robert drasnin's voodoo 2

After the amazing reception to his performance at Hukilau 2005, Robert Drasnin has spent the past year writing Voodoo 2, the long-awaited follow up to his amazing 1959 release, Voodoo.

He plans to record it old-school style, with a full compliment of musicians in a real recording studio. No basement Cubase recordings here.

Although the CD will be released by Dionysus this spring, Drasnin has to pay for the recording himself. It looks like he'll be spending $15,000 to $20,000, which, frankly, is probably more than he will make on sales of the CD (face it, Exotica is a niche market these days, and a rather small one).

He is making this record for one reason, and that is because of the enthusiasm and aloha that WE, the Exotica and Tiki fans, have shown him recently. You guys would not believe how honored, thrilled, and touched he was by the warmth showed to him and his work at Hukilau 2005.

In order to defray the cost of the recording (which he told me is going to happen "come hell or high water"), and to make this record do-able without Bob ending up deep in the red, there is a fundraiser being launched.

EDIT (March 1, 2007):

The fundraiser has ended.

The Tiki community raised about 20%-25% of the total recording budget, which amounts to several thousand dollars.

The record was made in February, 2007, and will be out this spring.

Please see Robert Drasnin's web site or his MySpace for news about the CD release.

http://www.robertdrasnin.com

http://www.myspace.com/drasnin

[ Edited by: tikibars 2007-02-28 23:00 ]

Woo hoo! Best news of the year....and last year too!

[ Edited by: ScottMcGerik 2007-03-08 06:47 ]

I donated too.....looking forward to Voodoo 2....my CD tray is trembling with anticipation. :D

I'm so excited to hear about this. I can't wait to see him perform since I missed him the last time.

Will Formikahini make it on the recording? That would be wonderful!

I just made a $250 donation. I can't wait for this to happen .... if it's nearly half as cool as the live performance at Hukilau was, it's going to be an amazing album! This is the kind of stuff that I had only dreamed about before Tiki Central was around. I feel pretty honored to be a small part of an event like this.

Thanks Hanford!!!

That is very cool!!!

We really need to support artists like Bob who have made a lifetime committment to music. This will be a historic occasion not to be missed.

See you there!!!

Cheers and Mahalo,
Jeff

Bob tells me that he has set a deadline for level three donations at February 16 (the day before the sessions begin), and for Level 1 and 2 donations at February 28.

Things are going well; Bob has finished writing and arranging the record, and has done some last-minute re-working of one of the tunes he performed at Hukilau. He's got most of the musicians selected.

Most importantly, he is over the moon at how enthusiastic the Tiki community is about this project - you guys have really made his year.

I gave, and I feel so freaking excited about this CD! wow, this is a once in a life time thing. Thanks!

Everyone - don't miss Mr. Drasnin's live performance at Hukilau 2007. Check out all the details at The Hukilau

His last performance was one of the most memorable moments of my life as well as others. He will be performing Voodoo II in its entirety.

And of course, please give if you can, help keep exotica alive.

How about releasing the video of that night? THAT could raise some cash for the VooDooII album.

On 2007-02-01 07:16, pappythesailor wrote:
How about releasing the video of that night? THAT could raise some cash for the VooDooII album.

Jeff Chenault shot the video, and I'm sure he'd be OK with seeing it out there (right Jeff?). Problem is getting clearance from all of the players, the majority of whom were pro players for hire, and might want to be paid for commercial video releases of the show. They'd be within their rights to ask for this, but it would likely suck up too much of the profits to make it worth doing (unless we sold thousands of copies, which won't happen).

Damned laws--they're always standing in my way... Well, if anybody wants to leak a copy my way, I'll send a check to your favorite charity.

But seriously, lets give James mad props for pulling Mr. Drasnin out of retirement. YaaaaaaaayyyyY!

Hi gang!

The deadline for Level 3 donations in one week from today.

The deadline for Level 1 and 2 is the 28th.

Robert Drasnin is pretty close to his target amount (thanks in no small part to Hanford), so if you were thinking of contributing, now is the time.

Just think: ten days from now, there will be a new Exotica recording out there from a classic-era artist. How cool is that? Help make it happen!

Voodoo 2 Recording Underway!

Prerecording setup was started today, Friday, Feb 17th for the recording of Robert Drasnin's "Voodoo 2". The special guests will arrive tomorrow (Saturday) to watch the actuall recording. They will sit in the room where the performance is being recorded. Here are a few pix of those involved setting up the mics in the room where Voodoo 2 will be recorded.

This looks all sooo cool.

Hope ya'll have an enchanting eve tonight!!!

History in the making?!?

Rock on!

What an exciting event!

Truly history in the making.

