Arising out of the club scene in eighties Chicago, DJ Sadar soon gained a reputation for being able to find obscure tracks which lacked nothing in quality compared to their more commercial cousins. Even when the dance scene started to change Sadar continued in his quest to find the best music regardless of its previous or current mass appeal. This single mindedness has served his career well gaining him a reputation as a serious lover of music who can both entertain and educate his audience...

As dance music changed Sadar went his own way, with Soul in the Hole, a scene which stayed true to its roots eschewing the changing modernity of dance music and its creeping reliance on electronic tricks to replace human talent.

Released through BBE, the thirteen track CD, Sadar Bahar: Soul in the Hole collects together an eclectic mix of soul, funk, boogie and disco music for his audiences delectation. He was aided in this endeavour with fellow DJ and collaborator, Lee Collins.

Not being an aficionado of the Chicago Scene, I have to admit to being completely unaware of any of the artists here, but if nothing else the CD is a jumping off point to discover some great music which, without Sadar’s influence, may have remained as backwaters in the history of music.

The fourteen tracks on the CD are 'Odyssey Pt 1' - Johnny Harris (5:47), 'Comin' On Strong' - Calender (3:55), 'Soul Melody (Yam Who? Remix)' - Poetiquette (6:22), 'Bail Out' - Maxayn (4:37), 'Free' - Seawind (4:23), 'Striving For Tomorrow' - Moses (5:22), 'French Fried Boogie' - Puzzle People (4:04), 'Trying To Get Over' - Sparkles (5:05), 'Scorcher (Instrumental)' - Carl Grubbs (4:35), 'Funkyfied' - Chuck Higgins & The Wild Bunch (5:46), 'Mystery Of Ages' - Carlos Garnett (7:09), 'Tornado' - Sonny Stitt (8:48) and 'Spirit' - Frédéric Mercier (7:39).

Obviously, you could buy the tracks on the reputation of Sadar alone, however if you head over to bbe’s site bbemusic.com/data.pl?release=BBE165CDG you can listen to a sample of each of the tracks and even buy them individually. I would certainly recommend many of the songs, but 'Odyssey Pt 1' is particularly worth picking up.

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Charles Packer