Sa-ra Creative Partners

Following on from their production work for Heavy D, Pharoahe Monche, Bilal, Dr. DRE, Jill Scott, Jurassic 5, Erykah Badu and many others, the SA-RA Creative Partners will release a full-length album on Ubiquity Records. You may already own some SA-RA Creative Partners productions, or maybe you have heard tracks from one of their highly sought-after CD-rs, either way a deal is now done and the first ever SA-RA Creative Partners album in the works for release in early 2005. Creating a huge buzz worldwide before any of their own solo work has officially been released SA-RA Creative Partners have already appeared on LA’s Power 106 with Sway and Tech, recorded a live session for Gilles Petersons “Worldwide” show on BBC Radio 1, been interviewed on Radio 1Xtra in the UK and asked to play alongside Ninja Tune act Ty on his US tour in addition to live and DJ shows in LA and New York. | Pronounced "Sah-Rah", Om'Mas Keith, Taz Arnold, and Shafiq Husayn comprise the partnership and their name translates to "the off-spring of the most powerful energy in the universe". These are children of the cosmos, ready to blast you with their magical mystical soul. “There is something powerful about the Number 3. A triangle is architectures most structurally sound shape,” explains Taz. “And there is a sense of brotherhood among us, the strong sense of purpose we all share in our desire to cleanse the proverbial palette of music!” he adds. It’s an overused phrase that a band has a unique sound. But in SA-RA Creative Partners the three minds combine to make something that is definitely new, something twisted, a sound you have not heard before. It’s soulful but not limited by the neo soul tag, it’s hip hop but of the bugged-out other-worldly kind, it’s instantly catchy but not commercial, and it’s edgy but according to the list of high profile artists requesting their production services it’s got wide-spread appeal. A joke has been circulating (started by label mate Waajeed of Platinum Pied Pipers who introduced the act to Ubiquity) that the bands signature loose, natural sounding, swinging beats are a bi-product of music making whilst watching TV or using Playstation. “Right! Yeah the TV might be on, or there might be an ill drum kit, or a bass chop, or a freak in the studio shaking her ass. Nuff Said!” explains Shafiq. The band are all avid music collectors and beat diggers but Shafiq boasts the largest stash, “Without digging the SRCP sound would be totally different,” he says. “Digging is a scholarly activity, in my opinion. It requires great attention to detail, and through continued activity creates within one a great knowledge of music and sound. It also involves a lot of reading. Liner notes and credits provide a wealth on knowledge for both the novice and advanced crate digger.” Formed in 2000 SA-RA Creative Partners were brought together by music. With a love of hip hop, jazz, soul, funk and a heavy dose of Steely Dan (honestly!) the trio had common influences and were united in their vision to do something new, to make the kind of music they wanted to listen to. Their collective creativity is not limited to studio production, these cats can sing, play, rhyme, DJ, and their live show is a burlesque-flavored attack on all the senses. Before the trio met they were already busy music business individuals. Taz Arnold was managing and producing artists like Hit Man and Major (which saw him involved in the six times platinum DR.DRE 2001 album) and scoring distribution through Aftermath/Interscope. Om’Mas was Studio manager and designer for a NYC based British Ad Firm. He also mixed records for platinum and multi-platinum artists like 8 Ball, Mobb Deep, and Foxy Brown and was involved in production with Suave House and as a Universal staff producer For JMJ Records. Shafiq has a heavyweight production resume that includes work for Ice -T, Lord Finesse, Jesse West, Grand Mixer DXT, plus remixes for Prince and Duran Duran, and work on numerous soundtracks including New Jack City and Thicker than Water. Bouncing from coast to coast (Taz and Shafiq are based in LA, Om’mas in Queens, NY) the three have a busy schedule balancing recording an album with remix and production work. Most recent clients include Common and Jill Scott, and deals are in place/in the works for Roberta Flack and Jennifer Lopez. Om’mas explains the bands philosophy when it comes to approaching projects with greatly differing scope, “We are going to bridge a gap between both worlds, and keep both sides happy. No discrimination is our policy, we want Coldplay fans and Daedelus fans, 50 cent fans and Madvillain Fans. It's easy to comprehend, just listen,” he says. Asked whether any of their superstar clients will appear on the record Taz replies “Maybe we'll have ‘em all? We can’t really guarantee anyone’s services right now. But we've worked closely with all of them.” He adds, “We definitely won't be at a loss for creativity and the album will definitely feature songs with our artist Irisna Gayle, and formidable offerings from our group SA-RA.” After a forthcoming 12" single release of the fantastic "Glorious" and "Rosebuds" tracks on ABB, Ubiquity will release SA-RA Creative Partners tracks on a Japanese-only comp, on Volume 4 of the Rewind series, a SA-RA Creative Partners 12” or two, and a completely new album due to drop in early Spring 2005.