Honolulu Advertiser on Dj Cheb i Sabbah

[Guest guest]

San Fran-based DJ Cheb i Sabbah is master of mixing ethnic beats

By Derek Paiva

Advertiser Staff Writer

"Right now I'm compiling some stuff to take to Hawai'i,"

said Algerian-born DJ Cheb i Sabbah from his

San Francisco home earlier this week. "I don't

spin vinyl. Most of my stuff is on CD. So instead

of carrying 800 CDs, I compile all of the tracks

that I like. I just finished one I call 'Dub of

Asia' ... all Asian dub music."

At 54, a spinner of Arabic, African and Asian

beats for 22 years and a DJ for more than 38

years, Sabbah will bring his global transcendental

trance music tastes to Honolulu, the Big Island

and Maui for a series of club events. Sabbah has

held down a much-attended and much-respected

Tuesday night residency at Bay Area nightclub

Nickie's for almost 13 years with his collection

of international dance grooves.

 

"We call our night Tuesday Night Church," said Sabbah,

attempting to describe his longtime residency, which

typically attracts a cross-section of the city's

many cultures. And the club show he'll be bringing

here? "I call it Triple A ... Asia, Arabia and

Africa. And within that, traditional music to music

from today."

 

Sabbah has also made a career of recording master

musicians from around the world and laying down his own

beats and rhythm loops over their music to produce a

series of well-received artist albums. His most recent

CD, "Krishna Lila" features bhajans (devotional songs)

and instrumentals from India's northern (Hindustani)

and southern (Carnatic) traditions.

 

"But on the dance floor, I play everyone else's stuff,"

said Sabbah. "Of course, stuff I like. When I spin, you

might hear an underground South Asian drum and bass piece,

and the next song could ... be an African piece. That's

what I think makes my style different."

 

• DJ Cheb i Sabbah

8:30 p.m. today

 

Hawaiian Hut, Ala Moana Hotel

 

$12 (21 and older);

 

$15 (18-20)

 

955-4811

 

9 p.m. Monday

 

Wave Waikiki

 

$8 (21 and older); $10

 

(18-20)

 

941-0424

 

Also: On Maui Thursday, Casanova, (808) 572-0220); On the Big Island Aug. 16,

Shooters (808) 969-7069)