|
Cheb i Sabbah
Devotion
(Six Degrees)
First Appeared in The Music Box, March 2008, Volume 15, #3
Written by Douglas Heselgrave
Tue, March 18, 2008, 07:00 AM CDT
Temple bells ring in the near distance. The full measure of their sound
richly reverberates as voices in prayer drone and echo. Meanwhile, percussion
and gently stirring keyboards establish a sense of space and dimension. Devotion, the seventh, full-length outing by the Algerian-born and current
San Francisco native, Cheb i Sabbah is his most completely realized work to
date.
As the popularity of world music-based electronica has increased, the market
inevitably has been flooded with releases. Such is the nature of the game. With
more than 40 years of experience, however, Sabbah is peerless, standing alone as
a fully mature artist. Since leaving his native Algeria in 1964, Sabbah has
worked as a DJ and — long before it became the popular thing to do — he has been
blending music from all over the world into dance mixes that are designed to be
both physically releasing and spiritually uplifting. While this description may
describe the aim of many musicians who try their hand at creating soundscapes in
this style, the subtlety of Sabbah’s production and the depth of his
understanding of South Asian and North African devotional music give his
compositions levels of sophistication and flow that are sorely lacking in the
works of others.
Devotion has been in the making for nine years, and it represents
Sabbah’s finest, most complete exploration of India’s musical and spiritual
landscapes. His first three albums for Six Degrees (Shri Durga, Maha
Maya: Shri Durga Remixed, and Krishna Lila) reflected the junction of
modern recording technology and Indian classical traditions, and they
subsequently became contemporary world music classics. Sabbah demonstrated not
only that non-Western themes could be integrated into the main body of a song,
but also that they could dictate and comment on its melodies, rather than simply
be overlaid as an exotic augmentation or texture. Consequently, these outings
have stood at the pinnacle of thematic and compositional unity for awhile.
On Devotion, Sabbah has developed his approach toward integrating
traditional and modern musical sounds to an even higher degree. He avoids using
obvious grooves or mechanized beats as a way of bridging musical ideas that
seemingly are incompatible. Instead, he follows an understated path by blending
sounds with levels of deftness and fluidity that allow him to avoid having to
make jarring transitions between passages. In every instance, there is a
seamless fusion between the found and captured sounds and Sabbah’s own textures
and mixes. His new compositions are well-considered, and they contain an edge
that is both physical and intellectual. Thankfully, he never once veers into the
vapidity of new age music or indulges in the limitations of techno.
Although Sabbah’s first three, Indian-influenced albums focused on mythology
and music from the Hindu tradition, Devotion contains a scope that is
much wider because he also incorporates calls to prayer from Sikhism and Sufi
Islam. One can only hope that Sabbah’s subject matter doesn’t scare away
potential listeners. It would be a shame if it did. While each of Devotion’s
compositions is based upon holy music, these truly are songs that can be enjoyed
anywhere — from a quiet meditation hall to a noisy club on a Saturday night.
In an age where such sentiments have become far too rare, Devotion is
a joyful, delightful call for religious and cultural tolerance. Avoiding the
shallowness of much of the world electronica oeuvre as well as the stuffiness
and overly earnest ambience of many world music discs, Devotion is a
remarkable achievement. Through an album that is beautifully mixed and recorded,
Cheb i Sabbah has proven once and for all that there is a place for warm and
intelligent dance music. For those who have struggled to find a way of dipping
their toes into this delightful slipstream, Devotion is a truly wonderful
place to start. 
Of Further Interest...
Gaudi / Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan - Dub Qawwali
Habib Koite - Afriki
Tinariwen - Aman Iman
Devotion is available from
Amazon.com. To order, Click Here!
For Canadian orders, please
Click Here!
For UK orders, please
Click Here!
Ratings
1 Star: Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!
Copyright © 2008 The Music Box
| 
