Don Blackman
| Don Blackman | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Donald Blackman |
| Born | September 1, 1953 Jamaica, Queens, New York, U.S. |
| Died | Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist. New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Genres | Jazz |
| Occupation(s) | pianist, songwriter, producer |
| Instruments | piano, singing |
| Labels | Arista Records |
| Associated acts | Parliament/Funkadelic, Earth, Wind and Fire, Roy Ayers, Twennynine |
Donald "Don" Blackman (September 1, 1953 – April 11, 2013[1]) was an American jazz-funk pianist, singer, and songwriter.
Biography
Blackman was born and raised in Jamaica, Queens, NY. A childhood neighbor was Charles McPherson, and while still a teenager he played in McPherson's ensemble with Sam Jones and Louis Hayes. At the beginning of the 1970s, he played with Parliament/Funkadelic, Earth, Wind and Fire, and Roy Ayers, before becoming a member of Lenny White's group Twennynine, for whom he penned songs such as "Peanut Butter" and "Morning Sunrise". He released his self-titled debut solo album in 1982 on Arista Records, including the songs "Holding You, Loving You", "Heart's Desire" and "Since You've Been Away So Long" that became minor hits in Europe.
Blackman also worked as a session musician, appearing on albums by Kurtis Blow (Kingdom Blow), Bernard Wright, Najee, David Sanborn, Lenny White, Roy Ayers, Sting (Brand New Day), World Saxophone Quartet, Janet Jackson's "That's the Way Love Goes" (Remix) and Wayman Tisdale. He wrote the composition "Lie to Kick It", which appeared on Tupac Shakur's album R U Still Down? (Remember Me), "Dear Summer", which appeared on Memphis Bleek's album "534" featuring artist Jay-Z, and "Holding You, Loving You", which appeared on Master P.'s album I Got The Hook Up.[citation needed]
On television, he scored and wrote music for commercials, TV shows, and movies, appearing on Fox Network's New York Undercover, producing and writing the theme song for Nickelodeon's show "Gullah Gullah Island", as well as producing songs for the MTV Network movie Joe's Apartment.[citation needed]
Death
Don Blackman died, aged 59, from cancer, on April 11, 2013.[2] Blackman is survived by his son Kyle Blackman, who is a DJ in New York, NY, and daughter, funk singer Irene Blackman, who toured with Blackman throughout the years.
Discography
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- Don Blackman (Arista Records, 1982)
- Listen (Expansion UK, 2002)
With C. I. Williams
- When Alto Was King (Mapleshade, 1997)
References
Sources
External links
- Articles with hCards
- Articles with unsourced statements from May 2013
- Articles using small message boxes
- 1953 births
- People from Queens, New York
- American funk musicians
- American jazz pianists
- American session musicians
- 2013 deaths
- GRP Records artists
- Musicians from New York City
- Cancer deaths in New York
- 20th-century pianists
- 20th-century American musicians
