Is this era of the shrinking global village it is rare to make an authentic discovery a sound truly unheard from a place truly unknown. Yet that's exactly what composer, producer, multi-instrumentalist and ethnomusicologist Pascal Nabet Meyer has done with Rapa Iti: The Tahitian Choir. Both a cultural treasure and a World Beat hit of major proportions, The Tahitian Choir has elevated Nabet Meyer to the top ranks of musical explorers, bringing the soaring, majestic choral sound, and extraordinary album, and the extraordinary artist who brought it into being, it as intriguing as the music itself. Produced and Engineered by Pascal Nabet Meyer CD Mastering by Glenn Meadows @ Masterfonics Album sequenced @ APO-33.com Sound Regulator Lab All songs arranged by Pierrot Faraire All songs published by Poe Rava Music © ® ASCAP & © ® Soulitude Records 1992 / 2003 /2017 Cover Art by Bobby Holcomb Cover Art contributed by Dorothy Levy Art Direction and Design by Lisa Pearson Pascal's story recording The Tahitian Choir..... As the sun rises I stand on the upper deck of the boat, facing what I've been waiting for these last ten years, the island of Oparo known as Rapa Iti. Rapa Iti addresses itself like a great medieval castle with it's green ramparts of thick vegetation. Now I can finally see it's beauty. Many people are on the dock waiting for te boat to arrive. With the help of the captain I find Tetaria, the pastor of the village, who greets with a long and cordial handshake. He would like me to be his guest aat his family's home. While speaking, we begin a two miles walk to the village on the islands only road. I learn it's been several months since the last cargoship came. The pastor tells me how worried he was for the people who have been in need of food and supplies. After a quick shower, I'm sitting in the kitchen in front of a cup of coffee. Tetaria is asking me the reason for so long a trip to such a secluded island. I tell him that we must go back into he past for him to understand my motivations. "In 1981," I begin, "I left Paris for Tahiti after being inspired to see the islands by a Paul Gaugin book called Before and After. I spent three years in the South Pacific. During the year 1982, I met someone working for the evangelic church who told me about an island called Rapa located aa thousand miles southeast of Tahiti, the last piece of land before the South pole. While on Rapa, he said he had heard a unique choir singing in quarter-tonal voices. This raised my interest and after learning of the choir, I wanted, someday, to go to Rapa aand record them. The day did not come, however, until 1991. I was living in Los Angeles when I finally decided the time was right. I knew my first step would be to find recording equipment able to operate in 98% humidity. Through my friend Peter, I met a sound engineer who had done field recordings for the national radio broadcast during the Vietnam war. A week later I was on my way to the Bishop museum in Hawaii looking in their sound library for anu recording of Rapa's music. The latest they had was a wax cylinder recording dated 1906. The next day I landed in Tahiti. I went back to the old library and for two weeks I studied documentation regarding ethnomusicology. I learned that the population of Rapa had been thousands until the discovery of the island by thje British navigator, Vancouver, on the 22nd of September, 1791. The number dropped to less than a thousand in 1817 and fell again to 492 people in 1929. Epidemic was their holocaust. In 1963 Peruvians took most of the men back to work as slaves in the cotton fields, leaving woman and children facing their destiny. Only eight of the men ever returned. Since then the population has stabilized at about 300 people." "328 people" says Tetaria as he pours me another cup of coffee and I realize I've been talking for quite some time. Watching him fill our cups, it occurs to me that he is one of the last vestiges of an ancient Polynesian culture. The pastor looks into my eyes and says he is going to help me. The next day, Tetaria invites me to the temple. He tells me I will soon hear the "Himene" which is the name for "song" in Tahitian. As the choir begins to sing to sing, I feel as if God is happily listening. Afterwards, Tetaria asks me if it had been what I expected. I tell him it was amazing, like a dream. The following day, I am to meet the Elder of the tribe and address the Counsel of the Deacons to explain my intentions. In the common room of the village with the pastor speaking on my behalf, I tell them who I am and that I would like to record rge choir singing their oldest and most traditional songs. Songs written long before the arrival of western missionaries. After many words between the Deacons and the Pastor, the Elder stands and gives me a "oui" as an answer of approval. Tetaria tells me to give my hand as a symbol of loyalty. After a strong handshake, smiles and laughter are ever present until the day I leave the island. The recording took place in the common room of the village with 126 people singing and thousands of crickets as a background outside. The evening before I left, we had a huge feast honoring our friendship. A final toast was made to me.... "We will always be here waiting for your return, Frenchman. Manuai!"