Saheb Sarbib - Evil Season LP / Limited reissue of holy grail free jazz

Saheb Sarbib

Evil Season LP

Deluxe reissue in an edition of 250. Includes insert w/ interview with Saheb Sarbib and exclusive pictures.

The bass, that metronome that marks the time for musicians of every style, of every era, that secluded, silent, but essential character for a band. Without the bass, the music would be deflated, the heart notes would leave a wasteland of rowdy high frequencies without any rules. But bass players who have character can elevate those low frequencies and even make them loud at times.

Who knows if free jazz, if we want to call it that, is exalted by the Arabic background, those semitones between the first and second degree that also make the bass sparkling? In his records, Saheb Sarbib elevates the bass to a mother instrument, gives it life as vibrant as the spring that is coming. Solos are on par with that of the reeds and stand up to listening without waiting for another antagonist to return to take back the scene. Take a tour of the world of Saheb!

Sarbib, born Jean Henri Sarbib, was raised in Europe. His father was Roger Sarbib, a French pianist and innovator of the big band style in Portugal in the 1940s and 1950s,who also played piano behind French singers such as Edith Piaf,Charles Trenetand, Maurice Chevalier. From 1973–1977 Sarbib led his own ensembles in France; DaunikLazro, François Jeanneau, Muhammad Ali, and Mino Cinéluwere among those who played with him as sidemen. In Europe he performed with Cecil Taylor and ArchieShepp.In 1977, Sarbib moved to New York City, where he led small groups and established the Saheb Sarbib Multinational Big Band. 

Saheb collaborated with the Portuguese avant-garde ensemble Telectu, playing several times with the duo, including the first edition of the Festival de Jazz de Lisboa. In 1989 the group recorded Encounters II//Labirintho 7.8 with Saheb. Sarbib disappeared from music in the late 1980s. He is an art and antique dealer in New York.


Personnel:

Alto Saxophone, Bass Clarinet, Percussion – Daunik Lazro
Double Bass, Reeds, Flute, Percussion – Saheb Sarbib
Drums, Percussion – Jonathan Dickinson
Electric Piano, Piano, Percussion – Manuel Resende