Definately a historic recording! I've got some photos from the 1st day of recording and some great video of the first day. I'll get those posted in the next few days. The setup was Friday, the recordings are Saturday & Sunday, maybe Monday. Robert Drasnin has hired some of of LA's top session players to perform on this.

I can say this, yesterday (Saturday 17th), we got to hear 4 of the Voodoo 2 compositions. I have to say, they are wonderful. Drasnin has kept a clear connection to the first Voodoo recording with these songs. Judging from the first set of tunes recorded, you should be able to play Voodoo and Voodoo 2 back to back without loosing any continuity. I'm about to head over for th Sunday session! I'll keep everyone posted.

Thanks for sharing the studio pictures - I wish I could be there.

I am curious - with the audience sitting in the same room as the musicians, what efforts are made to prevent incidental noises (coughing, the rustlings of clothing, ice tinkling in the cocktails!, etc) from appearing on the recording? Are coughers banished from the studio? Are those noises removed by studio technicians afterwards?

Are the audience members all wearing tiki shirts? How about the musicians?

Vern

We got to sit in on the first day of recording, and are about to head back for day two. I feel so honored to be able to sit in on something like this -- can you imagine? A new Exotica album by one of the original greats? It's surreal and wonderful.

Those of us in the studio know to be totally quiet and still. No movin' allowed, and definitely no coughing. If we want to be more wiggly, we have the option of going over to the control booth area or the hall just outside, but so far everyone has opted to stay with the musicians.

Some of the spectators are dressed up tiki, and the vocalist was wearing a very lovely dress and lei yesterday. The music, though, needs no help setting the mood -- it's fantastic stuff. Mr. Drasnin has been so kind to let us join him for this, and it's a thrill to see him so happy about this album.

The musicians are top notch -- sometimes they have to practice just a short bit of a song, and all dozen or so of them are able to just pick right up in the middle of a song, just like dropping a needle on a record. It's neat to be able to see visually exactly where the harp comes in, and where the cello comes in. There's a lot of working out details before each song gets recorded -- the musicians work out their questions about minor details about the song, and some practice run-throughs are done, and then several takes of recording are done.

The amount of coordinating that has to happen is astounding... not really surprising, I guess, but still awe-inspiring to see it actually happening. So many musicians are playing on this -- flute, cello, harp, Mr. Drasin's sax, vocals, piano, synthesizer, marimba, vibraphone, drums, bass, and two guys handling various other percussion -- and each one of them has several different ways they can approach playing it, and it all has to get worked out so that it sounds good together, and stays true to Mr. Drasnin's vision, which means a bit of trial and error. These musicans are seasoned professionals at doing just this sort of work, so it goes pretty quickly. For some of these songs, this is the first time Mr. Drasnin is getting to actually hear them come to life in full orchestral form -- until now, they've lived in his head, and on his sheet music.

You're all going to love this album, and those of you who are going to be at Hukilau will get chills hearing it performed live.

I LOVE the first voodoo LP.
when you said Sax, and synthesiser, my jax about hit the floor.
I dont recall much sax and synth in original 50's 60's exotica,
hope that doesnt detract too much.

Im crossing my fingers on this one, and hope its really good.

Jeff(bigtikidude)

Humu...your post was just wonderful....brought tears to my eyes. How exciting to be there in life to see just exactly when every instrument comes into play and really feel the music live. Pretty exciting for Mr Drasnin too...like you say finally hearing his artistic genius in full regalia. I look forward to hearing more about the recording sessions....and am looking forward to the CD. Music like this helps life have meaning. :music:

Humuhumu,
An excellent description of the sessions! By the way - good to see you and Handford at the recording! And for those worried about the instrumentation, I must say, these songs are lush and pure exotica...in the traditional old-school style. One of the most exciting things about witnessing this recording is that it is a REAL old-school exotica - done with acoustic instruments, recorded live. While I must say, I absolutely love the ambiant-chill sounds of newer exotica, this is THE original exotica. I can't repeat this loud enough, those who love the original "Voodoo" will be completely satisfied and fall in love completely with "Voodoo 2". It met and exceeded my expectations while listening to the compositions.

Pictures of the actual Saturday and Sunday recording sessions!

Robert Drasnin warming up before the session

Marimbas during a take

RD conducting

RD, the vocalist and Voodoo 2 producer Skip Heller

RD on clarinet during a song take

A view from the stage behind the vibes and marimba - Mrs. Drasnin in the back row watching.

Here is a panarama of the entire stage with all the musicians-
Back row from left: percussionists 1 & 2, drums, acoustic bass, piano, synthesiszer, vibes & marimba
front from left: harp, cello, flute (can't really see in this pic) and RD conducting.

RD working through some troublesome parts with the musicians between takes.

Just got home from LA!

Mark, Humu, and everyone else, thanks for posting all weekend, and keeping everyone in the loop.

