ANDRE WHITE
BLOG 1
WITCO Desperadoes’ arranger Andre White, 21, speaks with Dalton Narine
about a few of his competitors in the 2012 Panorama
Sunday January 15:
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I visited the Renegades pan yard when I first came [from New York] to Trinidad at 15. It was an exciting moment. I didn’t know it was like that, hearing it live. It was a clear, full sound. I’ve always admired Jit Samaroo, from the Panorama videos I saw of the band. He brought more excitement than I can remember. A roller-coaster ride is the best way to describe his music.
Each arranger has a distinctive sound. For example, I’m impressed by Len “Boogsie” Sharpe’s motivic development. It’s more unconventional, even with him soloing. He turned me on to jazz and bebop lines when I played with Phase II in 2007. The pan yard was an atmosphere of pure vibes, which carried you away like ecstasy. It was a natural high.
When I think of Leon “Smooth” Edwards, Trinidad All Stars’ arranger, the image is of him commanding the band with attention and respect. I met him in 2009. I saw the discipline up close. He stays consistent within himself. He’s true to himself.
I know the history of Desperadoes and its arrangers. What I learned from Clive Bradley was how he structured his harmonies and the way he orchestrated the music. Bradley made people dance. And feel sad. He did what he wanted. He paved the way for the art form along with Jit, Boogsie, Smooth and others in the Panorama. I distinctly remember his lines in In My House, Mind Yuh Business and Picture on My Wall. But Horn is a special song to me. He took a three-note ostinato (a motif or phrase that is persistently repeated at the same pitch) and manipulated it through the whole eight minutes of the Panorama song. When he changed harmonies the bass line went with him. Like a horn thing in a kinda way. He actually had you chipping to three notes.
I’ve got to put Edwin Pouchet of Silver Stars up there, too. He changed the game as far as the entertainment aspect of the competition. Kept you entertained all through his band’s performance. Yes, he pushed it in that direction. Others may have done it, too, but he pushed it in a different direction.
After I put down the first song for the band, Pan in We Soul by Johnny King, I was satisfied with the quality of the sound. It’s Despers, you know. Later, I overhead a player telling another that the band’s in good hands with the young fella. “He know what he’s doing.” It was my first day (six days ago). You know, Rudolph Charles was the ideal manager. He treated the community with respect and he got respect. I have to draw a line in the pan yard. I don’t push my weight around. I’m not the one playing. So I have to show them respect. It’s a give and take. It’s not necessary to be leading to be a leader.
Auntie Jean (of ADLIB) worries about my diet in Trinidad. I don’t eat meat or dairy products. But I’m good and I’m up to the challenge of taking the band where it wants to go.
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ANDRE WHITE
BLOG 2
WITCO Desperadoes’ Arranger Andre White speaks with Dalton Narine
Wednesday January 18:
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A few days ago, I started laying down the music for our Panorama song, Prophet of Pan, and already we've got five and a half minutes of the 8-minute performance humming on Cadiz Road.
Visitors to the pan yard even dance along to the piece. A good sign because my intention is to touch people with ecstasy.
Auntie Jean can sleep well because I eat well and feel good about my daily experience here.
My day begins about 2 p.m., when I’m putting down music for the day crew. They admire how well I fit in with the band. My style - the approach I take with the music - has brought feedback from the band's elders, too. All positive vibes. They embrace the work, and it’s a love so far.
Expectations are high. Everybody wants to compare me to the band’s pioneers. With Bradley, for example. That’s their guy. Bradley’s a big influence on me. But I cannot be Bradley. Just as I cannot work with other arrangers. The last time I did that our band came in 10th.
Could you wake up in the night and share your dream with someone? You could describe it. But two people will never have the same story - or the same dream, for that matter. But all of that had been pre-arranged with management before the season started, and I’m happy about the resolution.
Just as I’m pleased about the way things have been going during our nightly practice sessions. Last week, we had a small side, about 20 players, and this week we’re up to 80 to 90 musicians. More and more are floating in, some from New York and London (ADLIB and Mangrove, mostly). So we'll have our complement of 120, maybe exceed that. But management says only the best will play.
No road music as yet. Perhaps after the preliminaries. And as for the Bomb [tune], that’s already been arranged by Andre Robley.
My focus is on the Panorama music. Incidentally, I’m arranging for Sforzata, also.
