* En anglais uniquement
Pianist/singer/songwriter
Don Blackman, born in 1953 in Queens, New York, grew up surrounded by jazz influences; a cousin was
McCoy Tyner's friend and saxophonist
Charles McPherson -- a
Charlie Parker disciple -- was
Blackman's neighbor.
Blackman played with
McPherson's group in 1968 alongside
Sam Jones and
Louis Hayes when he was 15 years old. He switched to electric piano and toured with
Parliament/
Funkadelic in the early '70s. He later became an original member of
Lenny White's
Twennynine ("Peanut Butter"), a key piece in Jamaica Queens' '70s' jazz-funk explosion. A deal with GRP/Arista birthed the solo LP
Don Blackman (1982), a good set saddled by poor promotion. His extensive résumé included
Kurtis Blow sessions and singing "Haboglabotrin" on
Bernard Wright's
'Nard album. A fixture in New York studios, he worked on sessions for a long list of artists including
Najee,
David Sanborn, and
Roy Ayers, and his composition "Live to Kick It" graced
2Pac's
R U Still Down? (Remember Me) release.
Don Blackman died on April 11, 2013 after battling cancer; he was 59 years old. ~ Andrew Hamilton