The SUNSHINE Awards organization was founded in 1989 to recognize and pay tribute the creators, producers and performers of the various Caribbean art forms. Over the years the program has expanded in scope and depth, extending the canopy of awards to Central America, South America and Africa. This year, the 21st Annual SUNSHINE Awards will be dedicated to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

The Co-Founder of the SUNSHINE Awards Hall of Fame and Chairman of the Nomination Committee, Dr. Hollis Liverpool, said, “It is important to note that the process used to determine the nominees for awards is a very extensive one. The network of institutions, like the University of Trinidad and Tobago, cultural organizations and individuals engaged or participated in the process spans the Caribbean, the Americas and Africa. The SUNSHINE Awards organization is at the forefront preserving and perpetuating our artforms and cultural heritage. We should also never forget that through our calypsoes our stories are told and through our steel band our cultural legacy is upheld.”

The Nominees for the 2009 SUNSHINE Awards Hall of Fame are:

Anthony Emrold Phillip (Brother Valentino), for his lifelong contribution to calypso music. Brother Valentino was born in Grenada and migrated to Trinidad as a youth. He began his calypso career in the 1960s and was named “Valentino” by the Grandmaster, Lord Kitchener. Valentino is often described as “The People’s Calypsonian” because of his very quiet style and focus on the problems, hopes and aspirations of African people. He is considered one of the industry’s most prolific composers. The 1970 Black Power Uprising in Trinidad motivated him to compose many calypsoes that confront the political directorate with the cares and sufferings of the people. Today, Valentino is a household name in the calypso world. He is a master of the art with his pensive deliveries of fascinating melodies and conscious lyrics. He is above all, one of our masters who make his audience search within themselves and think about life and true justice.

Bertrand "Butch" Kelman is a master panist and tuner. Growing up in South Trinidad, he fell in love with the pan at an early age and graduated to tuning after listening quietly to the changing tones of the tenor pans in the late 1960s and 1970s. This master of the pan proves that tuning the pan is an art that cannot be sold. This skill is unique and requires a passion for the best. Butch, as he is affectionately known in the steel band community, is one of the men who inserted harmonics or overtones on various notes to improve the quality of the sound. Butch creates that harmonic magic that we love so much and listen for when we hear a steel band orchestra play.


The Nominees for the 2009 SUNSHINE Awards “Friend of the Art Award”


Frank and Claude Martineau.
Sunshine Awards organization is forever thankful to our friends in the arts, men and women who have contributed generously of their time and skill to uplift the realms of calypso and steelband music. This year, we are proud to confer the title "Friend of the Arts" on the Martineau Brothers, Claude and Frank Martineau of Trinidad and Tobago in particular, but of the Caribbean in general. The Martineau Brothers have embraced the performing arts since 1960. They have so traversed the Caribbean with their concert and show productions that they have become the foremost musical promoters in the region. Known specifically for the operations of the Spektakula Calypso Tent in Port of Spain, Trinidad, Claude and Frank have carried the art form of calypso to nooks and crannies hitherto unknown and to islands, such as the Virgins, where none before dared to tread. It can be said that there are no calypso singers in the Caribbean who have not fallen under the spell and management, of the Martineau Brothers. The Martineau brothers have promoted calypso music with a passion for the art form even beyond the boundaries of the Caribbean. They introduced world renowned foreign artists such as Michael Jackson, the Jackson 5 and Luther Vandross to the Caribbean. Claude passed on to his heavenly reward last July, but Frank continues to carry on earnestly and majestically. Accordingly, this year they are our "Friends of the Arts."

The Nominees for 2009 SUNSHINE Awards for Contribution to the Performing Arts are:

Alston Becket Cyrus. He hails from St. Vincent, in the Caribbean. Becket joined the calypso world as a calypsonian 37 years ago. He has 25 albums to his credit. His fans describe him as the “ABC” of calypso and soca music. In 1972 as a member of the United States Army, he performed in Hawaii while on the United States Soldiers’ Tour. He has six Television sound tracks in the United States and his biggest hit “Teaser” was featured on the NBC’s Tonight Show with Jay Leno. “Teaser” won him many accolades including a BMI Latin Award and a Billboard/Univision Award for the Salsa Tropical Song of the Year. Becket is no stranger to the stage in many parts of North America and Europe. In 2001 the Government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines appointed him “Goodwill Ambassador.”

Elwin McQuilkin better known as Black Wizard hails from Grenada. Inspired by his uncle, Lord Roma, (a chantwell singer in the various Caribbean islands), the Mighty Sparrow, Chalkdust and the Mighty Short Shirt from Antigua, Black Wizard entered the calypso world in 1969. He won the Grenada Road March Competition in 1988, Grenada’s Soca Monarch in 1994 and Grenada’s Independence Calypso Competition in 1996. His hits, according to his fans, include, “IMS,” “Oh Grenada,” and “African Blood.” He performed on many occasions in Europe, Canada and throughout the Caribbean. He has 25 albums to his credit.

William Elcock of Grenada known in the calypso world as “Scaramouch”. Scaramouche, known to calypso lovers as “Scara,” entered the calypso world in 1952. He was a member of the Original Young Brigade Calypso Tent where he performed with the Mighty Sparrow, Cristo, Spoiler, Young Killer and the Mighty Dougla. He is best remembered by calypso lovers for the quality of his songs and stately (tall hat, scissors-tail suits and walking stick) outfits on stage. Some of his fans describe his as “The Best Dressed Calypsonian.” Scaramouche won the Grenada Calypso Monarch Competition in 1970. His hits include, “Willful Wastes make Woeful Wants,” and “Music.” He earns his living primarily singing for the tourist. He often recalls, when in 1986, Princess Diana sent a 9-seater plane to pick him up at Grenada International airport to perform for her in Petit St. Vincent.

