I Remember

I Remember

by Wanda McCrae

I'm listening to a recording of Carib Pan Jammers playing "One for De Savannah," their 1997 Panorama tune. It's bringing back a feeling of nostalgia from the days when I knew nothing about the inner workings of the pan fraternity: the trash-talking, the womanizing, the politics, the favoritism, the controversies, or any of that. I can remember spending hours watching my '97 Panorama video and being amazed at the pannists, especially the basses. It wasn't about watching the guys... it was about the amazing passion the players showed, the marvelous music, and the synchronization of the bass players hands as they did their thing.

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Tribute To Mr. Bradley

by Andy Narell

Bradley gone. What do you say about composers when they're gone? I'm not much for speeches. But I was a fan and we were casual friends. Like everybody else I just want to throw in my two cents, say goodbye.

As far as I know Bradley couldn't play pan at all, had never even bothered to learn. But it was obvious that the guy had the feeling for steelband music. He understood orchestration and what makes a steelband swing. The thing I always loved about his music was its straight forwardness - elegant, simply stated. LIke he had enough respect for his ideas to let them stand on their own. Less is more. Make the music sweet.

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Clive Bradley - The Higher Level

by - Mrs. Merle Albino-de Coteau

As I mentioned before many people are speaking only about his association with Despers, but according to my brother Aldwin Albino they are forgetting the higher level.

Bradley was academically sound. So great was he that after being a student at the Gov't Training College and passing with distinction in his subjects he was recalled- this time as a lecturer in Mathematics. He also taught Math at the Catholic Women's Teachers College where I lectured in Music. [more]

Time To Honour Clive Bradley At Museum's Entrance

Many ideas about a proper memorial are being entertained for master musician Clive Bradley since his passing. And we are sure many more will be explored in the near and further future. Mr. Bradley won a record ten New York panorama competitions among his many other accomplishments as recently reported in the New York Times. Nine of these wins took place on the Brooklyn Museum grounds. In this regard, nothing short of a life-like memorial statue and site honoring the master at the entrance of the Brooklyn Museum would adequately address this giant's significance and work.

Clive Bradley, a former educator, was internationally known and respected for his musical accomplishments with the steelband orchestras. Mr. Bradley was an advocate for academic achievement and music literacy. This intellectual's music masterpieces brought together group of citizens from many walks of life globally. His genius lay in his ability to take traditional Caribbean folk music laced with African motifs and arrange it in a manner that challenged, and many times surpassed the greatest musical compositions ever written. And all the more remarkable that all this was written for, and executed on, the unconventional steelpan family of instruments.

Clive Bradley's life and music have impacted, do and will continue to, impact on the world. It changed the world and improved the quality of life for all who heard it. Moreover, his music will impact on those who will change the world in the future. [release]

The man who helped shape the musical direction of Panorama.

(PANMEDIA FEATURES):- His preferred drink is rum and coke though he sips a beer in the pan tent this particular night. Standing a slight five feet three inches in sandals, he peers through round, brown glasses. Cigarette smoke punctuates every word of his flat, nearly monotone voice. And while he engages in lively repartee with band members, he does not tolerate skylarking. "You are losing concentration," he warns an embarrassed double second pan player.
It's now abundantly clear that Clive Bradley takes his music seriously. At 46, he is the only winner of four Panorama championships and believes he was robbed of three others. Perhaps as much as anyone else. Bradley is responsible for Desperadoes supremacy among steelbands today.
Yet, there is no arrogance, no boastfulness, just the quiet confidence from a competitive edge secured. "When you have been doing this as long as I have," he tells a writer in Brooklyn, New York, "you figure out the formula." But 14 years after Desperadoes lured him up "the Hill" to arrange "Mr. Walker," steelband music may lose his abundant talent to high technology.A month ago, Bradley graduated from New York's Technical Careers Institute where he studied computer design and digital technology. The creative promises of this technology in the recording studio excites his musician mind. Wider career choices and the promises of a long elusive lucrative career now seem possible. "I have never been committed to one career path," says Bradley. [more]

ogun lives on - for Clive Bradley

ogun lives on

for Clive Bradley [1936-2005]

Veteran Steelband Arranger

Dr. Roi Ankhkara Kwabena

was up spring flow road

we met and it was raining

sxango was peeling. So

we sheltered under a mango tree

discussing heritage issues

both adamant of the need

to protect the arts for prosperity

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