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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, August 9, 2002

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

By Derek Paiva
Advertiser Staff Writer

 •  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)

"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."