Tag Archives: SoSaLa quotes

1994 Quotes

Anouncement, News, Quotes

“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 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 (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

“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

SoSaLa “Nu World Trashed” Quotes

News

“Oh, congratulations! I love it! I’m blessed to be on it! Indeed! I am blessed to groove with the grand artists who made this song! It is soulful, powerful and political! I love it!!” – The Blues Man Cornel West (Thursday, June 11, 2020)

“You got your thing…Great stuff my man – and the message is clear – You got a great sound. Should always be out front (which it is here-nice mix).” – David Liebman (Aug 5th, 2020)

“My man—In a different historical time this would/could be a hit. You combined the various elements with fresh sounds and your soloing is excellent and appropriate. The moods a bit doom and gloom but not all. This music is what people are listening to these days. Good job.” – David Liebman (January 23, 2021)

“Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi has put together a recording of Music with many messages from his perspectives of life today. Music from his Heart & Soul. That’s what’s it’s all about” – Joe Lovano (Aug. 23, 2020)

“Sohrab invited me to join SoSaLa just after he and I were part of a musical/spoken word ensemble that performed Even Under Bitterness, a dramatization of poetry by Otto Rene Castillo directed by Hans Melzer, at New York’s Castillo Theatre in May 2016. He played brilliantly during the run and could even converse with the director in German.

I accepted his invitation right away. I found Sohrab to be a top flight improviser, with a great sound on both the tenor and soprano saxophones, as well as a sensitive listener and co-creator of the spontaneous compositions that were the basis of that show. Our styles meshed well. I am a musician (dobro, guitar, percussion) with roots in American rock, blues and jazz and world influences ranging from India and Persia to Japan and China. Sohrab is world citizen/musician conversant in Persian music with a strong dash of Japanese music thrown in, owing no doubt to his decades living in Japan.

The other thing I found attractive about SoSaLa was the range of international musicians associated with the band. I got to play a number of times with Kaveh Haghtalab (kamancheh), and Baba Don Eaton (percussion). Big fun.

And Sohrab, the president of Musicians for Musicians, walks his talk. He paid all the musicians for all rehearsals and performances.

The only downside for me being in SoSaLa is that we don’t get enough gigs.” – David Belmont (Aug16, 2020) 

“On my round the world trip in 2003 I met SoSaLa in Tokyo, where I had two gigs. He is a gentle intelligent person who helped me out in my ‘Lost in Translation’ situation with Japanese culture. Since then we’re connected on FB, where I discovered his fabulous Tenor Sax improvisation, recorded live in the streets of New York City. The melodies reminded me of Ethio Jazz, surprisingly SoSaLa shared this impression, but dedicated it to his mentor Ornette Coleman. As my production skill is focused on street recordings all over the world, I was inspired of the great quality, sound and mood of the performance. SoSaLa allowed me to use it, in order to create a completely new studio track, with a verse-refrain-solo structure, arrangement, playing all other instruments and mixing a demo. His positive reaction on the result encouraged me to compose two more tracks with another SoSaLa improvisation. I’m happily sharing this inspiring collaboration on my album: “Waves for the Universe” © Pharma Tunes 2020 – UPC 194491489939” – Genetic Drugs (Aug 26, 2020)

“The latest album by SoSaLa “Nu Word Trashed” is a reflective, hopeful, and confrontational expression of life in New York City in a time of pandemic and unrest. Sohrab blends the musical vocabulary of Persian Classical, Japanese Enka, and Free Jazz into an improvisational exploration of many traditions, while also painting a soundscape of what New Yorkers have heard for the past 6 months: sirens, cheers, and demands for social justice. It is beautifully human in all its spontaneity and vibrancy.” – Chris St. Hilaire of The London Souls, Sinkane, and founder of the Sound Mind Collective (SMC) (September 16, 2020)

“Love your new recording.” – Arturo O’Farrill (September 19, 2020)

“Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi is unique in the space and time continuum we call jazz.  His latest work is encyclopedic in it’s scope and understanding of styles, textures and aesthetics.  A savvy composer and instrumentalist, he is also a master improviser who’s music can rightly be called music of the world and of the future.  For Sohrab, affixing your art to a fixed point in space is not possible, he sees the connectedness and the landscape of what is possible when you come from, appreciate and traverse many musical worlds.  Thank you Sohrab for this wide-open direction you point all of us into.” – Arturo O’Farrill (November 30, 2020)

“Regardless of his many administrative duties, Sohrab has wonderful creative abilities upon reviewing his album.

  1. Welcome Nu World: Sounds a bit as if you’re wandering “where to go” (first section).
  2. Enough Is Enough: An “out and out” protest. (I like that.)
  3. Mystical Full Moon (For Ornette) (Sounds like you played 3 or 4 of those instruments yourself.)
  4. Sad Sake: Creates a nice oriental flavor.
  5. Anybody Out There ( I particularly like the last few statements at the end.)
  6. What’s What Live (“B” is a good key for the tenor sax.)
  7. My Shushtari: (Nice playing “in tune”.)
  8. Anybody Out There (Lift Off) Actually …nice effect (with two lines being “slightly out of tune at times)
  9. Intro Music – Good start with string instr. at beginning. (This one could use “more energy”, though there are a few “wild statements” near the end.) – Billy Harper (September 24, 2020)

