Adrian Raso admits he was a little nervous to see how Jason Woliner, the director of the new Borat film, was going to use one of his songs in the movie’s soundtrack, but he has to thank the franchise for inspiring him to write the song in the first place.
“It was through Borat that I discovered the music of Fanfare Ciocarlia,” said Raso. “That was in 2006. Fast forward and I am performing with them on the Borat Subsequent Moviefilm soundtrack.”
Raso agreed to license the use of his song, Urn St. Tavern, months ago but was sworn to secrecy until the film was released.
“It was a top-secret process and I had no idea how they were going to use the song,” said Raso. “The experience has been incredible.”
The release date was scheduled for April but Borat star Sacha Baron Cohen decided to release the film early on Prime to coincide with the airing of the US presidential debate Thursday evening.
There was no debate in the Raso household as to which broadcast they were tuning into.
“It is priceless,” said Raso. “I don’t want to give anything away, but I am happy and somewhat relieved with the way they used the song.”
Raso is one of several artists from the German-based record label Asphalt Tango that contributed music for the film and Balkan Gypsy brass band Fanfare Ciocarlia is featured prominently.
Their signature sound is synonymous with Borat and that has elevated them from relative obscurity in their home village of Zece Prajini in a remote area of north-eastern Romania, to international stardom.
Raso, is a big fan of gypsy jazz and was immediately drawn to Fanfare Ciocarlia’s unique and authentic interpretation of the genre.
He contacted their manager Henry Ernst and asked if they would consider collaborating on a song with him whenever they were playing in Canada. Ernst was slow to respond but nearly six years later, he contacted Raso with an offer to record a complete album of his music with the band when they toured Canada in 2012.
“It was a unique opportunity I couldn’t pass up,” said Raso. “We rushed to book time at Metalworks Studios and score my guitar arrangements for a 12-piece gypsy brass band.”
They met the band at Pearson International Airport on the evening of Sep 13, 2012 and, despite a language barrier, established an immediate personal and musical chemistry.
“It was huge departure for me and them as well,” said Raso. “They had to adapt to my western-influenced style and I to theirs.”
Raso had no problem attracting musicians to play on the album, including the multi-instrumental master session player John Jorgenson, award-winning Latin guitarist Rodrigo and Extreme drummer Kevin Figueiredo to name just a few.
By the end of the sessions they had 12 of Raso’s songs recorded for what would become the critically-acclaimed album Devil’s Tale.
“The record debuted at #1 on the World Music charts and won a number of German music awards,” said Raso. “It has a very distinctive sound that resonated with a wider audience that neither of us had before.”
The release of Devil’s Tale was followed by three successful European tours as well as a festival tour of North American. Plans for a tour of Asia in the spring of 2020 were scuttled by the COVID 19 pandemic.
When GuelphToday last spoke to Raso he was disappointed with the cancellation and not very hopeful about returning to touring or even live performances any time soon.
He had decided to focus his talents and energy toward licensing and scoring music for film and licensed his song C’est La Vie for a Russian-language comedy, Hotel Belgrade, that was released at the end of September.
That was followed by the use of Urn St. Tavern in Borat Subsequent Movie Film – Delivering of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.
Raso, loved the first Borat film and is proud to be associated with the project.
He is not concerned about all the controversy surrounding the film and hopes everyone, including his fans, will make an effort to see it.
“People are often uncomfortable with Cohen’s style of comedy, but I think he is hilarious,” said Raso.