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ANDRE WHITE
BLOG 3
WITCO Desperadoes’ Arranger Andre White speaks with Dalton Narine
Wednesday January 25
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We’re getting there, coming close to the end of Prophet of Pan. We should wrap it by tonight or early tomorrow. I’ll put down the introduction by Friday.
The vibes in the pan yard are real nice. Guys who have been Despers players for many years are real excited. And that moves me.
The song is a good choice by management, considering my first encounter with the band. It’s a perfect start-off for a marriage.
Regarding my creative process, in the beginning, I wasn’t getting enough of me in the sound. Now, I get the right approach. The band may sound like Despers, but it really sounds like Andre White with Despers. So, in a word, the creative process is feelings. I’m painting a picture. It’s the image of what the song portrays. I’m trying to create a story.
But not in the sense of the lyrics per se. The harmonic process is creating the story for me.
The yard is packed every night. The people of Belmont are so supportive. And supporters from Laventille, too. Supporters from everywhere, they all crowd the yard. It’s difficult for spectators to get parking, especially around 10:30-11 p.m. when I return from a three-hour session at Sforzata. Even though I’m in the Despers yard from 11 a.m., the day is really not a strain.
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ANDRE WHITE
BLOG 4
Re: WITCO Desperadoes and arranger Andre White: by Dalton Narine
Tuesday January 31
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Note: Andre White is resting today following Desperadoes’ performance for the Panorama judges last night (Monday, Jan. 30) in the pan yard at Cadiz Road, Belmont, which looks out to the Savannah. The event was mostly a head count of band members and cryptic comments by the adjudicators. I spoke with Kirt Gordon, captain of Desperadoes, who has a symbiotic relationship with Andre White, having championed the appointment of White along with a nine-member committee that oversaw the search for a new arranger for the band in November 2011. Here’s Capt. Gordon’s blog about the band’s performance of its Panorama selection, Prophet of Pan.
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The judges praised Desperadoes’ introduction, but thought the jam was a trifle long. Overall, it was a great performance.
The yard was the most crowded in years. The people (and the judges) put full attention on Andre and Desperadoes.
Our intention is to win the semifinals on Sunday. We plan to keep the vibes going to get to the top. The adrenaline is pumping and we’re looking for a jump start in terms of points when the gate opens. Music from the get-go, without let up.
The arrangement is new. Sounds new. Fresh. Andre knows our style. He did a good job, which would account for success in the semis.
We have no fear. The crowd is back. Desperadoes is back.
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ANDRE WHITE
BLOG 5
WITCO Desperadoes’ Arranger Andre White talks to Dalton Narine
Sunday February 5
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When you hear Prophet of Pan on the stage tonight, the arrangement should come across as what I would sound like with a great band such as Desperadoes.
[A man sipping from a beverage interrupts, intent on making plans to resume a conversation they had together earlier. Another walks up to tell how him how grateful the band is to have him play such wonderful lines - the ecstasy that abounds in Laventille over the vibes he’s brought to the band. White is gracious to the fan, acknowledging his “feelings.”]
Is it difficult to put together music where the chorus is kind of a jam? I’ve never come across a song that’s difficult to work with. As long as the song has a motif to take the sound through phases, moods, emotions. For example, I didn’t emphasize the Prophet of Pan as Boogsie, though as the subject he is a prophet in his own right. The story is not to reframe him as a great artist - rather, it’s about the trials and tribulations of his art and what it takes to produce great stuff.
In a sense, I have a picture of any musical giant. The prophet I was thinking about was [deceased jazz trumpeter] Miles Davis.
As you see, I’m having a great experience. Who doesn’t want to hear their music with Desperadoes? But I’m not starstruck. It’s almost as if I was SUPPOSED to be here. This is family. It’s great to interact with members of the band, elders and all. Very nice to get to know them. They respect you. You respect them. And once they accept you, it seems you’re in this thing for life. A Desper.
The plan is always to win.
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ANDRE WHITE
BLOG 6
WITCO Desperadoes’ Arranger Andre White talks to Dalton Narine
Tuesday February 7
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I was in the pan yard when the decision reached me from across the Savannah through the PA system.
It shocked me. It shocked a lot of pan people in Trinidad and Tobago.
I refuse to sell myself short of what I know is real music.
I did what I was accustomed doing, but with Desperadoes behind it. That song is embedded in Desperadoes.
For those of you who stood with me and had my back over the past few weeks, I thank you for your support.
Again, I'm grateful for your comments.
Andre.
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