07/09/2024
Remembering the passing of the great gold Jamaican/Cuban legend musician like the trombonist the great Emmanuel "Rico Rodriguez Mbe".
The son of a Cuban father and Jamaican mother, he grew up in Kingston and was an unruly child. His despairing mother sent him to the Alpha Boys School, an institution run by Catholic nuns under the leadership of Sister Mary Ignatius Davis.
Though he occasionally played truant, he thrived on the regimen of music and more formal classes and forged friendships with future members of the Skatalites, in particular the trombonist Don Drummond, who mentored him.
He was a pioneering Jamaican trombonist, best known for his membership of the Two Tone group the Specials. Rico played on many of the earliest ska records, and released the classic instrumental album Man From Wareika in 1977. He was also a longstanding member of Jools Holland’s Rhythm and Blues Orchestra.
Born in Kingston, to a Cuban father and a Jamaican mother, Rico spent his formative years in the heart of the city on Mark Lane, a cramped warren of dilapidated housing. His mother struggled to manage, and in 1940 Rico began attending Alpha boys school, the Catholic charitable institution that trained several of Jamaica’s most noteworthy horn players.
From 1952 until 1954, he worked as an apprentice car mechanic, but subsequently furthered his musical education at Stony Hill Industrial school. In addition to playing with the Eric Deans Orchestra, and winning prizes in local talent contests, between 1957 and 1961, Rico worked for every producer of note in Jamaica.
He is featured on Theophilus Beckford’s proto-ska hit Easy Snappin’, and Clue J and His Blues Blasters’ influential Shufflin Jug for Clement Dodd, the Folkes Brothers’ landmark “Oh Carolina” for Prince Buster, Derrick Morgan’s “Lover Boy” for Duke Reid, and his own Rico’s Special for Randy’s.
In 1958, he settled in the Rastafarian encampment established by Count Ossie in the Wareika Hills on the eastern edge of Kingston, and this yielded a number of impressive singles with Rastafari themes, issued by Harry Mudie. The wild jazz jams held regularly at the camp allowed Rico greater freedom of expression, and helped him take his playing to a higher level.
In December 1961, he left Jamaica for Britain, where he began recording for Chris Blackwell, founder of Island Records, and Jamaican expats including Laurel Aitken.
He played on the hit “Wash Wash”, which Prince Buster recorded with Georgie Fame, and backed Buster on live appearances around Britain. He featured on numerous reggae hits recorded in Britain, including Dandy Livingstone’s 1967 epic “Rudy a Message to You”.
Two Rico albums surfaced in 1969: Reco in Reggae Land was a Don Drummond tribute, using pre-recorded rhythms produced by Bunny Lee in Jamaica; the artistically superior Blow Your Horn featured the Brixton-based Rudies band, its original material giving a better sense of Rico’s musical dexterity.
Rico subsequently joined the Undivided, fronted by a Jamaican expat, Gene Rondo; the group’s debut album, Listen to the World, was issued by Decca in 1973.
Rico continued an active career as a session musician thereafter, but had to do manual work to survive, including gruelling night shifts at Ford’s Dagenham car plant.
By his late teens he was working as a car mechanic while moonlighting with a dance band led by the alto saxophonist Eric Deans. Winning first prize on the RJR radio contest The Vere Johns Opportunity Hour, he began recording for most of the sound system operators-turned-producers, including Clement "Coxsone" Dodd, Duke Reid, Randy's, Vincent Chin and Harry Mudie.
Though he contributed to popular releases by Laurel Aitken, Theophilius Beckford, Clue J & His Blues Blasters, the Folkes Brothers and Derrick Morgan, he was drawn towards Rastafarianism while spending time in the Wareika Hills with Drummond and the drummer Count Ossie.
At the end of 1961 he travelled to London, where he played with Georgie Fame and made records for UK-based producers such as Sonny Roberts and Joe Mansano under various names including Rico's Combo, Rico & The Rudies and Reco Rodriguez.
But like many Jamaican musicians who had moved to the UK, he struggled to make a living from music and took the occasional day job, including painting and decorating, and a soul-destroying fortnight on the Ford production line in Dagenham.
The trombonist Rico Rodriguez played on myriad recordings in Jamaica and the UK, including the original version of Dandy Livingstone's 1967 infectious rock steady classic "A Message To You, Rudy" and its 1979 Top Ten remake by the ska revival band the Specials.
Their epochal No 1 single "Ghost Town" would not have sounded half as haunting without his distinctive contribution.
By the mid-'70s, with reggae in the ascendant following the success of Jimmy Cliff and Bob Marley, Rodriguez was finally in the right place at the right time. After hearing a demo he had cut with Island engineer Dick Cuthell, the label's supremo Chris Blackwell gave him carte blanche to go back to Jamaica and record Man From Wareika, the contemplative, meditative instrumental album inspired by his Rastafarian beliefs.
It remains his crowning achievement. In Kingston, he worked with Jamaica's leading rhythm section, the bassist Robbie Shakespeare and the drummer Sly Dunbar, as well as another Alpha Boys School alumnus, the trumpeter Bobby Ellis. Man From Wareika was licensed by the jazz label Blue Note for the US.
Despite supporting Marley on the Exodus tour in 1978, Rodriguez didn't cross over to the mainstream, but still contributed to albums by Island acts like Jim Capaldi, John Martyn, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Burning Spear, T***s and the Maytals and Steel Pulse, and also worked with Chas Jankel, the Members, Paul Young and Ian Dury, who had already name-checked him: his hit single "Reasons To Be Cheerful, Part 3" included the line "Listening to Rico".
His association with 2-Tone, the dominant musical force in Britain at the turn of the 1980s, encompassed several tours and Top Of The Pops appearances, The Specials and More Specials albums, and the EP "Too Much Too Young The Special AKA Live! Featuring Rico", which contained his memorable contributions to their irresistible covers of "Guns Of Navarone" and "Longshot Kick De Bucket".
In the mid-'90s, Rodriguez inaugurated another chapter of a storied career when he became a featured player with Jools Holland & his Rhythm & Blues Orchestra, contributing to 10 albums by the pianist, band leader and TV presenter – most notably Lift The Lid (1997), Tom Jones & Jools Holland (2004) and Swinging The Blues, Dancing The Ska (2005).
He toured regularly with the outfit and appeared on Later as well as the annual Hootenanny.
Encouraged by the Specials and 2-Tone main man Jerry Dammers, Rodriguez recorded an instrumental adaptation of Huey Smith's "Sea Cruise", and a rare lead vocal on "Jungle Music", for a single credited to Rico & the Special AKA, as well as a brace of albums, That Man Is Forward (1981) and Jama Rico (1982).
He then headed back in Jamaica and only returned to Europe at the behest of Heartbeat Band, a Swiss reggae group who sent him a plane ticket in 1987.
Joining Jools Holland finally provided financial stability. Rodriguez was full of praise for the pianist, who allowed him time out to gig with Jazz Jamaica and for the occasional solo foray to Japan. He was appointed MBE in 2007 for services to the British music industry.
October 17 1934 - September 4 2015
