Tanya

“Forward Home” is an original composition by the late Andre Tanker. It was arranged for Dominant Seventh  by Rellon for use as pre show music during the 2015 run of Derek Walcott’s: “Ti Jean and His Brothers” Tanker wrote the music for the play.    Forward Home is the perfect opener to this CD,  The simplicity of the folk song meets a marital, anthem-like arrangement with open jazz harmonies featuring shimmering block chords played by the horns and inventive soloing.

01 Forward Home

 “New Beginnings” is a calypso composition based on the 32 bar American song form; AABA. Literally composed in during the early hours of the morning of March 2nd 2001, it is Rellon's first complete composition. New Beginnings usually begins with an eight bar drum solo, which was done in studio and for live performances but edited to make the entrance of the band more dramatic on the cd recording. New Beginnings centers around the biblical scripture found in 2 Corinthians 5: 17-18. In New Beginnings, happy finds are there in the woven tapestry of syncopation and colour.

02 New Beginnings

“Patience” speaks of the journey of a young woman towards finding the man with whom she  is meant to spend the rest of her live with. It is a song that starts with questioning and longing but climaxes in hope and a clearer sight of the reason for the wait, as she is shaped for him and he is crafted for her. The music and lyrics for this song were composed on an ordinary day during Elizabeth's lunch break. Originally a song composed for the guitar, the feelings associated with the themes of the song are represented in the music as it moves through confusion and searching and crescendos into a place of joy, peace and certainly. 

03 Patience

“Catspraddle" A catspraddle is the local term for a very bad fall usually accompanied by the breakage of something the victim was carrying, and or an awkward resting position after the fall and sometimes injury. The use of piccolo flute is novel for calypso and it is used to symbolise the child-like abandon that often leads to a catspraddle or two in childhood. The simple concept behind the music is to get up and move on after you have fallen down. 
The music tracks an actual fall, characterised by a rapidly descending whole tone motif, bracketed first by ascending arpeggiated lines that build tension before the fall and similar but descending lines thereafter, used to characterise first the child’s immediate reaction to the fall and the plaintive recollection of faculties while calling for help. The quick change to Zouk describes the event from the parent’s perspective and the process from when the parent first hears the child’s cries and complaints. Then, the parent moves to comfort the child, dry tears, issue a gentle rebuff and soothe away hurt and embarrassment before the child darts away chasing another adventure.


05 Catspraddle

“Just The Two Of Us” comes from the pen of Ralph Mac Donald, who wrote the composition with the islands of Trinidad and Tobago in mind.  The arrangement of Just the Two of Us truly highlights the fullness of joy felt in the simplicity of time spent with the one you love. The rich addition of brass and woodwinds is reminiscent of the fullness of one’s heart in the quiet moments with their beloved. Dominant Seventh brings it a bit closer to home with more calypso rhythms and solo interplay.

06 Just The Two Of Us

“Sweet Talk” was written in 2012 and was initially an idea for a steelpan arrangement. Sweet Talk therefore uses many harmonic devices that characterise tunes written especially for the steelpan, with harmonic shifts from major to minor tonality and the use of melodic sequences and altered motifs, without however any reference to the traditional verse and chorus form of calypso. With the inclusion of horns used as direct melodic accompaniment, Sweet Talk takes the form of a lively conversation between West Indian friends, spiced with spicy picong, vehement disagreement, glorious extemporisation and hyperbolic postulation.

02 New Beginnings

Rellon Brown

Related tracks