Post #193095 by tikibars on Mon, Oct 17, 2005 9:31 AM

Here's the definitive story.

When Christie asked me in December of 2004 to help her with Hukilau 2005, our first order of business was to put together an entertainment lineup. I am very passionate about keeping some of the original musicians from the classic Tiki era involved in modern events whenever possible, so I started thinking of old-timers who might be around.

Since Mr. Drasnin's Voodoo is considered a classic, and since I had heard that he performed the material once, back in 1999, I thought that he might be willing to do so again. I ran the idea by Christie, and she approved it. Since Christie has sooo much else on her plate for Hukilau, and since my Hukilau job description was to be the guy in charge of all of the bands, it fell to me to put this massive project together. I did so gleefully.

First step: I simply called Robert Drasnin up, and asked him if he would be interested.

He had some hesitation, since the 1999 show (in Minneapolis) was not entirely to his satisfaction - mostly due to a noisy audience that contained a lot of people who were indifferent to the performance taking place.

Via some lengthy explainations of what Hukilau is and who would be there, as well as explainations of my own qualifications (my career in music), I reassured him that this situation would be different. He agreed to do the show, and we proceeded from there.

As Mr. Drasnin got his scores and charts together for the band, the task of actually finding the musicians became my next big task.

Christie had become (understandably) quite excited about having Waitiki at Hukilau by this point (they were her idea, and a great idea at that), and given that all four of the Waitiki guys can sight-read music and are well-versed in the Exotica style, we decided to use them as the core of the Drasnin orchestra. They were stoked about the idea.

Then I brainstormed for members of the TC ohana who might be qualified to do the gig, and came up with Alice Berry. She was also thrilled at the idea, of course. Strangely, no one else came forward after I made a TC post asking if anyone else might want to participate. That said, I could not make allowances in quality just to have my friends in the band - every single player had to meet strict criteria in order to pass muster: friends, TC ohana, or otherwise.

Through the summer, I spent many hours on the phone with Miami/Ft. Lauderdale music schools, musician's unions, and in networking amongst freelance players, trying to find people who were suitable candidates. Liz (aka IDreamOfTiki) put up some flyers for us at music schools. Christie excitedly called me when she found a harp player outside of a cafe. That gal didn't work out, but I called a friend of hers, and then a friend of a friend of hers, and then a friend of a friend of a friend of hers... and that player ended up on stage! I should have been a detective.

Eventually, I had the whole lineup assembled, Drasnin had the scores for Voodoo I ready, and he confirmed to me that he would have five new compositions from Voodoo II ready to perform at Hukilau.

This was amazing news, because as far as I know, this is the first time that a classic-era exotica artist has debuted new material in at least 30 years.

On the Thursday afternoon of Hukilau, Mr. Drasnin met eleven on the players for the first time - the 12th was his grandson! They sat down to rehearse the material, and went through the whole Voodoo LP and the five new songs over a five-hour period. Every one of the musicians were talented, professional, and nice people.

I wish a few of them had been less expensive, but you know the old saying: "talented, cheap, and available: pick two".
So we went for talented and available!

Drasnin was pleased with the rehersal, and yes, the five new pieces were performed for the first time ever at that rehersal (hence Robert's comment at the Friday night show about "hearing them for the first time yesterday"). Previously, they had only been in his head and on staff paper.

The show itself: well you were there so I will comment no further.

Hope this answered all of your questions.

As far as Voodoo II is concerned, Mr. Drasnin would need to pay for that recording himself, so it will be some time before that happens. Based on what little he told me, I'd look for it (tentitively - this is simply my guess) in 2007. I know that he was pleased with all of the players, particualrly the Waitiki guys, and the percussionist we hired. Getting them from Boston / Miami to LA for recording is costly - but that decision is up to Mr. Drasnin.

[ Edited by: tikibars 2005-10-18 09:45 ]