002. Not really sonically, but thematically…Post 9/11. There should be more albums exploring the subject matter you are exploring at a time when everything is so f*cked up. Hope the album does well!” – Daniel Blumin (NJ WFMU  91.1 FM radio host “Daniel Blumin’s show“), 9/11/2026 

“I liked it, and with the right promotion I believe you could have a Hit. My ears are open wide!” – Arnie J. Perez | Founder and CEO VTY Jazz Productions, 9/9/2026

1994 Quotes

Anouncement, News, Quotes

“Sohrab’s SoSaLa 1994-Live at CBGB is a mystery recording because it is a retro rock recording, but miracle of miracles, it has a tremendous amount of humor.  It’s smart and traverses many styles and does so with groove and heart.” – Arturo O’Farrill, New York, May 10th, 2025

“dear sohrab aka SoSaLa

cutting edge music! the ominous 3-note motive in yurei, your vocal in death is to my ears a call to revolution.
in wer wie wo was warum, your vocal cry is a reminder of our responsibility to fight the power.
life drunk has rhythms and the feel of a slow blues with insistent backbeats signaling ‘getting ready’
positive ja feels like a rooted thrust against power (not knowing the lyrics however).
tavalodis a blues that both mourns the current world’s path to extinction and the raw energy to change it (with a hip cut off followed by a beautiful soprano saxophone passage then vocals. i would like to hear a much longer sax statement, because the sound and feel of it as well as the improvisation is deep! i would like to hear a whole piece(s) with just the soprano and possibly acoustic bass and drums!!!!!
35-cent puppy sandwich(great title!) opens with the wind instrument and your explaining the use of farsi. then the rapid vocal and rhythms make a strong groove statement toward upheaval. my 2 cents; i would love to hear a whole album with you on soprano apto, or traditional west asian instrument and farsi, accompanied by acoustic bass and drums, perhaps a piano (but that locks it into a western tuning, so the pianist would have to be sensitive to the maqam, or retune the piano).
kurushi shiawase– i heart the drum playing a groove that reminds me of the duyeg usul (rhythm) in which the chant is ‘la ila ah ilo la’ (pardon my misspelling). i played this rhythm and sang the chant with fred fo in one of his works, song for manong, regarding southern philippine resistance to western imperialism.
65– an overall statement of anger, injustice, exploitation, and the revolution necessary to stop and replace it.
the whole album is a message(s) to the world about how poisoned the planet is and how we need to act ion a revolutionary way to confront and replace the ‘new world odor’ (fred ho’s term) with a just humane society and world. the powerful effect it has is that it is as true and relevant now as it was in 1994 when it was released.
i hear your message as the expression of the means, in malcolm x’s words, ‘by any means necessary.’

wonderful work, still relevant and important today, and ongoing, and congratulations to you, sohrab!!!!” – Royal Hartigan, North Dartmouth, March 17th, 2025

“SoSoLa 1994 Live at CBGB: At times lassoed to earth by blues, funk, and phrygian inspired grooves, the cosmic messengers of this ensemble slingshot into the stratosphere with vocal and instrumental deliveries that command, not ask for your attention. Hold on!” – Lonnie Harrington, New York, 2/17/2025

“SoSaLa – Live at CBGB 1994

SoSaLa’s live album grabs you right from the opening notes of “Yurei”, with a distorted electric guitar soaring over ominous drums and bass, eventually joined by intense vocals. This whole album is powerful music that recalls bits of Primus and Rollins Band (two of my favorite bands from the early 90’s). The rhythm section is incredibly tight, and the guitar player is equally amazing. SoSaLa’s vocals scream into the void, painting word pictures that hang in the air long after the last song ends. Anyone who appreciates this type of cathartic, in-your-face music will love the whole album. Highlights are “Death” and “Positive Ja”. Highly recommended!” – Kevin Keller, New York, 2/12/2025

“SoSaLa/Sadato’s performance on the 1994 Live at CBGB CD is some of the best No Wave music I’ve ever heard. It is high-energy post-punk combined with excellent musicianship, projecting a powerful social/political message that still resonates today. They are in the tradition of the MC5 and even more dynamic, in my opinion.” – David Belmont, New York, January 25th, 2025

“I just listened to SoSaLa 1994-Live at CBGB‘s and I have to say …it is indeed a masterpiece. Whether it’s Japanese, Iranian, German, American or Derailing Angst? I got it. I also enjoyed the song description sheets that are supplied with the CD. A robust artifact and as a listening experience, especially in front of my wood stove and sitting on an armchair suitable for the Maxwell listening agent. I loved it.” –  Stephen R Johnson (musician and activist), Kingston NY, 1/24/25

“I finally had time to sit down with the 1994 CBGB cd last night. I loved it, and loved hearing how your sound has progressed over the years. Different in many ways from how I’ve heard you, but still retaining your signature sound that I’m familiar with. Awesome stuff.” – Sean Johnson (Booking Agent of The Baltimore Consort), Baltimore, January 17th, 2025

“Wow! I would have never guessed you were a rocker.” – Sandra Izsadore (singer songwriter, activist and Fela Kuti’s muse), Los Angeles, 1/12/2025

“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 (musician), New York, November 21, 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 (musician), New York, 11/3/2024

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

“CBGB’s, 1994: what a perfect place and time  for SoSoLa to turn punk inside out and resurrect it’s core energy within the context of no wave. SoSaLa creates “out” music that is deceptively listenable. As if psycho-funk, free jazz and post punk were paint balls being thrown against a graffiti covered wall, the music splatters across your consciousness in wildly inventive, cascading, strokes..” – Mark C of LIVE Skull, August 4, 2024

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

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