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Label: Island Records (US)
Country: US
Fusing Eastern and Western classical influences with elements of ambient, dub and hip-hop, Jah Wobble has created a truly brilliant pancultural concept album. The title track opens the LP with a near-orchestral range of dynamic emotions centered around Zi Lan Liao's vocals and violin, Kui Hsuing Li's soaring bamboo flute, and Wobble's percolating tribal drums. "A Love Song" is a hypnotic dub track showcasing the vocal talents of Natacha Atlas, whose Middle Eastern melody lends a sultry feel perfectly matched by the sensual bassline. Bill Laswell lends his distinctive touch "Gone to Croatan" and "Hit Me," which perfectly match hip-hop beats and turntable wizardry provided by DJs DXT and Rob Swift with Pharoah Sanders' mind-bending flute and horn solos and Bernie Worrell's synth textures. But the piece de resistance is "Om Namah Shiva," which combines Najma Akhtar's nimble vocal calisthenics and Inder Matharu's dazzling tabla rhythms with programmed percussion and Wobble's botton-end bass wallop to create highly effective world/dance track. Laswell himself calls Heaven & Earth "the best thing Jah Wobble has ever recorded. Who are we to argue?AMG
Credits:
Justin Adams: Guitar, Vocals (bckgr)
Natacha Atlas: Vocals
Jerome Brailey: Drums
Aiyb Dieng: Conga, Gong
D.X.T.: Turntables
Mark Ferda: Keyboards, Vocals (bckgr), Engineer, Drum Programming
Bill Laswell: Producer
Kui Hsuing Li: Bansuri, Erhu, Don Shui
Zi Lan Liao: Vocals, Ku Cheng
Inder Matharu: Tabla
Neville Murray: Conga, Bells
Robert Musso: Engineer
Najma: Vocals
Pharoah Sanders: Flute, Sax (Soprano), Sax (Tenor)
Nicky Skopelitis: Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar
Rob Swift: Turntables
Jah Wobble: Bass, Percussion, Bass (Electric), Drums, Gong, Keyboards, Producer, Bass (Acoustic), Orchestration
Bernie Worrell: Synthesizer, Keyboards
Tracklisting:
1 Heaven & Earth (8:41) Featuring - Mark Ferda , Zi Lan Liao
2 A Love Song (7:23) Vocals - Natacha Atlas
3 Dying Over Europe (3:11)
4 Divine Mother (11:12)
5 Gone To Croatan (15:30) Co-producer - Bill Laswell Featuring - Aiyb Dieng , Nicky Skopelitis , Pharoah Sanders
6 Hit Me (7:42) Co-producer - Bill Laswell Featuring - Pharoah Sanders Scratches - DXT
7 Om Namah Shiva (4:47) Featuring - Justin Adams Vocals - Najma Akhtar