Sadi And The Brt Jazz Orchestra

SADI has led a long and brilliant career as a multi-instrumentalist (especially on vibraphone, but also on bongos, percussion, piano etc…), as a composer and arranger, conductor, as singer (he notably performed an astonishing “scat”). His multiple talents made him a complete showman and an accomplished musician, one of the essential figures of Belgian jazz after the Second World War.

SADI is his stage name, but also his first name. His last name: Lallemand.

Sadi (sometimes nicknamed “Fats”) showed a passion for music very early on. At the age of 9, he performed on stage in a music hall act, playing the xylophone as an amateur on weekends.

He discovered jazz in 1938 while listening to a record by Louis ARMSTRONG. He began playing the vibraphone in 1941.

During the Second World War, he first worked as a semi-professional, then became a professional. At the end of the war he made multiple tours on behalf of the American army.

SADI returned to Belgium in 1961, and was hired by the RTB radio orchestra, of which he was a part from 1961 to 1965 (the great orchestra of Henri SEGERS).

He also led his own quartet until 1985.

In November 2000, the Igloo label released a CD presenting historical BRT recordings made with the SADI nonet.

2006 saw the publication of another big band album, with previously unreleased recordings illustrating his work with the BRT jazz big band, “Sadi’s greatest arrangements, Flagey nine thirty a.m.” (Igloo), which was voted album of the year at the “Octaves de la Musique” in Belgium (2007). A sequel is planned…