Andy Narell, David Rudder collaborate on regional musical tapestry

As fate would have it, US-born pannist Andy Narell and David Rudder were quietly collaborating on an album at the same time US R&B/pop/hip-hop artiste Beyoncé must have been recording her country album with its current hit song Texas Hold ’em.

The two vastly different projects have some symbolic connections. They both challenge perceived musical boundaries.

US-born pannist Narell and Rudder had collaborated on songs before, but this album in the making, Kaiso Gone Dread: the Words and Music of Black Stalin, expands their collaboration to include musicians from the French, Spanish and English-speaking Caribbean.

“I was talking to Andy one day and said, ‘We haven’t done anything together for a long time,’ and he suggested we do an album of Stalin’s music,” said Rudder.

“I always wanted to produce a great David Rudder album. In the past, I produced a couple of tracks like my version of David’s Long Time Band,” said Narell. For Narell and Rudder, Stalin had an emotional pull from nostalgia to timeless relevance.

“I’m taking a deeper dive into Stalin’s work. Now that I’m learning all the words to his songs, I’m more impressed by his poetry – his message,” said Narell.

“He lays out his arguments like a brilliant lawyer. We, the listeners, are the jury. I find the parallels between him and David so strong in terms of the message, the power and the poetry.” Keeping the roots of Stalin’s music and blending in a pan-Caribbean jazz twist was the challenge.

“The goal is to re-interpret the music – not the lyrics. We want to keep Stalin’s message and original lyrics, just present it in a slightly different way. In some cases I just phrased the lyrics differently,” said Rudder. Rudder’s vocals are much softer that we are accustomed to in the past. “It’s a more classical sound,” he said.

Narell has been busy sending tracks to Rudder and musicians to add their contributions. “David sings me a few bars on the telephone so I know what key he wants to sing in, and then I get with my keyboard and computer and try to do a track that he can sing to and make sure he feels comfortable with it,” said Narell.

A drummer from Martinique, a bass player from Cuba, a percussionist from Brazil, Narell on keyboards and pan, Trinidadian Etienne Charles on trumpet and a horn section arranged by Narell’s son Isaac surround Rudder’s voice with a musical tapestry representing the region.

“The jazz arrangements are going really well,” said Rudder. For Narell and Rudder, Stalin’s messages have no boundaries so it’s not surprising they see his music bridging musical genres. They strive to preserve Stalin’s charisma and power.

“Stalin knew the mood of the crowd,” said Rudder. “I would like to perpetuate artistes who are really relevant to our society – just give them a second voice.” Rudder most remembers Stalin’s “instant smile,” and he said Stalin had a way of drawing people to him.

“He would light up for anyone he met, almost like, ‘Look at me. Don’t be afraid.’” Stalin’s disarming smile made his messages – like Burn Dem– more palatable. Narell recalls Dimanche Gras 1987 in the Savannah when Stalin sang Burn Dem and Mr Panmaker and Rudder sang Calypso Music and Dedication.

“I saw Stalin sing Burn Dem and the crowd’s reaction was wild. He was on stage with pannist Bobby Greenridge when he sang Mr Panmaker. I found that song to have an isolationist message of protect what you created. Hold it close to you. I was on the stage playing with David when he sang Dedication, which seemed to be the opposite message.”

That night, Narell said, Stalin’s good friend, saxophonist Roy Cape, told him Stalin wanted to meet him backstage.

“After experiencing his messages that night I was apprehensive, but I found Stalin was just the warmest, gentlest, most sincere person.

He told me, ‘I have your records. I pick them up when I am in New York.’ Anything I was expecting him to be was totally obliterated.” When Narell arranged for Skiffle Bunch, he got to know Stalin better.

“His daughter was playing in the band, and he would stop by after the calypso tent. The second year I arranged for Skiffle Bunch, he offered to write lyrics for my song Appreciation. So far, the Stalin album has five tracks: the cover song, Wait Dorothy, Same Old Thing, De All Season Man and Play One. Narell is thinking about adding Burn Dem. Narell said Stalin’s 1978 album Caribbean Man should be recognised more in its contribution to early soca music.

“A lot of innovation is going on in that album. We, sitting in California, (the western US state) were learning how to play Caribbean music by listening to Cuban and Latin music and then Stalin’s album showed up and we were like, ‘We have to learn to play soca now.’” Both Rudder and Narell say Stalin’s messages of peace, equality black pride, standing up for your rights, and standing for a cause are important themes that are relevant now.

“Wait Dorothy is a great song that takes a dig about all the stuff going on in the world – and is still going on in the world – and addresses the artiste’s dilemma of going for fame or creativity,” said Narell. “His music holds up and is worthy of being played and re-interpreted. Black Stalin made a big impact, but he didn’t reach everyone. It’s really a niche audience who knew him,” said Narell. Reaching that wider audience is always a musician’s goal. Musicians cross musical genres and racial boundaries effortlessly; audiences judge and divide, as we currently see with Beyonce.

While critics accuse Beyonce of stepping into white, southern musical territory, Alice Randall pointed out in an interview about her soon to be released book My Black Country that country music is folk music with ties to Irish immigrants, poor whites in Appalachia and black artists. It’s not one sound that reflects one race. Neither Rudder nor Narell understand the criticism about Beyonce. “Ray Charles did a whole country album called Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music. It’s a classic. Ray Charles, Charlie Pride, Lionel Richie, Aaron Neville sang country music,” said Narell. “Collaboration is good,” said Rudder.

“That is what music is about – people coming together in different ways. I don’t know what the Beyonce fuss is about ” Narell remembers some flak about him, a white, jazz musician playing with Rudder, and he remembers Rudder saying, “‘When I went to California, Andy pulled out a tenor pan from 1960. That’s where I had to go to find one because no one from Trinidad had that pan.’ We decided we were going to be brothers.”

Musicians find strength in their music, and the music that inspires them and that is what Narell is mindful of in this project. “The way Black Stalin took his plight in life was like I’m going to go on stage and sing a calypso like Burn Dem. For me, it’s always been about breaking down the barriers,” said Narell. “In this life we’re living, when we pass away, within two weeks we’re just a memory, so this is a way to make sense of everything about us,” said Rudder.

Calypso and jazz fans can catch a sneak preview of David Rudder Kaiso Gone Dread: The Words and Music of Black Stalin at A Kaiso Jazz Experience! featuring The Andy Narell Group where Rudder will sing Black Stalin calypsoes on Saturday March 30, 7 pm at Sound Forge. Narell, Rudder collaborate on regional musical tapestry American jazz pannist Andy Narell and calypso icon David Rudder in an undated photo.