“Salam Sohrab,
I just played your latest SoSala album and its bold, beautiful, loud and clear. Protestingly honest during coviditude and notably welcomed on my hi fidelity or buds.
Award winning cultural advocacy abounds when “Nu World Trashed’ is administered through both ears. This music can be effectively used as an antidote for melancholia, activist burn out or PTSD.
Side effects: Detoxification, inspiration and further cleansing of the liver.
I cooked, danced, i zoned and feasted on every song.” – Stephen Johnson (December 24, 2020)

“Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi AKA SoSaLa

سهراب سعادت لاجوردی سَکسیفونیست ، آهنگساز ، تهیه کننده وفعال حقوق موسقیدانان متولد ۱۹۵۳ در سوییس از والدین ایرانیست. موسیقی را با پیانو شروع میکند، بعد درامز ، گیتار و در نهایت با سَکسیفون و جَز موزیک به ماجراجویی در موزیک میپردازد، با هنرمندان بین المللی همکاری میکند ، به فستیوال های معتبری مثل Montreux Jazz Festival دعوت میشود و …
سهراب به تازگی آلبومی منتشر کرده به نام Nu World Trashed که ۷ قطعه بدون کلام و دو قطعه با دکلمه هایی اعتراض محور است که بین سالهای ۲۰۱۴ تا ۲۰۲۰ ضبط شده اند و تجربه ای از سبک های الکترونیک ، جَز ، بلوز و موزیک معاصر است.
جدا از دغدغه تولید موسیقی ، سهراب فعالیت زیادی در زمینه حقوق موزیسین ها دارد و انجمنی در این زمینه راه اندازی کرده که به زودی به شما معرفی خواهیم کرد.
آلبوم سهراب رو هم میتونید آنلاین بخرید و هم نسخه ی CD در فروشگاه آدیومنت موجود هست.
برای آشنایی بیشتر با سهراب و فعالیت هاش:https://sohrab.info/press-2/” – Ali Reza Roostaee (12/27/2020)

“Sohrab ist ein Unikum, ein Mensch, der sich im Leben und in der Musik die Freiheit nimmt, zu tun, was er für richtig hält. Er ist nicht nur ein hervorragender Saxofonist, der seine ureigene musikalische Sprache entwickelt hat, sondern auch ein kritischer und politisch aktiver Geist, der sich einmischt und mithilft, die Welt im Kleinen zu verändern, damit sie im Großen ein Stück besser wird.

Auf seiner CD “Nu World Trashed” präsentiert er vital originäre, lyrische und energiereiche Klangbilder jenseits des Mainstream. Seine Musik passt in keine Schublade, changiert zwischen Jazz, World, Punk und Neuer Musik, voll verblüffender Wendungen und erfrischender Ironie.

“Nu World Trashed” ist das Werk eines authentischen Künstlers, der sich von der Masse abhebt und die Zuhörer in eine vielfältige Klangwelt entführt.” – Hubl Greiner (2/14/2021)

موسیقی جاز همیشه برای من لذت بخش بوده و شنیدن این آلبوم آن را زنده کرد. ساکسفون سهراب (سوسالا  SoSaLa) نوای دلنشینی دارد متفاوت با دیگر اجرا ها که آمیزشی از نوای غرب و شرق است. بر خلاف خیلی از موسیقی دانان ایرانی مقیم آمریکا، سهراب سبک موسیقی مترقی را در مقابل آهنگ های پاپ انتخاب کرده که قابل تقدیر است. حمایت از نوازندگان مستقل و مترقی وظیفه همه الاقمندان به هنر و بخصوص موسیقی می‌باشد که دسترسی به امکانات وسیع تجاری و تبلیغاتی ندارند. آلبوم Nu World Trashed یکی از جالب ترین کار های SoSaLa هست که شامل چند آهنگ جدید می‌باشد. انتخاب آهنگ مورد علاقه من قدری دشوار است چون از همه اجرای های ساکسفون  لذت بردم، بخصوص اجرا های بدون گفتار.” – Ali Banifazl (March 15, 2021)

Translated from Farsi into English:

“Jazz has always been a pleasure for me and listening to this album brought it to life. Sohrab Saxophone (SoSaLa) has a pleasant sound, different from other performances, which is a mixture of western and eastern music. Unlike many Iranian musicians living in the United States, Sohrab has chosen a progressive style of music over pop songs, which is commendable. Supporting independent and progressive musicians is the duty of all those who love art, especially music, who do not have access to vast commercial and advertising facilities. Nu World Trashed is one of SoSaLa’s most interesting works, which includes several new songs. Choosing my favorite song is a bit difficult because I enjoyed all the saxophone performances, especially the non-speech performances.” – Ali Banifazl (March 15, 2021)

“Sohrab!
So while driving to Berlin for a PRO MUSIK meeting today I had the time to listen to your recordings.
From a saxophonist’s standpoint: Wow, you’ve got a great sax-sound! Unusual phrasing, not sticking to any bebop-, hardbop- or lick-based vocabulary – pretty original and uncommon. Ornette Coleman would be the first comparison to come to my mind – if – like we Germans do – one would want to pigeon-hole everything.
From my political awareness standpoint: I enjoy hearing music, that has this „urgency“ both musically and contextually.
Great!” – Axel Mueller/PRO MUSIK (May 30, 2021)