INFLUENTIAL trombonist Emmanuel ‘Rico’ Rodriguez was yesterday awarded the Silver Musgrave Medal, for his contribution to Jamaican music, by the Institute of Jamaica.

Rodriguez, who is 82, was unable to attend the ceremony, which took place yesterday at the Institute’s East Street headquarters.

A graduate of the Alpha Boys’ School, Rodriguez has lived in Britain since the early 1960s.

He was a protégé of Oswald ‘Count Ossie’ Williams, whose Afro-conscious group, the Mystic Revelation of Rastafari, inspired Jamaica’s top musicians during impromptu jam sessions in the late-1950s in Wareika Hills overlooking St Andrew.

His years with the group inspired Rodriguez’ seminal 1977 album, Man From Wareika, a fusion of reggae and jazz.

Other silver medal recipients were the Herbert Morrison High School Band for outstanding merit in the field of music, Professor Bryan McFarlane for outstanding merit in the field of art, and the Calabash International Literary Festival for its contribution to literature.

The Poetry Society of Jamaica was recognised with a bronze medal for its contribution to literature, Dr Donald Shirley for merit in the field of music, and Ebony G Patterson for merit in the field of Art were also awarded bronze medals.

The Musgrave award has been in existence since 1889, as a memorial to Sir Anthony Musgrave, Governor of Jamaica (1877-1883), who founded the Institute of Jamaica in 1879.

— Howard Campbell