ALL ABOUT JAZZ MAGAZINE
Bass Jihad
Dub Gabriel | Azra Records
By Chris M. Slawecki

Primarily written, performed, and produced by Dub Gabriel, Bass Jihad spans and touches all four corners of the world—if “all four corners” means Jamaica, India, the Middle East, and Brooklyn.

Gabriel begins this mystical electrical journey alongside Ahad Nazarzadeh-Saaz with “War in the Poppy Fields,” a panic of Middle Eastern wind and percussion instruments that drops down into—then yanks the beat back from—spacious reggae chords and echo effects.

All Gabriel’s influences—sitar, electronics, percussion, loops, and scratches—come together in “Saaz Remains the Same,” crashing waves of different musics combining in one cogent piece that is electric and fast-paced like modern life, but also echoes ancient Arabian and African, even Caribbean tribal cultures. “Rumi Go Through Me” constructs from percolating percussion, chirping electronics, sitar, and melodica another evocative soundscape typical of this set.

Along with these exotic electric combinations, Gabriel allows different individual threads to shine through, too. “Musique de L’ame” builds nimble African percussion rhythms into a soft, ambient, almost tender, trance mood. “Dis Song,” featuring Kerac and Dave Hill, Jr., is a turntablist’s dream shredded through with scratches and loops and thumped from underneath by congas and other acoustic percussion.

”Bass is the Place” and “Zooklyn” rock hard, even with their odd-time instrumental breaks and spirited vocal incantations. More funk music than world music, their coiled and thumping beats move slow and lazy but powerfully—like a panther can move. Tough stuff.
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