Cheb i Sabbah

July 2007 the Staytunedtv.tv video crew of six cameramen, along with our audio crew recording 48 channels, covered the Cheb i Sabbah concert at the Levitt Pavilion in Pasadena, California.

A gallery of photos from Cheb i Sabbah's July concert at the Levitt in Pasadena. And, for your pleasure, videos of several of the performances.

Cheb i Sabbah—a.k.a. dj Cheb i Sabbah grew up Jewish of Berber (Amazigh) descent in Constantine, Algeria, so the idea of mixing cultures was, you might say, in his blood. He moved to Paris in the 1960s, and, more or less by accident, became a DJ. By the late 1980s, he was pushing boundaries on the dance floor, seeking ways to work African, Asian, and Arabic music into the mix. Then, as the “world music” movement unfolded, Cheb i Sabbah took the inspired step of recording traditional and classical musicians himself and using those tracks to create bold, new creations—effectively, music “composed” by a DJ. With four landmark recordings under his belt, Sabbah recently returned to his native North Africa to gather the raw material for his most ambitious project to date, La Kahena, a set of eight pieces created from music by eight different acts, all featuring women singers. Sabbah remains a DJ at heart, but he is also something more—one of the most innovative forces in contemporary dance music today.

“As a DJ, you have ears,” says Sabbah. “This is your instrument; you know what you want to hear on the dance floor. A lot of genuine world music artists are fantastic musicians, composers, vocalists, but they don't know how to master and mix for the dance floor. They are not acquainted with the technicalities of how to construct songs that are DJ-friendly with breaks or stops, so you can go from here to there. With this insight and understanding, it only made sense to forge forward with producing world music for the dance floors, founding a new approach to the process, bringing our two worlds together. It's only in the last ten years that DJs have become producers, and you could say that we compose music.” The possibilities in this new realm are endless, and Sabbah makes no secret of the thrill that freedom gives him.

DJ Cheb i Sabbah now enjoys a worldwide reputation as a magician of the dance floor, from the crowded confines of New York’s Knitting Factory, to nightclubs in his adopted home, San Francisco, to the likes of L.A.’s massive Getty Center, with its capacity of 4500. On stage, he improvises his show using pre-composed tracks and massive, projected visuals, interwoven and juxtaposed as the spirit moves him.

Cheb i Sabbah developed his concept of recording his own base tracks, and has created a totally unique catalog of CD releases, starting with Shri Durga (1999). From the start, Sabbah has set his sights high, always aiming for great music, not merely ethnic flavor. Shri Durga was created from tracks recorded with Ustad Salamat Ali Khan, one of the most respected classical singers in Pakistan, and his four, enormously talented sons.

This groundbreaking work was followed by MahaMaya (2000) and Krishna Lila (2002). Each album has its own distinct character. Sabbah says, “Shri Durga and Krishna Lila are not remixes. MahaMaya is a collection of remixes from Shri Durga by most of the UK, South Asian underground. However, Shri Durga and Krishna Lila are totally produced albums in the sense that you get raw elements, and then from there you add bass, drums, loops, samples, and overdubs. Shri Durga happened to be ragas, and then from Shri Durga, I went into bhajans, which are devotional songs, much like ragas, music accessible to everybody in India.”

On As Far As (2003), Sabbah marshaled his complete repertoire of techniques into composing music, spanning three continents and nine languages.

La Kahena is Cheb i Sabbah's most personal album because it takes him back to his North African roots. The recordings he made himself were mostly done in Morocco. “We say that Morocco has rhythm and Algeria has melody,” says Sabbah, “because Morocco has all the West African influence.” History inspired Sabbah throughout the making of La Kahena. The album is named for a mysterious yet legendary woman from Algerian history who, like Sabbah, was both Berber and Jewish.

With La Kahena, Cheb i Sabbah’s life and art come full circle. An innovator in one of the most contemporary musical realms, he is clearly committed to creating new forms. “But at the same time,” says Sabbah, “the more important focus for me is to keep the tradition alive. You take Haddarates: there aren’t many people wanting to learn this style of singing and preserve their tradition. There are only two or three Haddarates groups in Morocco at this moment. Once they go, it's over, then what?” From dance floor DJ to defender of ancient traditions, Sabbah is a true musical iconoclast and visionary on the contemporary scene.