Rico Rodriguez on Trombone

Ahh, she wasn’t feeling so great this morning.  My little one had come home yesterday very happy indeed with a fine score on her English paper and only two days left till the end of school.  But this morning, heading into school she was glum.  I let it breath for a while. I needed to let the last ten minutes of a conf call play out on mute and once I said goodbye to everyone, I turned to her, and she confirmed that she was nervous about the math test.  I did what I could to remind her of why she should feel confident.

Somewhere passed the toll booth she’d found the first Specials album, as I’d requested, and we had “Do the Dog” on. Well, there is much to like, isn’t there?  I thought of old friends, from different slices of my life, with different musical tastes who all adored this album.  Roddy Radiation on lead guitar, no neophyte he, with those perfect, tasteful fills, the mighty Cuban-born Jamaican, Rico Rodriguez on trombone and Terry Hall and Neville Staple perfectly capturing that glimmer of interracial hope, knowing from the start somehow that so much was, however hopeless. 

I’m reminded here of my first-year college roommate, who lives in San Francisco when “Night Klub” came on.  “His band covered this song.” Looking over now I hadn’t realized that Chrissie Hynde apparently makes an appearance, singing backing vocals on the tune.  I’ll have to listen again and try to see if her always unique voice is recognizable.  And before we could find “Bosseh” we were parked, and she was glumly heading out to face the music on the math test. 

 

Driving home I called a pal in China.  It sounded like someone had queued up “You’ve Lost that Loving Feeling.”  A gal he’d been newly excited about was now not so exciting and indeed had been a bit too intimate.  He wasn’t sure all of a sudden, if this was where he wanted to be.  I did my best to listen and offer suggestions and it wasn’t long before my opinions annoyed him and made him feel as though I wasn’t listening.  I should have known this would never been an easy conversation. 

 

Inside the Verizon outlet the conversation was a bit easier.  I came in with the intention of moving the billing for the different phones I paid for, for my wife and kids should be moved to one bill and add one more line, me.  This guy told me that this could not be done.  The last guy had suggested it in the first place.  He told me to return later when the glass-is-half-full gent returned.  I left my number, but no one ever called. 

 

 

 

Wednesday, 06/09/21