Rico, let's start at the beginning. Your musical career path started out in that now almost legendary institute The Alpha Boys School, but this wasn't just a school you could simply attend (the Alpha Cottage School or Alpha Boys School as it often was referred to, was established in 1880 by the Roman Catholic Sisters of Mercy and was a so called "school for wayward boys", red.), so how did you end up there?
Rico Rodriguez: "Well as a youngster growing up in the western part of Kingston I was what we called a little wily wily. My mother didn't really like me wandering the streets all the time and when one day I injured my back in a road accident, she decided it would be better for me to end up in a different environment. So that's how I ended up at Alpha."
How exactly did the music department at Alpha function? Did you get to pick whatever instrument you wanted to play when you joined the band?
Rico Rodriguez: "Not really no. When I first joined the band I was given the cornet to play. I used to play the horns together with Eddy 'Tan Tan' Thornton (After several years in the emerging jazz scene of Germany, Tan Tan arrived in London, where his extraordinary talent was quickly recognised. For producers and big-name rock musicians of the sixties and seventies his became the most sought-after trumpet of the era .His recording and performing credits include The Beatles, Bob Marley, the Rolling Stones, Boney M, Georgie Fame and his all-time favourite, Jimi Hendrix, while, in between times, he continued to play with top jazz, ska and reggae names like Aswad and Rico Rodriguez. More recently he has featured in the horn section of the Jools Holland Band as well as Jazz Jamaica, red.). In that era the school had very few instruments available, so you really didn't have a choice."
When did your love for the trombone first become apparent then?
Rico Rodriguez: "That kind of started when I got my first lessons from Don Drummond."
Don Drummond, of course very famous for the work he did with The Skatalites. How do you remember him?
Rico Rodriguez: "He was slightly older than me and I remember he really used to frighten me because he was so good at what he did. I wondered if I would ever be able to live up to his expectations or reach his level, but he always gave me a lot of encouragement."
Without a doubt your most successful album was 'Man From Wareika'. Wareika Hill is the place where Count Ossie's Rastafarian community had its base and where you got in contact with the Rastafarian philosophy for the first time. That was still in the early days of Rastafarianism, no?
Rico Rodriguez: "That's right. I used to live in Allman Town (part of Kingston, red.) and used to go up to Wareika Hill pretty often. Don Drummond always asked me to stay up there and play some music with them, because I always used to go home at night. In these days Rastafarians were still often harassed by the police, you know. But after a while that initial fear went away and before I knew it, I was spending all my time on the hill right up until the time I left for England. For me it was the ideal practise place, because we used to play and chant there every day. These days the Rastafarians only have their chanting sessions on Sundays, but back then it was a daily ritual. After a while even the police realized we were only playing music, so they didn't trouble us no more."
And what do you remember most about Count Ossie?
Rico Rodriguez: "Count Ossie had a lot of fans among the college-educated crowd, so if you went up to Wareika Hill you had the chance to mingle and meet people from other backgrounds. He also liked me in particular; whenever I was playing he always gave me good vibes. He was a very nice person. Going to Count Ossie's home was almost like going home."
In 1961 you took what must have been one of the biggest decisions in your life when you decided to leave Jamaica and move to England. What was life in Europe like for a young Rastafarian in those days?
Rico Rodriguez: "I found England to be a very strange place when I first got here. As a musician it was hard to get recognized if you weren't European or Caucasian. So what I used to do was what so many immigrants do and that's hang around with my own people, but that didn't bring in any money. I got my first break when I started playing with Georgie Fame (born Clive Powell, British rhythm and blues and jazz singer and keyboard player, red.). He used to play at a place called The Roaring Twenties in Carnaby Street. After that I started doing regular recording sessions with Laurel Aitken and I played with Dandy Livingston as well, the original ‘Message To You Rudie' you know. Apart from that there was no work, so I started pondering about going back to Jamaica. Those first years in England I really mostly remember as being very tough."
There's a story that says that when you came to London in the early sixties, your Rastafarian locks supposedly inspired The Beatles to let their hair grow as well.
Rico Rodriguez: "(laughs) Well, I can only say that I heard that story as well. Even though I've never been close to any of The Beatles it might be possible that they saw me play left or right."
One part of your career we can't leave out talking about is your involvement with The Specials. How did that chapter start for you?
Rico Rodriguez: "These guys just didn't stop calling me. Now you have to know that I'm not really the kind of musician that likes being in a band, I'm more the soloist type if you want, but one day Lynval (Golding, guitar & vocals, red.) and Neville (Staple, toasting & backing vocals, red.) came to my house to talk more and in the end they managed to convince me anyway."
With The Specials you scored a series of worldwide hits. Did that success change your life in any way?
Rico Rodriguez: "As a Rastaman you're used to hardship and suffering and Rastafari doctrine has always been more about togetherness and love - like the love for music - than about money, so the success didn't really change that much for me. To be honest, The Specials were never that special to me! In my opinion there was only one man in that band who knew his music and that's Jerry Dammers (keyboards, red.), the rest were just copying Jamaican music. I heard they've reformed now? (laughs) Well, they don't even have to pop me the question, because I wouldn't do it anymore... not as long as Jerry isn't involved in it anyway. I've played with Jools (Holland, red.) for a while now and I'm perfectly happy there. I've never enjoyed playing in a band more than I do now as a member of Jools' Rhythm & Blues Orchestra."
How did your involvement with Jools Holland start exactly?
Rico Rodriguez: "Through touring with The Specials I met The Police and after The Specials had split up I was asked to accompany them on stage at a concert in Clapham Common. That night I met Jools for the first time. At that stage it was just a friendly meet and greet backstage and as I was still playing with Jazz Jamaica at that moment, I wasn't really looking for work. After a while though, I didn't feel comfortable anymore with what Jazz Jamaica was doing, so I quit and that's when I called up Jools to see if he had any vacancies in his band. He immediately said yes and I'm there still."
Do you still see yourself returning to Jamaica one day?
Rico Rodriguez: "For sure! I haven't been there for over fifteen years now, but whenever I dream at night it's always about Jamaica. I've never dreamed about England. I love Jamaica, but, like everything else in life, things change; before I left, the Jamaican public loved the kind of music I played, but these days it's all dancehall and what have you. I also have a family here in England; without them I might have returned to the island a long time ago already."
You've been around for a long time now; how would you describe your drive, your inspiration?
Rico Rodriguez: "The love and recognition I get from the people is what pushes me on as a musician. People who play music for the money will never be as good at it as people who play from the heart. I think I can count myself as a member of the latter group. I'm a humble man and they who seek vanity, vexation of spirit shall overcome them, but we who seek Rastafari, we deal with love. Peace and love to all people, without regard for race, colour or creed! Rastafari liveth!"