For my friend Ervin, the best driver in Birmingham—and an even better human being.
Sometimes the person who shows up when you need help isn’t a lifelong friend, a relative, or somebody with an impressive title. Sometimes he’s the man behind the wheel.
His name is Ervin. He’s my friend, and he’s an Uber driver here in Birmingham. More than once, when I needed somebody to help me get where I was going, Ervin came through. He didn’t have to make my day easier. He simply did. And when you’ve been through a stretch of life in which seemingly nothing comes easily, you remember people like that.
I call him the best driver in Birmingham. That’s my personal ranking, and I’m sticking to it. Not because of the car, the route, or the five-star rating—but because of the man.
A Love Supreme
When I asked Ervin about his favorite music, he named A Love Supreme. That tells me something about the kind of listening he enjoys: music with patience, fire, soul, and a searching spirit.
John Coltrane recorded A Love Supreme in December 1964 with McCoy Tyner on piano, Jimmy Garrison on bass, and Elvin Jones on drums. Released in 1965, the four-part suite is a musical expression of gratitude and devotion. Miles Davis was an essential figure in Coltrane’s earlier career, but he did not play on this recording. A Love Supreme belongs to Coltrane and his extraordinary quartet.
Its movements—Acknowledgement, Resolution, Pursuance, and Psalm—feel almost like stages of a journey. You begin by recognizing what matters. You resolve to follow it. You keep moving. And eventually, you find a way to give thanks.
Good Music. Good Works.
That’s why this dedication belongs in two corners of WeRockTV at once: Good Music and Good Works. One celebrates the beauty of the song. The other celebrates the quiet goodness of a person who shows up.
Good works don’t always arrive with a press release, a donation ceremony, or a nonprofit logo. Sometimes they arrive at the curb, put the car in drive, and make sure somebody gets where they need to go.
Ervin, thank you for helping me out more than once. Thank you for the rides, the reliability, and the kindness. You’ve reminded me that friendship can begin in the most ordinary places—and that the ordinary can become extraordinary when somebody cares.
This one’s for you, my friend. Turn up Coltrane. Let the music breathe. And keep doing what you do.
“And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.”
1 Corinthians 13:13 (KJV)
— JC
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