My companion, Joe Benjamin, who has died aged 88, was a gifted musician and an activist.
In the early 1960s, in his native Bermuda, he started out performing as Joe “Conch Shell” Benjamin at the 40 Thieves nightclub in Hamilton – a calypso singer and balladeer, he appeared with his steel band on the same bills as Marvin Gaye, Cilla Black and Dionne Warwick. He had been greatly influenced by the American jazz musicians Don Shirley and Joe Williams, and subsequently shared performances with the latter at the club.
