Soundwalking with Sabbah

I first came across a chap by the exotic name of Cheb i Sabbah a few years ago in Montreal when in search of discount vinyl (being a university student at the time) that was not simply house or drum'n'bass or any particular genre of electronic music. Krishna Lila/Select Bhajans (Six Degrees Records) is a rare 12" inch to come across when bargain-bin shopping and truly was a pleasant surprise to this Disc jockey who was used to fighting the difficult temptation of succumbing to the status quo and spinning music more oriented to the dance-floor. For probably the first time ever, when the needle hit those grooves that afternoon, I heard a most curious blend of high-tech audio wizardry and traditional Indic song/instrumentation that was completely seamless and utterly delightful.

DJ Cheb i Sabbah has, of recent, become a name increasingly often tying tongues around the world; especially within South Asian Diaspora communities since his participation in the Asian Massive collective alongside Karsh Kale, the MIDIval PunditZ and Zakhm, who released a compilation in the summer of 2002. Cheb i Sabbah's offering for this mix included Raja Vedalu and Rupa Tujhe Deva (the Karsh Kale Gopi Girl Mix) from Krishna Lila; two tracks that I have since never tired of working into DJ sets for crowds as disparate as in North America or East Africa. Granted, this sampling of Cheb I's production is atmospheric and slightly dark; evoking imagery of an older gopi-teasing Lord Krishna rather than the playful blue-colored baby Supreme Personality of Godhead we've all seen endearingly gorging on Ghee (clarified butter) in many a South Asian kitchen.

Despite producing groundbreaking music that fuses multicultural traditions with modern sounds and technology, Cheb i's style finds a happy balance between being contemplative and danceable. We caught up at the Bentley - a stylish Upper East Side hotel overlooking Manhattan's skyline where he was staying while in New York for a few days working in-studio. Though I had met Chebiji a few times before, this encounter was particularly surreal as we sat in his room looking out at a rush of yellow cabs and other vehicles moving through the city and zooming across the antiquated, rusting Queensboro Bridge amidst a light haze of Aggarbati (incense) and cigarette smoke. In fact, despite the fashionable urban location and modern aesthetic of the hotel, his room carried homely warmth and we comfortably discussed what's been keeping him busy of late...

...Soundwalk is heralded as a ‘new form of entertainment' which Cheb i describes as "a CD where you can put your headphones on and then you walk; you have a map and it takes you to a neighborhood, or a certain scene or certain people." On their website, Soundwalk is described as ‘a new form of entertainment; a cross-over between music and audio books' that is a ‘palette of soundtracks for public and private space to be experienced on location.' The location to be experience this time round is a famed historical city of Uttar Pradesh - "my friend Eddie from Nama Rupa [a journal of sacred philosophical thoughts emanating from India] and Soundwalk teamed up and decided to go to Varanasi and do a Soundwalk there. For that they got together with Dr Robert Svoboda, who is actually one of the major non-South Asian authorities on Ayurveda. The concept is that Dr Svoboda is on a boat and as they go down the ghats he tells the story [of the surroundings]... that's one CD and then they thought ‘let's do another audio CD without the talking - it will be of what happens if you got off the boat and walked back along the ghats.. So they asked me if I would like to do that kind of collage mix." Combining recorded street sounds, temples, bhajans and even burning ghats, Cheb I worked on the collage in San Francisco and then chose New York to finish it in the studio. "Its quite a puzzle because they gave me dozens and dozens of elements to put together like how is sounds when you walk in Varanasi; which is quite mad and chaotic.. Though I have been there; been in and out of the temples and on the ghats and hung out with the Babas - on the recording I put the Babas going ‘boom shankar' and all that; its part of the trip!" Along with the two CDs, an oversized book has been created to be released as a special package in the next few months.

Having just moved to New York some months back, I have not yet grown accustomed to the pace at which people operate in this city, which Cheb I suggests is cursed along with Bombay in their hustle and bustle, though I am amazed at how busy he has been and could almost picture him being a New Yorker, sitting in the core of the Apple waxing about juggling his various projects with other talented artists. Over the past couple of years he has been focused though on La Kahena - a fantastic new album to be released in May 2005: "Its been hectic - I just got in from two weeks in Morocco and I feel like I've been on tour, but tomorrow night its coming to an end. There is a friend of mine; Khalil Benkirane from Morocco, he's a filmmaker whose idea was to put together a documentary on the making of La Kahena so since December 2003 when I went there he filmed all the music sessions and came to New York to film when I overdubbed some musicians. This time in Morocco we filmed the reactions of musicians when they heard the finished songs... it was very nice... some groups just do their own thing within Morocco so to them it was like a discovery - they were pleased that it was still their stuff rather than totally modern; I try to add to what they do rather than the other way around. A lot of this music is more concerned with healing and trance than, you know, making it - some of them had never been to a recording studio as they normally play in private homes or for weddings for hours, so to see and hear themselves was really incredible! It's the same when I made Sri Durga - the reaction of Sultan Khan and Salamat Ali Khan; you hope they are going to enjoy it, ethically, but so far I have been fortunate to firstly work with the kind of musicians I have been working with and second, to have them like it.. That's encouraging as a producer."

As for the inspiration behind approaching such a variety of musical productions in India, North Africa and beyond, Cheb i draws from history as well as the political climate and overall human condition. "La Kahena was a woman who is a symbol of fighting male aggression and she represents a part of history that is very North African. She is a mystical woman whose name can be translated as ‘priestess' the history of the region shows us that invasions; where people have forced things down others' throats, have all happened before and now that everyone has had their turn, maybe we can do something else."

Cheb i believes in moving forward in life, though that direction is not necessarily linear. Stylistically; thus far he has managed to produce varied music of ranging tempos and traditional origins. Planned future projects for this already accomplished ‘music facilitator' entail a return to the content of La Kahena as a remix project as well as an international celebration of women in music with contributions from female friends of his who are singers from places such as Ethiopia, Persia/Iran, Turkey, Tunisia, Pakistan, and more.

Regarding a possible return to South Asian flavored music, Cheb i thinks "its nice to branch out and then come back - for me, I will be listening to a Bhajan and go wow - this is beautiful, but at the same time I could also find an Arabic song just as beautiful." So yes, its quite possible that we may hear from Cheb i Sabbah again; possibly praising a more playful Krishna in the form of house music next time or embracing Kali with dark drum and bass rhythms!? One thing is for sure - he will definitely be in India again soon with a discman and the latest installment of Soundwalk - "for me, I have gone to Varanasi and now that I've heard the first CD with Svoboda who is really a unique persona, I would like to go back... supposedly there's a temple which has been physically moved!!!"

More info:
http://www.chebisabbah.com/