Remembering Michael ‘Ibo’ Cooper ‘Jamaica’s finest’

Last Thursday’s passing of outspoken legendary musician and educator Ibo Cooper has been described by many as a huge loss to the reggae world. Cooper’s former Third World Band members have hailed him as “Jamaica’s finest” and Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Olivia Grange paid tribute to the keyboard maestro as the person who “has shaped generations of Jamaican musicians” and noted that “our industry is better for having had him”.

Renowned tour manager Copeland Forbes has many great memories of Ibo Cooper and Third World Band, with whom he worked in the 1980s, and in fact, he documents some of them in his book, Reggae My Life Is. Cooper’s passing last Thursday has left Forbes gobsmacked.

“Imagine, three Coopers dying in the same year! Bwoy, I cannot imagine how the kids are feeling. This reminds me of when Bunny Diamond and Tabby Diamond [of reggae group Mighty Diamonds] passed away within one week of each other. Ibo’s wife, Joy, was such a wonderful human being and Arif was making big strides in the industry,” Forbes said, in reference to the March and September 2023 passing of Cooper’s son and wife, respectively.

He shared that he saw Cooper, a former chairman for the Jamaica Reggae Industry Association, at a Reggae Month event in February, not knowing that it would be the last time he would see him in person.

“I told him that I had a trophy which I collected for him from IRAWMA and we were making arrangements for him to pick it up. And, just like that Ibo is gone. This is a double dose for me because I was just reading that Superintendent Wright who used to manage Noddy Virtue had died and a few hours later on Thursday I heard that Ibo had died,” Forbes said.

Although Cooper was no longer singing with Third World, the band which he co-founded in 1973, his history will forever be intertwined with the beloved Reggae Ambassadors.

“I worked with Third World for many years and Ibo was the point person for everything. When it comes to computer knowledge, Ibo was far ahead of his time. I remember that he had a computerised Kurtzweil keyboard that cost US$35,000 ... that was in 1987. It was the same keyboard owned by Stevie Wonder and very few people owned one. We went to London for a show and the engineer plugged it into the socket that it wasn’t designed for and everything ... all the songs that were needed for Third World’s performance that night ... was wiped off. But Ibo always travelled with a computer and he had to sit down and patiently download all the music and get things up and running again. He was a keyboard genius and well respected across the world. Every year he conducted the JaRIA Orchestra for Reggae Month and it was something else,” shared Forbes, who has managed some of the biggest names in reggae music.

Saxophonist extraordinaire, Dean Fraser, remembered Cooper as “an incredible musician ... master of his craft and one of the best teachers”.

“We will miss Ibo. It is indeed a sad day,” said Fraser, who has worked alongside Cooper on numerous projects.

The Jamaica Reggae Industry Association paid tribute to their legacy director and former chairman, “who was indeed our true #ReggaeAmbassador”.

“Ibo was central to the group that gave global respectability to the name Third World, even as he proved that our music is as complex and intricate as that of Bach and Mozart. He brought this maxim to his role as lecturer at the Edna Manley College where he excelled as a true scholar of Jamaican music, history and philosophy, who fused all three into one harmonious example of a life lived to leave a legacy of love.” The Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts, where Cooper served as a head of the Caribbean, Latin America, and Jazz Department, now Popular Music Studies, in their poignant tribute, noted that their “world stopped” on hearing of Ibo’s death and spoke at length about the lecturer’s life of service, his commitment to nationhood and “his humble, easy-going nature that made him a household name at the college”.

“Ibo acknowledged the impact he made on the world as a musician, vocalist, songwriter, band leader but perhaps for him, a man born in a family of teachers, teaching was a calling. His students were his children and EDNA was his family,” the institution said in tribute.

Cooper was honoured by the college in 2022 and, there were plans to celebrate the man who has led the musical direction for graduation for over two decades at the ceremony in November. The college will be opening a book of condolences as of Tuesday, October 17.

Former Third World drummer, Willie Stewart, spoke of the “great honour to have played music with Cooper from Visions to Inner Circle and to Third World”.

“Your keyboard playing was exceptional, your ear for music was creative and arrangements was unique. I say ‘Gone too soon.’ As we called you ‘The Mad Scientist’ who would Reggae De Funk and rap/DJ without missing a beat, a musician who could see the whole music before it was finished, nothing short of genius, a musician, keyboard player musical arranger, a human being who was sent in this world to make it a better place,” Stewart said.

Kingsley Michael ‘Ibo’ Cooper was born on January 14, 1952, in Clarendon. He made his mark with the band Inner Circle prior to forming Third World with Stephen ‘Cat’ Coore in 1973. After a 24-year sojourn, Cooper switched from touring to teaching.

In 2005, Cooper received the Order of Distinction, Officer Class, for his contribution to the development of Jamaican music

yasmine.peru@gleanerjm.com