What do you get when you combine a socially minded Chicago area billionaire guitarist/songwriter/philanthrophist, some competent but not flashy soul/pop/R&B/rock musicians, and three singers who channel Jackie Wilson, Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, and Muddy Waters, including one who has a seven octave vocal range? Well you get Sonia Dada that's what you get.
Sonia Dada is (was?) a musical group that was memorable for its singing and songwriting and to a lesser extent its soloists. I think that was by design. There are hardly any Sonia Dada songs where I think you're going to drop your jaw in amazement of the guitarist's skills or unheard of chops. But there are lot of songs where you will hardly even notice until you think about it how well the music fits the lyrics and how seamlessly the band accompanies the singer. And for Sonia Dada the singing and the groove are definitely where the band places the most emphasis. Of course like any other group the guitarists tend to play a little more live where they take some extended solos but that's pretty normal with most bands I think. Sonia Dada was formed when the aforementioned guitarist, one Dan Pritzker, heard Paris DeLane, (of the seven octave range) Michael Scott and Dan Hogan singing in the subway and invited them to become the voices of the band he was putting together.
Musically the band owes a lot to The Beatles, Motown, Stax, and maybe a few people like Billy Joel and Springsteen and of course numerous jazz artists.