ArtistInfo

Jamaica Papa Curvin

dr, *1943 JM
Musician of Reggae
A.k.a. Curvin Merchant

For 40 years now Curvin Merchant, alias Jamaica Papa Curvin, is devoted to music with heart and soul. Born 1943 in Harewood, Jamaica, he shows great interest in the "Talking Drums" already as a kid. By the age of 18 he was one of the most famous drummers in Jamaica. With his first band - the "Volcanoes" - he at once kept a winning position at the legendary BAND POLL of Jamaica. In 1965 Curvin and others form the band Bamboos Of Jamaica. With them he is playing on cruisers. So it comes to the opportunity to bring the Reggae to Europe. After some months on sea he settles in Germany and in the early seventies he founds the band "Broadway" and was also a member of the band Malcolm's Locks which counts among the first Reggae Bands in Germany and Europe. He was the drummer of the backing band of Boney M. and had great influence on hits like ‘Brown girl in the ring' and ‘Rivers of Babylon'. From the early eighties on - when Reggae Music in Germany was hardly known - Papa Curvin is playing hundreds of concerts in full clubs and halls and brings the Jamaican feeling of life in every distant corner of Germany. Not in vain he is known in the Reggae Scene as "Germany`s Grandfather of Roots Rock Reggae". In the eighties Jamaica Papa Curvin builds up the "Reggae Center" in Hamburg. It includes a studio, where young musicians have the opportunity to record demos and rehearse. Until 1998 Curvin impresses with his unique performance as lead singer and drummer at same time. In addition to his countless live shows Jamaica Papa Curvin produces several LPs and CDs and takes part in many productions of renowed artists, helping building Germany`s Reggae scene. He won one of the First German Reggae Grammys in 2005 (Hamburg). In 2003 Papa Curvin moved back to Jamaica where he runs a studio producing young Jamaican artistes. He always sticks faithfully to his motto: "Peace, Love and Understanding".

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