The dawn of the Grub Cooper Experience as Fab 5 drummer goes solo
Published:Tuesday | July 18, 2023 | 12:06 AMYasmine Peru/Senior Gleaner Writer
After being on the menu for the Fab 5 Band for more than 50 years, words like staple have been used to describe beloved drummer and musical arranger Grub Cooper. And then, somehow, the unthinkable happens — a divorce.
The curious may ask, why does a man in his seventies decide that the best thing that he can do at that age is step away from a firmly established, globally recognised, and loved institution in which he has invested his best years and which has, in a sense, become synonymous with his own name?
However, Cooper, who has sung, produced, and released more songs and jingles than he can sit at his drum set and count, and who has enjoyed accolades aplenty in his half a century, is adamant that the best is really yet come.
“First of all, in my field, age is just a number. If you can write well, you can do it at any age. Sometimes, nothing happens before the right time. Musically, I want to go different places in my creative. I have theatre in my head ... I have more hit records in me,” Cooper said, adding that “peace of mind and doing what I love are important to me”.
Cooper also insisted that the break with Fab 5 is amicable and that while his former band members are disappointed, “everything is cool”. He has no idea who his replacement will be in the band, and Fab 5 leader, Frankie Campbell had no comment on anything when asked.
Top of the list for Cooper currently is the formation of his very own band, for which he already has an impressive sounding name — The Grub Cooper Experience; the imminent release of a tribute song to the Mighty Diamonds; and an album, which he hopes to release by year-end.
“I already have a core of people who will be the Grub Cooper Experience, and I will be performing as Grub Cooper. I have been on the drums for 50 years, and the front line will feel a little bit strange ... but I know how to deliver. Delivery is key ... I can make people cry or wail or fall in love all over again. However, don’t expect me to be the NDTC (National Dance Theatre Company of Jamaica), but at a party, I can be crazy,” Cooper said .
Assessing his strengths, Cooper shared that he is too good of a performer and too good of a song-writer to be left by the wayside as a solo act.
“My vocals are a commercial voice,” he explained. “I have many, many, many voices. That is something that is a rare gift which is not bequeathed to everybody. That vocal prowess that I have has put Fab 5 on the cutting edge. Execution is everything. I am able to capture the essence of a song [so much so] that people seh we sound like the original, and that brings back memories for them. Fab 5 will go on ... it probably won’t be the same sound because my vocals will not be there ... but life is dynamic and changes happen.”
In concluding, Cooper stated: “Now, my life is centred around the Grub Cooper brand. I am a fine writer, a versatile singer. Nobody can make me redundant but me ... and remember, age is just a number.”
During Cooper’s years with Fab 5, the group has won several international awards, including the 1996 awards for Best Album and Best Single (both won for Good Buddy), at the Miami Reggae/Soca Awards, and the 1999 Best International Reggae Album award at the Canadian Reggae Music Awards for Fab 5 Live - The Ultimate Vintage Jamaican Party Mix ... Part 1. Fab 5 won the Best Soca Album award at the Reggaesoca Awards in Miami for their 1999 album, Shape, making them the first group to win best album awards for reggae and soca in the same year.
As the band’s musical director, Cooper has won numerous awards, including the Order of Distinction, Commander Class, and a special honour award from the Jamaica Federation of Musicians (JFM) for his contribution to the development of Jamaican music. He has been Jamaica’s leading theatre musician for more than three decades and a major producer of gospel music.
Fab 5 has been actively involved in keeping Jamaican music alive, with major representation on the boards of the Jamaica Reggae Industry Association (JaRIA)and the Jamaican Association of Vintage Artistes and Affiliates.