I have tons o' pics that I will post, but I won't be able to get to it until Wednesday.

I'll write up a lil' production diary too, that I will post.

Here are a few cool facts - the marimba player is DJ Bonebrake from the punk band X. The bass player was on all of the 1970s-era Tom Waits albums. The piano player is THE top session player in LA - he has been on countless records and film scores. The synthesizer mentioned above should not be viewed as a sort of techno-electronic-Moog sort fo thing; rather it was used for things like Rhodes piano and for organ types of sounds. And for boo-bams!

The main recording was done Saturday and Sunday. Bob is going to add some extra flute, sax, and clarinet parts this week. Then Bob, Skip, and Phillipe (the engineer) are going to edit and mix. That will take about a week. They'll take a few days off before mixing to clear their heads and approach the mixes with a fresh persepctive. Should be completely done some time next week.

None of the Tc-ers were in the studio late on Saturday when the vocalist returned to do more parts. There is a lyric to the song Morrea Moonbeams. The melody is beautiful. This one is going to slay you guys. Knocked me on my ass hearig it recorded. And Alice Berry, if you're out there, you are going to adore singing this one at Hukilau!

Nice shots and diaries.
Mahalo for posting this landmark event.

You can almost see Drasnin getting younger, photo by photo.

Drasnin conducting.

The man.

DJ Bonebrake.

Jim the bass player and Peggy the cellist.

From the control room.

The festively attired Stephanie returned on day 2 for more voals, including Moorean Moonbeams, which has a lyric!

Not sure who these two are...
Anyone know?

Hanford, Humuhumu, Jeff Chenault, and Jeff's dad at the sessions.

"must... update... web... sites...."

It was truly a pleasure to be at the sessions with you all, especially Jeff, James, Humuhumu and Hanford!

Here are a few cool facts - the marimba player is DJ Bonebrake from the punk band X.

DJ Bonebrake on the new Robert Drasnin album...that's just too awesome for words...

Yeah DJ Bonebrake makes it all that more excellent.
I have sen him play vibes with 2 of his bands,
the Syncopators, and Orchestra Superstring.

Cant wait till this comes out.
Jeff(bigtikidude)

He was a really nice guy too.

We sat around and shot the breeze during the lunch break on the second day of recording.

Good mallet player also.

I was pleasantly surprised to see DJ involved with the Voodoo sessions. X was one of the first punk bands I saw live in the early 80's - bands like that never appeared in my college town, so we had to roadtrip 2 hours to Madison to see the show. In a way, D.J.'s path from punk band to exotica music sessions parallels my own personal listening preferences.

Another reason for surprise. Punk musicians generally had a reputation of being untrained musically, as a do-it-yourself attitude and raw emotions were considered to be more authentic than skilled musicianship. There are plenty of drummers who are unable to read or play the mallet instruments. I myself was a percussionist in high school - I mostly played various drums, tympani, and other instruments that you hit singularly, without actually having to learn the musical scales. Playing a marimba and xylophone were thus way beyond my skill level -- and others in my high school band percussion section were limited in the same way.

So seeing D.J. Bonebrake playing the mallets was really cool. Not only has he transitioned to exotica, but he turns out to be a real percussionist and musician, and not some guy who used used to simply banged the drums in a punk band.

Finally, I always liked how DJ Bonebrake shared the same 'DJ' initials as Elvis's drummer, D.J. Fontana.

Vern

Last call for level 1 or 2 donations - they're closing tomorrow around noon.

The record is done.

It sounds great.

No chance of it 'not happening' now...

Details are here:

http://www.robertdrasnin.com/voodoo2.html

and here:

http://www.myspace.com/drasnin

[ Edited by: tikibars 2007-02-28 23:02 ]

Any word on a release date for this yet?

Scott

May 2007!!! :)

Sweet! Thanks for the info!

Can't wait....to see my name in print! Much like Navin Johnson, I'll finally "Be Somebody!" :wink:

Scott

I am soooooooo excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Does it GET any cooler than to get to do the live show world debut of these songs at the next Hukilau!? (We got to do 5 of them at the last Drasnin Hukilau, but to get to the WHOLE NEW ALBUM's WORTH?!?!)

Still pinching myself 'til I bruise,
alice b

(And hugely crossing my fingers that maybe D.J. will get to to this show, unlike last time when the Knitters' tour precluded it, dagnabbit.)

I can't wait to see you perform again Formakahini!!! You were so great at the 2005 Hukilau. You actually gave me goosebumps!!!

Yma Sumac liked it too!!! :)

See you soon!

Cheers and Mahalo,
Jeff

I cant beleive that many people do not have VooDoo the 1st one on cd?
Hello??? thats a crime.

Jeff(bigtikidude)