Rebecca – A Carnival Symphony

Global -  “Rebecca” – A Carnival Symphony

Listening to Desperadoes perform Clive Bradley’s arrangement of “Rebecca” never gets stale. The opening statement continues to capture the soul. That spellbinding run at the end of the introduction is always exhilarating. The passage where the basses play a line from the verse of the calypso and the tenors answer with the chorus refrain “Rebecca drink de ting”, while the double seconds strum hauntingly beautiful chords is timeless. When the trebles punctuate the last line of Superblue’s road march  “high, high, high”, setting up an extraordinary reentry of the introduction, which now serves as the ending, we are reminded of the power of art.

Bradley transforms Superblue’s story about a girl that loses all her inhibitions on carnival day into an orchestral masterpiece. All the voices move with independence and integrity, creating a stunning tapestry of sound. Playing with finesse and power, the legendary Desperadoes hug every phrase. And for nine triumphant minutes Bradley and “de Band from de Hill” take the song through a series of breathtaking variations.

 “Rebecca” is a carnival symphony. Yet despite its sophistication, the arrangement never sounds highfalutin. In “Rebecca,” there’s bacchanal music and concert music, music for locals and foreigners, for artists and scholars, music for the people, music for life.