Armando Savaranga Crisanto of La Ceiba Atlántida, Honduras. A Director, choreographer and dance teacher, the SUNSHINE Awards organization will recognize Mr. Crisanto for his more than 40 years of artistic work, dance and music. Since 1971, Mr. Crisanto has been the Director of the Garifuna Ballet Dancers of Honduras. The Garifuna ballet dancers have been the recipient of multiple awards. The Government of Honduras also named them “The Cultural Ambassadors” of Honduras. The Garifuna Ballet Dancers represent the unique Garifuna culture of Honduras, as well as a variety of music styles that interweave the religious and folkloric characteristics of Honduran culture. Since its creation, they are fulfilling the task of promoting the distinctive Garifuna culture of Honduras by contributing ethno-artistic work at the national and international level.

Eulalia Bernard-Little hails from Costa Rica. She is a writer, poet, diplomat and educator, and was born in Puerto Limón of Jamaican parentage. Ms. Bernard-Little is considered one of the main figures from the Central American Caribbean literature and a renowned advocate for women and minorities. She has served as an Afro Caribbean literature professor in universities at the United States of America and Canada. She is the former head of the Department of African-American studies at the University of Costa Rica. She was also the Director of Academic Television Programming for Costa Rica’s Ministry of Public Education. Ms. Bernard-Little is well known for her poetry recitals in Spanish, English and Limon Creole. Professor Bernard-Little has served as Costa Rica's Cultural Attaché in Jamaica and as a Researcher for the United Nations in the area of Education and Africans in the Americas.
(Profile text & translation provided in part by Limon Roots Magazine)


The Ndere Dance Troupe of Uganda is a cultural development organization founded in 1984 by its current director Rwangyezi Stephen. The Ndere Dance Troupe specializes in Ugandan Traditional Music. The Troupe has a repertoire of over 40 different dances, hundreds of songs and a great variety of instruments. The Ndere African Orchestra is made up very unique and rare instruments that were played in isolation among different tribes. The Ndere sounds originate from the rare strings of Adungu, the Endingidi, the Zither or the Entongoli combined with the haunting winds like the Ndere, the Enkwanzi and the Agwara, tickled by the melodic percussions of the Amadinda and Akogo against the firm foundation of the Engoma and Engalabi, can only be fathomed by listening to and watching them perform. In their 25 year history they have received multiple awards from International organizations. The European journalist often writes “When you have seen Ndere, you have seen Uganda, and when you see Uganda, you have seen Africa.”


The Best Chutney Soca Song Category

Artist Song

Samraj Rikki jai Jaimingal Leh We Go
Soca Elvis Monika
Rooplal Girdharie Aye Sajanee Peeya



The Best Soca Song Category

Artist Song

Bunji Garlin Firery
Faye-Ann Lyons Get On
Shurwayne Winchester Carnival Please Stay







Dr. Ulric Gibson hails from Guyana. The SUNSHINE Awards organization will recognize him for his contribution to Public Health. In 2008, Mr. Gibson received the University of Minnesota’s Outstanding Achievement for his contribution to public health. According to the University of Minnesota, he helped to solve the world’s thirst by helping to bring safe, clean water to much of the developing world. Dr. Gibson graduated from high school at age 13. He was a student at Queens Royal College where he won a scholarship to study civil engineering at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. After graduating with honors he returned to Guyana and worked in the water department in Public Works. In 1961 he won a fellowship to attend the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. In 1966, the United States Agency for International Development commissioned the University to write an instructional manual on water wells. Dr. Gibson was selected to lead the project and became the primary author of the “Water Well Manual”. This manual is currently used by families in developing countries around the world to create their own source of clean drinking water. After completing his PhD, Dr. Gibson returned to Guyana and founded the Guyana Water Authority which brought running water, for the first time to homes in Guyana. (Profile text provided by University of Minnesota)

Gil Figaro, Sr, the Chairman and Founder of the SUNSHINE Awards said “I wish to thank Dr. Hollis “Chalkdust” Liverpool, the Co-founder of the SUNSHINE Awards Hall of Fame and his network of participants and contributors for their dedication and commitment to the identification and research of the unsung heroes of our art forms. This year puts us on the stretch to a quarter century of recognizing our talented cultural exponents from the Caribbean, Central America, South America and Africa. We could not get this far without their determination to bring attention to the performing arts and their passion for how we do it. My congratulations to all the nominees. All of you bring joy to our lives; you tell our stories and history in song and music, because of you we stand tall among the world’s various performing arts. Every member of the SUNSHINE Awards Organization is proud of you. Every supporter of the organization is also proud of you and so, on behalf of all of them, I thank you.”

The 21st annual SUNSHINE Awards will be staged on Saturday October 24, 2009 at the AXA Equitable Center, 787 Seventh Avenue at 51st Street in New York City. The program will begin at 6:00pm with a cocktail reception followed by the presentation of awards and live show. The program will be hosted by Gayelle’s Television Producer, Host and comedian, Errol Fabien and Radio Talk Show host and comedian, Nikki Crosby.