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Row brews over Bradley’s music

By Joan Rampersad


Anne Asenia, former wife of deceased arranger Clive Bradley, is poised to retain a private attorney to protect the property of her children Kelly-Anne, Kerwin and Karen Bradley, heirs of the arranger. Talk around the pan circles is that a German woman, going by the name Frauker has indicated her interest in scoring all Bradley’s musical arrangements to date. Frauker, who lives in Amsterdam, Holland joined the Witco Desperadoes band in 2004 and on hearing that the band’s management was embarking on a project to score all of Bradley’s arrangements for the band this year, approached them to do it.

Newsday subsequently contacted sponsors WITCO where Danielle Chow, Corporate & Legal Affairs Manager ,referred Newsday to the Despers’ current manager, Dr Finbar Fletcher, with respect to the ownership of musical scores of the renditions produced by the arrangers contracted by the West Indian Tobacco Desperadoes Steel Orchestra. She said that the terms upon which these parties are contracted are handled by the Management Committee of the band. Chow added that in their 40-year relationship with the band they’ve maintained a support role to the band in order for the latter to achieve its objectives. She said that whilst as partners they have maintained a close relationship, issues of this nature are internal to the running of the orchestra.

Band manager Fletcher confirmed that management had undertaken to score all Bradley’s music as their main project for this year. And when asked about the job going to Frauker, he told Newsday that Frauker asked to do it, but they had already called on assistant arranger of the band, Chantal Esdelle, to work on the project, and Frauker would help Esdelle. Asked about who the music belongs to he said that it belongs to the band and was paid for by the band. As regards the copyrights of the scores, COTT’s CEO Allison Demas said that only the original composition is registered with her organisation and for Despers to carry out their project they would need permission from Bradley’s heirs and the various songwriters.

When told that the arrangement was paid for by the band Demas said that it was not just a matter of payment. “There must be a written agreement where the arranger must transfer rights to payment for dollars,” she added. When contacted on Thursday, Asenia said she had heard nothing before of the Desperadoes project but stated that if the band was scoring Bradley’s music, the family must have an input in it. “The kids are adamant about their father’s things not dying with him. The children are the sole heirs, they are adults and educated and anything that they (Despers) are doing, the children want to be part of it,” Asenia ended.

http://www.newsday.co.tt/stories.php?article_id=33915

If they are indeed going to score Bradley's music, that would be a beautiful thing. The beauty of his arrangements for Desperadoes, Tonics, NuTones and the other bands he has arranged for needs to live on and be studied by all students of the art form. I just hope that bickering between the family and Despers doesnt put a halt to this worthy undertaking.