Don Blackman

Pianist/singer/writer Don Blackman, born 1953 in Queens, NY, 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 Parliarment/Funkadellic 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.