Saheb Sarbib, It Couldn't Happen Without You

[Eloe Omoe]

This Soul Note record, "It Couldn't Happen Without You" (SN 1098), recorded in 1984 under the leadership of the mysterious bass player Saheb Sarbib, is very good. The band is hot (Joe Lovano, Joe Ford, Pete Chavez, saxophones; Kirk Lightsey, piano; Sarbib, bass; Rashied Ali, drums) and the tunes, mostly by Sarbib except Trane's "Crescent" and "You Don't Know What Love Is", are quite interesting. Nice hearing Ali in an almost "mainstream" setting.

I wonder where Sarbib has gone. I have soma other LPs under his name (another Soul Note w/Mark Whitecage and Mel Ellison on saxes, and a couple for Cadence Jazz, one of which has Frank Wright aboard), but he seems to have disappeared into thin air. That's a shame, since he was a very talented guy. If I remember well, nobody knows where he was from - Nat Hentoff suggests North Africa - or what is his real name).

But this record is strongly recommended.