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Erik Zobler History:
Two-time Grammy
winner engineer, Erik Zobler, has worked with many great artists
in Jazz and R&B over the last 25 years. His credits include
legends such as Miles Davis, Al Jarreau, Jeffery Osborne, Gladys
Knight, Natalie Cole, Sarah Vaughn, George Duke and Whitney Houston.
"I
am known for creating a big, bright yet smooth pleasing sound,"
says Zobler who enjoys a 30+ year collaboration with George Duke.
He has recorded and mixed every album Duke has produced since 1983.
He has been mastering all of George's projects since 2003.
"I
also Master final mixes for albums and internet distribution. And
FOH too..." says Zobler who counts making the baddest cappuccino
north of Rinaldi in the San Fernando Valley, among his specialties!
These days Zobler
does most of his mixing and mastering at his home studio Zed.
Though Zobler has worked in some of the world's best studios (Record Plant, East West), his second home has always been Duke's studio, Le Gonk.. "George was one of the first producers with a world-class home studio. We transitioned from a vintage Soundcraft to a Euphonix 2000 which we still use," says Zobler.
Current Credits:
Erik Zobler recorded
"Hotel California" from Earl Klugh's new album, "Hand
Picked" (Release: July 30, 2013). He also just finished mixing
"32 Flavors" for Dianne Reeve's upcoming album. He recorded,
mixed and mastered George Duke's 2013 release, Dreamweaver on Concord
Records (#1 on ITunes and Amazon). "On DreamWeaver, George
mixed various forms of recording. We cut some live tracks with drums,
bass, guitar and of course, George's keys. There are also a couple
of sequenced songs, like the song AshTray where George played
everything except for a guitar part. There were a few songs that
were sequenced and then we replaced some of the parts with guest
musicians. On this album George dusted off some of his instruments
that were part of his signature sound in the 80s -- like the ARP
Odyssey and the Mini Moog. We also went back to mic-ing his Rhodes
- which we have usually recorded direct. There were special moments
while recording. The most notable to me was what became the ending
of the last song on the album -and the only cover song on the album-Happy
Trails. The song was cut to a drum loop that was programmed
to play long enough to make it through the fadeout of the song.
After the fade had repeated umpteen times, everyone except the guitar
player, Jef Lee Johnson, stopped playing. The loop kept playing
and so did Jef. When the loop eventually stopped Jef continued playing
to finish out the phrase he was playing, but instead of finishing
the phrase, he left it hanging... unresolved. I'm so glad I kept
recording. We ended up using it for the ending. It was somehow a
very appropriate ending for the album. Unfortunately Jef died a
couple of months later. He was a sweet soul," says Zobler who
will be on the road with Duke in NY, Atlanta, Florida in August.
watch Eric Zobler from Le Gonk studios
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