By Hrayr Attarian
Saxophonist Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi, stage name SoSaLa, is a composer, a
musician’s rights advocate, and label owner. He is also somewhat of a world
citizen as he was born in Switzerland to Iranian parents, spent several
years in the late 20th century working in Japan, and is currently based in
the United States.
In 2024, he released a captivating live album from his archives, 1994-Live
at CBGB (DooBeeDoo Records, 2024). Less than a year later, he released an
earlier recording from two Swiss dates from July 1983. The provocative
1983 – Live at Montreux Jazz Festival and Rathausplatz Bern
features the SADATO GROUP that includes, in addition to the leader (known in
Japan as Sadato), guitarist and bassist Mutsuhiko Izumi and pianist and
drummer Hitoshi Usami.
The heavily improvised music is a seamless fusion of energetic No Wave and
Free Jazz. This is not a simple pastiche of genres but an exploration of the
spontaneity and delightful dissonance common to both styles. “Confusing
World”, for instance, starts off with an electronic drone that creates an
otherworldly ambience. Simmering keyboard phrases, bent guitar notes, and
angular piano chords mix, creating an absorbing mood. The track dovetails
seamlessly into “MJF’s When I’m Crazy, I’m Normal” with Sadato’s whimsical
repartee with the audience alternating with his fiery saxophone solos that
Usami’s thunderous drumming and Izumi’s muscular refrains support.
The interaction with the audience is not only in spoken words, which Sadato
does in both English and German. It is also in the musical form. The way the
trio involves the attendees in their creative process is both elegant and
effortless. On “Paul Klee’s Musical Colors” from the Bern date, Izumi’s
reverberating strings echo against Usami’s rapid-fire beats, creating a
thrillingly riotous rhythmic framework. Izumi deftly coaxes out of his
instrument energetic, almost voice-like phrases that Usami punctuates with
his polyrhythms. At the climax of this riotous performance, the leader
enters with his wailing sax. Thus, the musicians blur the lines between
verbal and instrumental addresses to the audience.
This becomes even clearer on the following “Zehn Vor Vier in Bern”. Sadato
goes from blowing his horn with abandon, delivering a monologue in German,
and playing atonal phrases on a harmonica. The concertgoers can be heard
responding and clapping enthusiastically. Izumi and Usami lay down a
percussive, tempestuous groove that hints at rock-ish backbeats with a
swinging sense. Sadato concludes with a melancholic chorus before bidding
everyone farewell.
In addition to the superb music it contains,
1983 – Live at Montreux Jazz Festival and Rathausplatz
Bern is an intriguing historical document. It highlights the
extemporized experimentations in which artists like the SADATO GROUP were
engaged. Hopefully, more will be available from SoSaLa’s “vault” for modern
listeners to enjoy