joint pop

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The First Family of Trinidad and Tobago music!

Patriarch of the Blackman's - the late great Ras Shorty I - is universally accepted as the 'Father of Soca Music' which he forged in the 70s by fusing traditional Calypso with Soul and East Indian music. Throughout the 70s Shorty released dozens albums that captivated, while mapping the new direction of Trinidad music. Then in the 80s Shorty retreated from soca and modern urban life and made a home 'in the bush' taking his family with him. There he forged a new conscious spiritual music he called Jamoo - a captivating blend of calypso, spiritual folk, roots reggae, and jazz. He also forged in his family one of the best playing and most creative bands in the Caribbean called The Love Circle.

The baton of leadership of The Love Circle was passed to Sheldon Blackman on the death of his father, but as with each new generation, he is determined to chart his own course in the music industry. Sheldon Blackman is a lead vocalist who plays lead guitar, bass, drums, congas, percussion, and the tenor pan. From conception music has been an integral part of his life.

On the basis of sheer talent, any of The Love Circle's members could probably have gone at it alone, and a few of them (Abby, 0 C) in fact did. But Sheldon emerged early on as the heir apparent, a beatific dreadlocked dauphin who wielded the guitar and belted out his own compositions with authority, in a voice that recalled both Eddy Grant and Steel Pulse's David Hinds.

Performances:

Hundreds of performances all over Trinidad and the Caribbean
World Beat Trinidad 1999 along with Hugh Masekela, Baba Maal, Tito Puente and David Rudder.
CME Music Expo January 2002
Gospel Fest Barbados 1999
Concert for the Dalai Lama Trinidad 1998
Aristocratic Manor, New York 2000

Awards:

Hundreds of performances all over Trinidad and the Caribbean
World Beat Trinidad 1999 along with Hugh Masekela, Baba Maal, Tito Puente and David Rudder.
CME Music Expo January 2002
Gospel Fest Barbados 1999
Concert for the Dalai Lama Trinidad 1998
Aristocratic Manor, New York 2000
Belfast Queen's Festival 2002

Winner of the 2002 Marlin Awards in the Bahamas for Outstanding Ethnic Recording of the Year.
"Remember Me is as flawed and brilliant a work as there ever was - a typical first offering from a group of young, supremely talented artists. The album's 20 (!) tracks offer works dating back to 1995 including Sheldon's trademark Mr. Oppressor."