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New York
- My first meeting with Clive
Bradley was at Platinum Factory recording studio (Fulton Street,
Brooklyn, NY) in the early 1980s. He was working there as
arranger on a Lord Nelson project for producer Rawlston Charles.
As Clive reviewed the arrangements at the piano, it didn't take
a sleuth to detect that the man had 'chops'.*
In subsequent years we occasionally exchanged opinions on the
state of Calypso. Clive was fairly accurate at predicting
whether a newly released song would be a hit, as with Swallow's
Pepper Sauce and Explainer's Loren. "They want to wine "
he often remarked with reference to the Soca audience.
Several fans, including this writer, believe
that Clive Bradley's success as an arranger for steel orchestra
has (unfortunately) eclipsed his arranging work for conventional
Calypso band. The ability to wear both hats well, and at
once, was evidenced in 1970 when his arrangements of Margie won
road march for Lord Kitchener and first place panorama prize for
Desperados. In 1976, a Bradley/Kitchener collaboration
again bore road march fruit in Flag Woman.**
Since receiving the sad news of his passing, I have listened to
a great deal of Bradley's recorded work and concluded: "Clive
Bradley lives."
Footnotes:
* I learned later that Bradley was one of Trinidad's leading
pianists during the 1960s, with a style markedly influenced by
Jazz. This background, I believe, was brought to bear on
his pan oeuvre, notably in the areas of harmony, form, and
strong ensemble passages which could only be conceived by a jazz
improviser. Perhaps, for this reason, I hear his musical
expression as a vibrant present rooted in a golden past --- a
past which includes Bertram Innis, Vasso Defreitas, Otmar
Devlught and others. Expression which evinces a spirit of
daring.........daring to introduce novel ideas and fresh
techniques to audiences, rather than simply re-present the
familiar.
** Acknowledgement is due Mr. Les Slater for references to
Bradley's 1970 and 1976 achievements. Les is a brilliant pannist
and arranger in his own right, one whose musicianship and moral
probity I hold in high regard.
|
Frankie
McIntosh is one of the finest musicians the Caribbean
has ever produced. |
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