Sonia Dada
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A Chicago rhythm and blues band. Usually around eight musicians, 3 lead singers, two drummers, 1 guitar, 1 bass, 1 keyboard.
Their 1992 debut album, Sonia Dada, produced a minor radio hit, "You Don't Treat me no Good". In 1994, the band's tour saw them opening for the group Traffic.
As of 2004, Sonia Dada has released six full-length albums.
In October 2006, "You Don't Treat Me No Good" was ranked 396 out of 2006 songs in the Triple M Essential 2006 Countdown.
SONIA DADA: BIOGRAPHY
Michael Scott, Shawn Christopher, Paris Delane and Sam Hogan: vocals Erik Scott: bass Hank Guaglianone: drums Chris Cameron: keyboards Phil Miller and Dan Pritzker: guitars
"If a band could ever be said to be a microcosm of Chicago, Sonia Dada is it."
So said the Chicago Tribune about the group's 2002 album "Barefoot Soul," and there are few better ways to describe Sonia Dada's finely honed but diverse fusion of rock and soul. Tellingly, guitarist/primary songwriter Dan Pritzker cites the Beatles and Motown catalogues as "the height of the idiom," and those influences -- along with R&B and alt-rock that are deeply steeped in the recent history of their home town -- are reasonably accurate signposts for the group's soulfully-based but freewheeling style, which has incorporated many influences and references over the years but remains true to its rock-solid rock-soul foundation. That sound has earned Sonia Dada a rabid fan base all over the world, and has helped the group's five albums to sell hundreds of thousands of copies.
Diversity is a large part of what has kept the group together: There has scarcely been a lineup change in nearly 14 years. "The artistic freedom is the most special thing," says bassist Erik Scott. "Bass players, in particular, are often held to playing very tightly regimented things, which is why so many of us end up playing jazz. But that same sort of freedom is in this band."
The nine-piece group is more diverse than ever on its sixth and latest album, "Test Pattern." Many months in the making, the album incorporates Middle Eastern and Indian instruments into several tracks, roots-rock into others (particularly the album's first single, "Old Bones"), and African-inspired vocals into the smooth soul of "Rag Doll"), while jazz great Lester Bowie kicks in the trumpet on 'Take Back'.Throughout, the band's remarkable quartet of lead singers provide the harmonies that have always been Sonia Dada's stock in trade.
"Would you believe that a Pope in the 12th or 13th century actually outlawed harmony?" Pritzker says. "He considered it to be showboating: By adding a harmony note, you were no longer exulting god. That gives you an idea of the impact that harmony singing can have. Think of those early Beatles albums, the Beach Boys' harmonies, it's so powerful. And when I first heard these guys sing, I couldn't tear myself away." The incident he's referring to occurred in 1990, when Pritzker was captivated by the sound of Michael Scott, Paris Delane and Sam Hogan harmonizing on a Chicago subway platform. The three soon joined a group that Pritzker had already been working with -- featuring Scott, Guaglianone and then-guitarist Dave Resnik -– and once Cameron came aboard, and Sonia Dada was up and running.
To this day, the beauty and juxtaposition of Pritzker's songs and those voices (and, of course, that of Shawn Christopher, who joined in 1999,) remain the essence of the group's sound. "It's this weird narcissism, working with these singers," Pritzker says. "To hear them singing my songs is like looking in the mirror and seeing Cary Grant." The band released its eponymous debut in 1992, which sold more than 100,000 copies and spawned the radio hit "You Don't Treat Me No Good." That success was solidified with an extensive U.S. tour with Traffic in 1994, and the group released "A Day At The Beach" the following year. The album found the band incorporating more funk influences into their sound, while the following disc, 1998's "My Secret Life," gave freer reign to their instrumental skill. In 1999, Sonia Dada issued a live disc, "Lay Down and Love It Live," which features an ace cover of Sly's "I Want To Take You Higher" and encapsulates the two-hour live shows that have kept fans returning in droves. "Barefoot Soul" found the band group returning to its roots by creating the most R&B-oriented album of their career.
"Test Pattern" builds further on that foundation, both stylistically and technologically. Although it's not immediately apparent, several tracks were created in a very complex and experimental manner. "There was a project I had in art class in high school where we had to recreate an element of a famous painting using just tiny, torn-up pieces of paper," Pritzker says. "And that is kind of what we did here. On a few tunes, we'd record something, then send the tapes to this old friend of mine from Chicago, Ron Schwartz. He would dump them into a computer program and essentially re-orchestrate them, then he'd send the tune back to us and we'd make changes and send it back to him -- songs went back and forth like that for years." Pritzker is quick to point out that the entire disc was not done in this fashion, but "the first bunch of tracks on the album were really stuck in the blender."
The album also includes a DVD containing video footage that is quite experimental in nature. "I wasn't looking for a visualization of the lyrics," Pritzker says, "so we had our director, this great photographer/cinematographer named Jeth Weinrich, shoot material based on one set of songs -- and then we changed the songs. The visual presentation is more about the photography and the feeling you get from it."
Yet no matter what experiments the group might undertake, it never strays far from the soulful core that is its greatest strength -- and that soul, obviously enough, comes from the band's soul: the intangible warmth that springs from the members' comfort and familiarity with each other.
"That's the coolest thing: the way we all get along," Pritzker says. "I think it's unbelievable luck. Have you ever traveled on a tour bus? It's not easy traveling for weeks and months with 10 or 11 of your best buddies, but we can do it. We all get along, it's very natural and it really feels like a happy family. There's nothing we'd all rather be doing."
ALBUM DISCOGRAPHY Sonia Dada (1992) A Day at the Beach (1995) My Secret Life (1998) Lay Down & Love It Live (1999) …Barefootsoul… (2002) Test Pattern (2004)
[edit] External links
2 guitars, 1 drummer. "You Don't Treat Me No Good" #1 single in Australia, 1993.
