DORIAN CHEAH

ARA

  1/  Turiya Satchidananda                       (Cheah,Laswell)               10.45
  2/  Rebirth                                    (Cheah,Laswell)               13.39
  3/  Rasa Lila                                  (Cheah,Laswell)               11.56
  4/  Coming Home (Resistance)                   (Cheah,Laswell)               12.34

          Recorded and mixed at Orange Music, NJ
          Engineering: Robert Musso 
          Second: James Dellatacoma 
          Additional Recording at Stone Soup Kitchen by Dorian Cheah 
          Produced by Bill Laswell
          Mastered by Michael Fossenkemper at Turtle Tone Studios, NYC 
          Metastation: Janet Rienstra
          Meta Support: Bella Rienstra
          Meta coordinator: Anna Nalepa
          Design by John Brown @ Cloud Chamber
Dorian Cheah: violin, sounds; Bill Laswell: bass, sounds; Bernie Worrell (2): keyboards; Hamid Drake (2): drums; Nicky Skopelitis (2): guitar; Aiyb Dieng (2): percussion; Bill Buchen (2): tabla; Karsh Kale (3): tabla; Zakir Hussain (4): tabla.

          2007 - Metastation (USA), MT021 (CD)

REVIEWS :

To the extent that Dorian Cheah views his debut recording as a deep expression of personal identity, his musical identity seems to be shaped very much by producer Bill Laswell and the sidemen here, including Zakir Hussain, Karsh Kale, Hamid Drake, Bernie Worrell and Nicky Skopelitis. Cheah’s articulate violin is a strong lead voice throughout, recalling Shankar’s own electric experiments in the Indian tradition, but his shimmering runs and carthartic highs are almost always draped in electronic effects and folded into a lush sonic tapestry courtesy of Laswell. Yes, this album is very much in the spirit of the producer’s own affinity for trance and meditation, worldly percussion, dub vibes, deep bass and occasional detours (like oblique guitar solos)— all of which makes it clear this is no New Age outing. Cheah is great, the album bears the bass-heavy stamp of a Laswell production, and the percussionists help bring the music back to its acoustic roots. Meditate at your own risk.

Nils Jacobson (courtesy of the Global Rhythm website)