Don Blackman

Born in 1953 in Queens, New York, pianist, singer, and songwriter Don Blackman developed amid jazz surroundings that included a cousin friendly with McCoy Tyner and a next-door neighbor, saxophonist Charles McPherson, a disciple of Charlie Parker. At age fifteen he performed in 1968 with McPherson’s band, which also featured Sam Jones and Louis Hayes. Turning to electric piano, he toured with Parliament/Funkadelic during the early 1970s and served as an original member of Lenny White’s Twennynine, whose track “Peanut Butter” formed part of the jazz-funk surge then emanating from Jamaica, Queens.

A recording contract with GRP/Arista yielded the 1982 solo album Don Blackman, a strong collection undermined by inadequate promotion. Blackman’s résumé further encompassed sessions for Kurtis Blow and his own vocal on “Haboglabotrin” from Bernard Wright’s album Nard. As a regular presence in New York studios he contributed to projects by Najee, David Sanborn, and Roy Ayers, while his composition “Live to Kick It” appeared on 2Pac’s release R U Still Down? (Remember Me). On April 11, 2013, after a struggle with cancer, Blackman died at the age of fifty-nine.