Old Time Days (arr Desmond Waithe) — our latest virtual choir performance

by Caroline Taylor on March 19, 2022 in News

A still from the Marionettes’ virtual choir performance of Old Time Days

Freshly uploaded to our Facebook Page and to our YouTube channel: our second virtual choir production, a performance of the Trinidad & Tobago classic, “Old Time Days”, from a brand new arrangement by Desmond Waithe, and originally composed and performed by Richard “Nappy” Mayers.

Where to watch

Click the links below to watch…

on FACEBOOK
on YouTube

A special dedication to Desmond Waithe

This performance is specially dedicated to our beloved Desmond. ❤️ Des has been part of the Marionettes since 1980 — first as an arranger, then chorister, soloist, and cuatrista.

The Marionettes rehearsing in Llangolen, Wales, 1981

Last year, when we told him we wanted to build on the Forward Home concert, where the second half was a celebration of his local and regional music arrangements, he had one request.

He had just finished an 8-part arrangement of this Richard “Nappy” Mayers classic, “Old Time Days”, and he wanted us to sing it. Now, anyone who knows Desmond’s music knows how complex both his harmonies and polyrhythms can be, especially for voice. He also tends to update his arrangements on the fly once he hears them…

But this was the height of the pandemic-related State of Emergency, so that getting together to learn it for the first time (and for Des to revise it!) was simply not an option. But we persevered over the subsequent months, with “100 visions and revisions”, as TS Elliot once wrote — learning, recording, (re)orchestrating, re-recording, mixing and re-mixing, editing and re-editing… You get the idea (and if you don’t, the bloopers will help!).

So here we are: presenting a labour of love, inspired by and dedicated to our dearest Desmond, and remembering so gratefully all the years, all the music, all the love, and all the joy. Always and forever. ❤️