Lydians celebrate Silver with Leon’s love ballad

Everard Leon has written “My Gift On Your 25th” for the Lydian Singers in celebration of the group’s silver anniversary this year. Within recent years, the Lydians have used Leon’s music at their annual Christmas performances. “At Christmas Your Heart Goes Home,” an old time favourite, was used in 2001. In 2002, Leon wrote “The Midnight Waltz” especially for Pat Bishop’s choir “in an attempt to bring the waltz back into Old Year’s night,” says Leon, an incurable romantic who composes mostly along the lines of romance.

And although his 2003 composition, sung by Wendy Sheppard, “No one should be alone at Christmas,”  was neither used by the Lydians nor recorded for sale, it has received a lot of airplay, and was one of the items performed last Friday night at the Queen’s Park Cricket Club’s Christmas candlelight concert. Sometime last year, Bishop, musical director of the Lydian Singers, asked Leon to write a song for the group’s 25th anniversary, which is being celebrated in 2004. The choir is now rehearsing for its Christmas concerts which take place at Queen’s Hall from December 16 - 18 at 8.15 pm, and on December 19 at 6.30 pm. John Jacobs has been given the task to arrange Leon’s music in up-tempo beat for the choir. And, says Bishop: “Mr Leon has been very generous in sharing his music with the choir. This is the third piece he has given us and I hope that he will enjoy it when he hears it.”

Leon  received no instructions from Bishop on the direction he should take in writing this song: “But gracious lady as she is, she hinted that I make mention of two people who were very instrumental as founding members of the Lydian Singers Jocelyn Pierre and the late Joyce Spence.” Leon decided to use a calypso theme for the steelpan and tassa drummers which have become a part of the Lydians, and he is of the opinion that the calypso flavour would enhance the piece. “I am now eagerly looking forward to the first night performance to hear what the Lydians have done with the song.”

A founding member of Dixieland Steel Orchestra, Leon started off writing poetry and would appear as guest singer on Radio Trinidad’s “Hi Neighbour” programme from time to time, with Sam Ghany and Frank Pardo. Realising that there was more to poetry and wanting to put music to words, he started to marry melody and lyrics without any formal training whatever, as he says, “I can’t read or write music. My mother had tried her best to get me to play the piano under the late Esmond Lamy, a well-respected musician in Trinidad and Tobago, but playing street cricket in Corbeau Town was definitely more important.”

It was not until his teenage years when he started to have girlfriends that certain feelings took hold and he says, “Then is when I started to write mostly ballads. I have many a song in my file at home still to be published.” He wrote his first piece “My Lullaby To You” in the late 70s, when his wife gave birth to a stillborn child. Leon, who becomes very emotional when discussing his music, talks about Side Two of  his first recording in 1987: “Hold On To Now ” was produced and arranged by Gene Lawrence, and I am now giving serious thought to having it redone.” Maybe the composer will take it to the choir which he now believes “should have happened initially with Side One “At Christmas Your Heart Goes Home” because of the warmth of the combined voices.” Leon, a sales representative throughout his life, played cricket for the Queen’s Park Cricket Club, has been married twice and is father to six.