Among the many great musicians, who passed away in 2015 was the legendary and expressive trombonist Rico Rodriguez. Dave Katz wrote a comprehensive obituary for FACT Magazine, giving insight to the pioneering Jamaican/British ska artist, who worked with The Specials among others:
“As his career progressed, he yielded impressive hybrids that melded ska, jazz, reggae and the niyabinghi music of Rastafari, which affected a wide and diverse audience around the world.”
Though musically trained, Katz underlines Rico’s rather “uncommon and instinctive nature of playing” and shares this quote from a former interview:
“I don’t play trombone like a trombonist, I play trombone like saxophone. I really never studied the trombone technique, and maybe if I studied the trombone technique, I wouldn’t be so popular; I would have been sounding like one of the other technicians. Because I don’t play with that amount of technique—it’s more soul feeling.”
Watch this vintage 25 min. documentary on Rico Rodriguez entitled “The Legacy”: