The venue is the Mas Camp Pub, the en­er­getic, enig­mat­ic and charis­mat­ic Shad­ow (Win­ston Bai­ley) is smil­ing, dressed in his trade­mark black. He is here to do one for Thun­der­bolt Williams. His mood is light-heart­ed. He takes a cou­ple swigs on his drink and is ready to talk. I am com­fort­able. I asked the Shad­ow-whose ca­reer spans al­most four decades of hit songs-Are you com­fort­able with your ca­reer at this stage of the game? "I am hap­py," he said. "I am old­er and much wis­er." One can sense the buoy­an­cy of this great artiste whose Naked Rhythm is tear­ing up the air­waves. It is one of his songs for 2012, but he re­minds: "I have an­oth­er called Don't Mix Me Up."

I like when Shad­ow is light, he gives in­ter­est­ing in­ter­views, crack­ing you with his own blend of hu­mour, wit and home-grown phi­los­o­phy. Don't try to un­rav­el what he says, it will take a life­time. He is over the moon over his son Shar­lan's pro­duc­tion skills and an­nounces: "I feel to do an al­bum, but ah 'fraid them pi­rates." Shad­ow has waged war against these men in song...but with­out suc­cess. Ca­lyp­so judges, too, have got­ten their slaps. In 1974, The Shad­ow beat Kitch and Spar­row like a bobolee, but was made to pay his dues.

To­day he still faces the chal­lenge of get­ting past the judges.

He was left out of the Ca­lyp­so Fi­es­ta this year de­spite de­liv­er­ing Scanty Love and Land of Ca­lyp­so (a gem). Last year, much to his dis­plea­sure, he was put as a sec­ond re­serve in the se­mi-fi­nals. This ac­tion cut him worse than a knife. He told me back then: "They are putting lit­tle chil­dren in front of me." He doesn't want to talk much about these two set­backs. "You can't tell me when to leave the stage (Skin­ner Park). I should be able to go as far as I can," was all he would say. About per­form­ing in a tent next year, he is non-com­mit­tal: "Let us leave that alone for the mo­ment." This year Shad­ow was the head­line act at Kaiso House.

Facts about Shad­ow

• Came out in 1971, giv­en first shot at the big stage by Blakie (Carl­ton Joseph).

• In the ear­ly years he revered Spar­row as his ca­lyp­so idol.

• Fa­mous Quote: "Ca­lyp­so is not man­go, it should not have a sea­son."

• Ca­lyp­so Monarch 2000 sang: Scratch Meh Back and What's Wrong With Me.

• Shad­ow was born Oc­to­ber 4, 1941, in Trinidad, but grew up in Les Coteaux, To­ba­go.

• Joined Spar­row's Young Brigade in 1970.

• First big song was The Threat sung in 1973.

• Win­ner of Nacc Top 20 Song of the Year 2000.

Pro­fes­sion­al ti­tles

• Road March Monarch of Trinidad and To­ba­go 1974 and 2001.

• Na­tion­al Ca­lyp­so Monarch of Trinidad and To­ba­go 2000.

• In­ter­na­tion­al So­ca Monarch 2001.

• First artist to win both In­ter­na­tion­al So­ca Monarch and Road March in the same year: 2001 with Stranger.

• Re­cip­i­ent of a Trinidad and To­ba­go Na­tion­al Award Hum­ming Bird Medal: 2003.

• In­ter­na­tion­al Ci­ta­tions UN Hon­orary Caribbean Spokesper­son on Aids: 2001-2002.

• Ci­ta­tions from May­ors in many cities in­clud­ing: New York Lon­don, Toron­to and Wash­ing­ton DC.

• Al­bums and CD More than 45 al­bums and CDs.

Mo­tion pic­ture cred­its

His ca­lyp­so, Every­body is Some­body was the sound­track of the movie, Lean On Me star­ring Mor­gan Free­man.