Sohrab Saadat

Sohrab Saadat

Musicians | Instrument: Saxophone, tenor | Location: New York City

Updated: October 7, 2024

Born: April 1, 1953

A Comprehensive Biography of SoSaLa

The early years

Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi (aka SoSaLa) was born to Iranian parents in Zurich, Switzerland, in 1953. However, following the sudden death of his business partner, Sohrab’s father had to close down their joint business and, on the advice of a family member and when Sohrab was just three months of age, the Saadat Ladjevardi family moved to live in Hamburg, Germany. There Sohrab’s father established an export trade company called Iran Hamburg.  Growing up in Germany, Sohrab’s early lessons on piano ended abruptly, when his teacher found she couldn’t abide his style of playing.

Sohrab’s musical journey through 1968-74 involved Sohrab playing the drums at his home, leading to the neighbors complaining about his passionately loud rhythms. At the same time, he took flamenco guitar lessons and jammed with friends on the drums, however none of this early dabbling hinted at the direction his musical life would take upon his discovery of the saxophone - which eventually would culminate in the formation in 2010, in New York City, of his Free Jazz/ World/Jam band, SoSaLa.

As well as playing music, through childhood and adolescence Sohrab was very active in various sports, being involved at school in soccer, volleyball, table tennis and swimming. Sohrab also became a member of the local amateur soccer club, SC Victoria Hamburg and for a while toyed with the idea of becoming a professional soccer player - until his father put a stop to this pursuit. 

Then in 1970/71 and by now a teenager, Sohrab started attending the Martial Arts school ALSTER DOJO where he practiced Yoga, Judo and Kendo. Sohrab had no inkling at first, but this school was to be critical in his choice of life path, for in 1975 Yasushi Okumura (5th Dan) who taught Kendo there, invited Sohrab to continue his Kendo studies under his guidance in Osaka, Japan. In the meantime, Sohrab was becoming increasingly interested in Japanese culture including literature (Yukio Mishima and Yasunari Kawabata), film (including the James Bond film You Only Live Twice and Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurais), and music (composer Toru Takemitsu and Shakuhachi player Hozan Yamamoto). All of this inspired Sohrab to make the decision to visit Japan once he had graduated from high school.

The Japan Years

So, at the age of 22, in January of 1975 Sohrab boarded a plane to Tokyo, with a one-way ticket and 1000 Marks in his pocket, and a plan to study Martial Arts.  At the time this was considered by most people to be an unusual and even “crazy” move.  

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12
Album Review

SoSaLa: Nu World Trashed

Read "Nu World Trashed" reviewed by Glenn Astarita


Per the press release, saxophonist, vocalist SoSaLa (Ornette Coleman, Salif Keita) is the abbreviation of his birth name, Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi. He's a Swiss-born Iranian American and a well-known activist, educator, author and the president of Musicians for Musicians (MFM) who exhibits complete command of his saxophones during two live tracks and seven studio tracks, recorded between 2014 and 2020. As the title describes, the music draws inferences to the “Nu World" created by the Internet, and how some may ...

73
Album Review

SoSaLa: Nu World Trash

Read "Nu World Trash" reviewed by Glenn Astarita


SoSaLa is the brainchild of vocalist, saxophonist, music activist and native Iranian Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi, who fuses Persian influences with Western instrumentation amid indigenous platforms, summoning the Middle Eastern contingent. A well-travelled musician, Ladjevardi immerses his craft into quite a few projects and multifaceted ensemble-based frameworks. He resides in New York City, and as the story goes, blasted his horn in front of the United Nations as a means for supporting the Green Movement in Iran. “Vatan Kojai?" ...

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3

Recording

Sosala 30 Years Ago: No-wave Improv With Powerful Messages

Sosala 30 Years Ago: No-wave Improv With Powerful Messages

Source: Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi aka SoSaLa

SoSaLa has released a retrospective recording which looks back to 1993; when music was made at a special time and with special musicians. For fans who are interested in SoSaLa’s interesting and accomplished music career, this retrospective album is a must. The music on this album comes from the No Wave and post-No Wave scenes in New York, and out of the free jazz scene. There is a very distinct connection here between harmolodics and bands such as Live Skull, ...

Albert Ayler
saxophone, tenor
Sam Taylor
saxophone, tenor
Miles Davis
trumpet
Salif Keita
vocals
Frank Zappa
guitar, electric
Jimi Hendrix
guitar, electric
Soft Machine
band / ensemble / orchestra

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