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Beautifully designed outdoor furniture, in-stock & ready to elevate your space.
RI • MA • NH • CARDIS. COM
SHOWROOMS IN RI. MA. NH SCAN TO SHOP CARDIS. COM
There’ s a Place Called Kokomo
AS I GROW OLDER, I manage to embarrass myself more frequently by referring to movies, songs and other cultural icons that, to me, feel like yesterday, oblivious to the fact that many of my younger colleagues weren’ t yet old enough to have cognitive recall or, in many cases, weren’ t even born.
In trying to understand the concept of this month’ s cover story, a conversation went something like this:“ So, this is about cocktails?”“ Not really. It’ s about cocktail culture, you know, bartenders who make craft cocktails? Where they worked, who succeeded who …”“ Oh, I get it. Like the movie Cocktail?”( Blank stare.)“ The one with Tom Cruise?”( Blank stare.)“ He opened a bar in Jamaica, and The Beach Boys wrote the song‘ Kokomo’ for it?”“ Aren’ t The Beach Boys dead?”( Sigh.) Editor Jamie Coelho and our team( Kaitlyn Murray and Tess Lyons) are responsible for this month’ s cover story,“ Cocktail Culture.” They reconstruct a family tree of people and places— past and present— important to the state’ s upscale bar scene, along with the clientele, the vibe, the camaraderie and the competition.
When I read Senior Editor Lauren Clem’ s feature,“ On the Night Shift,” the song by The Commodores from the Jurassic period came to mind. Lauren hit the streets literally and figuratively, with photographer Jonathan Pitts-Wiley, in the wee hours of the morning.
They discovered a plethora of fellow Rhode Islanders whose workday starts when daylight ends: employees in law enforcement, health care, bakeries, diners and the countless number of men and women who make their living on the waters of Narragansett Bay and beyond. This is Jonathan’ s first contribution to our pages, and in every case, he captured a moment, a night in the life of these folks who toil in the anonymity of darkness. They are dedicated to a craft, a needed service that most of us take for granted without thinking about how things get done.
And for the record, while the Wilson brothers( Brian, Carl and Dennis) are no longer with us, Al Jardine, Bruce Johnston and Mike Love are still making good vibrations across the country. After this Rhode Island winter, these lyrics really work for me:“ Aruba, Jamaica, ooh, I wanna take ya. Bermuda, Bahama, come-on, pretty mama. Key Largo, Montego, baby, why don’ t we go?”
To the Rhode ahead.— J. J. P.
ILLUSTRATION: CHERYL CHALMERS.
16 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY I APRIL 2026