DJ CHEB I SABBAH

Anyone who has witnessed the dance-fest that is Sabbah on the decks will know how much Bhangra is a part of his set - he often jokes of being Punjabi in a former life. While in Vienna at the tail end of 2005, he told me about one of his current favorite DJs, Sandeep Kumar out of the US West Coast, whose remix of "Toura Toura" is a full-fledged Morocco-meets-Punjab club banger. Moroccan rap group Fnaire takes the swinging "Sadats" and gives it a proper hip-hop groove. An intense exchange of verses underlined by glossy and sharp synth patterns clearly "borrowed" from Pharrell and Chad updates the already excellent original from La Kahena. Moroccan-born London transplants MoMo deliver a sonically different but equally stunning remix of "Sadats" which strips the original to its bare elements, turns up the hypnotic string plucking and then three quarters of the way through sends the track spiraling into a clubby, psy-trance outro.

Bassnectar's remix of "Alkher Illa Doffor" offers up more of the dub and acid-heavy basslines that made his Mesmerizing The Ultra such a favorite 'round these parts. Clearly his affinity for twisted and innovative soundscapes hasn't changed one bit since MTU and that's something we're quite thankful for. While the original had some serious basslines of its own, Bassnectar manages to send a clear message - this is Cheb I Sabbah like you've never heard him before or ever will again.

Yossi Fine (Ex-centric Soundsystem) lends his production skills to the spacey "Chalice Remix" which subtly intertwines "Toura Toura" and vocals from "Jarat Fil Hub" by Nadia. A heavily accented chanting of "Algérie, San Francisco" (a reference to both Sabbah's birthplace and current home) marks the start of the techno-infused "Esh 'Dani, Alash Mshit: The Rai of Light Club Remix" by Transglobal Underground alumni, Temple of Sound. On the flip side of the same coin is Bill Laswell's dub-centric reworking titled "The Constantine Remix," which only adds light textures to the original.

Makyo tweaks "Madh Assalhin" using his now instantly recognizable Dakini Zen-Dub effects. Ambient electronic bleeps and clicks recast the original spiritual paean into a futuristic ode to the trance gods. Groovio, better known as Gaurav Raina of the MIDIval PunditZ, concludes La Ghriba with his take on "Im Ninalou." The percussion friendly remix takes some of the frantic-ness off the original, slowing the groove down just enough to make you realize just how at ease the PunditZ are with Middle Eastern arrangements as they are with hard South Asian breakbeats that they've come to be known for.

Listening to La Kahena and now its successor, La Ghriba, it is evident that Cheb i Sabbah and his cohorts have taken the true trance qualities of Gnawa and Berber music and redesigned them into electronically enhanced gems that still have the same intended effect on the listener.

sreekanth (courtesy of the Ethno Techno website)

While modern East-West fusion artists like Talvin Singh, Karsh Kale and Midival Punditz have staked their claim by grafting the classical flourishes of their respective cultures onto electronic melodies and beats, a veteran like Cheb i Sabbah has tried to avoid the trappings of the digital age in his own work, instead relying on pure manual instrumentation (through tablas, oud and sitar) to create his trance-inducing grooves.

But even with his antiquated, time-honored strategy towards music-making, Algerian native/current San Franciscan Cheb isn't oblivious to the club-friendly sounds of today, which is why he's been so open to the remix treatment since signing on with Six Degrees in the late '90s. La Ghriba, the remix accompaniment to La Kahena, Sabbah's third proper record for the label, is another solid testament to this. Enlisting the services of established producers (Bill Laswell) and under-the-radar talent (LA-based DJ Sandeep Kumar), Sabbah's objective with this release was to seemingly not only revisit his North African roots, but add some fresh young ears to the project for that "current" touch.

Sabbah seems to have achieved both goals. Kumar's bubbling, bhangra-laden take on "Toura Toura" kicks off the proceedings in energetic fashion, segueing into a tribal/hip-hop redo of "Sadats" courtesy of Moroccan troupe Fnaire, which dips down into Bassnectar's sub-rattling, crunk-flavored rework of "Alkher Illa Doffor."

With the dance floor set appeased, La Ghriba then makes room for more experimental, involving fare, from Yossi "Ex-Centric" Fine's carnival-esque, belly dance sway on "Jarat Fil Hub" to MoMo's techno overhaul of "Sadats" and Laswell's inimitable dub installations on "Esh 'Dani, Alash Mshit."

Since compilation series like Putumayo and Buddha Bar have made world beat --let alone any musical styling east of Europe-- safe for consumption in day spas and Barnes and Nobles, perhaps it's easier for some of the patrons to overlook the deep, enriching sonic webs threading ancient Arabic, Indian and African rhythms with the Pro Tools-devoted culture of today.

With one ear towards the street, and the rest of his focus on the rarefied sounds of his past, Cheb i Sabbah can hopefully ensure they won't miss this intoxicating meld again.

Kiran Aditham (courtesy of the Ink 19 website)