Eddie Quarless, the legendary musician, arranger and producer, passed away on September 1 in New York.
He made his living playing, recording and arranging music for almost half a century, leaving an indelible imprint on the worlds of calypso, soca and steel pan in Trinidad and New York. Last summer, the authors were fortunate to catch up with Quarless in Brooklyn Metro panyard where he reminisced about his life and music.
Born in 1952 in Santa Flora, Quarless grew up in the St Michael’s Home in Tacarigua where his mother worked and he received his first exposure to music and training. “I wanted to play trombone but they thought it was too big. So they put me on clarinet, and they taught me to read music at the tender age of 11—hymns, marches, John Phillip Sousa, and light classics, everything!”
Quarless showed great musical promise and at the age of 11 was invited to join the police band where he doubled on clarinet and saxophone, dabbled in flute, and began to learn the art of arranging. He got his first big music break: “I was 17 years old. They discovered me and carried me into Kitchener’s tent.”
Over the ensuing years he played tenor sax behind calypso legends Kitchener, Melody, Stalin and learning from the charts of renowned arrangers Art DeCoteau, Ron Berridge, Clive Bradley, and Frankie Francis. He was first exposed to jazz played by a trio with Kitchener himself on acoustic bass.
In 1976, after seven years honing his playing chops and arranging skills in the calypso tents, Quarless toured to New York as the musical director for Lord Shorty who had a huge hit with the early soca song, Sweet Music.
But the allure of American music, especially jazz, proved too strong for Quarless and he abandoned the tour: “I wanted to come to America all the time….So I did all those tours and came to New York and I hopped off. I stayed here for 17 years (before returning to Trinidad). Just going around and meeting jazz players and all that stuff, playing my sax.” He gigged whenever he could, playing with various jazz, calypso, and Latin bands.”
Quarless played with Brass Express and other Trinidadian groups in New York, and was in demand as a session musician, appearing on such legendary hits as Arrow’s Hot, Hot, Hot, and Kitchener’s Pan in A Minor.
Record producer Rawlston Charles recognised his musical skills and gave him his first break as an arranger in New York. During the 1980s and early 1990s he worked with nearly every major calypsonian including Sparrow, Kitchener, Melody, David Rudder, Shadow, Swallow, Brother Mudada, Superblue, Explainer, and Merchant. He was at the forefront of the transition to soca music.
But his distinctive work as a saxophonist and calypso/soca arranger is only part of the Quarless legacy.
He started learning pan when he was in the police band. Back then, still a youth, he and Robbie Greenidge would arrange for Gay Flamingos, the band that later became Exodus. He remembered doing two classical pieces for Flamingos from the police band repertoire.
After relocating in New York he started playing pan with Lord Observer, regularly doing gigs in the Long Island posh Hamptons area.
He recalled going from table to table at high society parties, playing pan around the neck while Observer played guitar and sang.
A call from “Jimo” James led Quarless to a whole new role as arranger for Panorama, starting with Trinidad All Stars. In 1993, he first won acclaim when they tied for third in the finals with Pelham Goddard and David Rudder’s Dust in Your Face. “The standing ovation I received was one of the memorable moments of my life,” he recalled.
The next year he brought All Stars to second place with his arrangement of Kitch’s Earthquake. He continued to arrange Kitch tunes for All Stars for Panorama working for them through 1998.
With these successes, he entered a new phase as steelband arranger, for many Trinidad bands including Desperadoes, Harmonites, Tokyo, Birdsong, Harlem Syncopaters, Defense Force and Tokyo. In 2006 Quarless arranged Mark Loquan’s Colours Again for Carib Dixieland. Following Clive Bradley’s death, Desperadoes chose Quarless to arrange De Fosto’s Tribute to Bradley the next year.
In 2008, he worked with birdsong doing Sharing Licks and was back the next year with Thunder Coming. In addition, he was an inspiration for students at Parry’s Pan School, being the music director for many years and arranged for their panorama and music festival bands.
Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, Quarless commuted each every year between New York and Trinidad. While in Brooklyn he arranged for various steelbands including D’Radoes, Pantonics, Despers USA, Harmony, Umoja, New York All Stars, and Metro. In 1999, he co-founded and served as musical director of JahPan, a popular New York small pan gigging ensemble area that recorded two cds.
After arranging Gold for Tokyo in 2013, Quarless returned to Brooklyn last summer to work with Jah Pan and arrange for Metro before becoming ill. Eddie Quarless will forever be remembered as a master performer, arranger, and teacher who moved seamlessly across the worlds of calypso, soca and pan.
A “musical sendoff” is planned for September 12 at Metro’s Panyard, 183 Empire Boulevard between Bedford and Rogers Avenue from 8 pm to 1pm.
Session and studio musicians who want to participate should contact Frankie MacIntosh at 718-778-1504, small pan sides should contact Tony Joseph at 718-576-5500, and for other information contact Susan Montvel-Cohen at 718-496-4845 or Rawlston Charles at 917-539-3831.
• Ray Funk is a retired Alaskan judge who is passionately devoted to calypso, pan and mas. He is the co-producer of The Calypso Craze, a book/CD compilation just released on Bear Family Records. Ray Allen is Professor of Music at Brooklyn College, CUNY. He is editor of Island Sounds in the Global City: Caribbean Popular Music in New York, and is currently working on a book on the history of Carnival music in Brooklyn.
Source: Trinidad Guardian
