John Blackwell (musician)
| John Blackwell | |
|---|---|
| Born |
September 9, 1973 Columbia, South Carolina, U.S. |
| Genres | R&B, pop, funk, jazz fusion, jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Drummer |
| Instruments | Drums |
| Years active | 1995–present |
| Associated acts | Cameo, Patti LaBelle, Prince, The New Power Generation |
| Website | www |
John Blackwell Jr. (born September 9, 1973) is an American contemporary R&B, funk, jazz, fusion, and pop drummer, best known for his work with Prince. Most recently, he was a member of D'Angelo's backing band, The Vanguard.
Blackwell was born and raised in Columbia, South Carolina, and started playing drums at age 3. He learned from his father, John Blackwell Sr., a drummer himself, who played with Mary Wells, King Curtis, Joe Simon, J.J. Jackson, The Drifters, The Spinners, and others. Blackwell stated that he's experienced synesthesia since he was a child, seeing colors for musical notes, and was identified as having perfect pitch while in high school.
As a teenager, Blackwell played in both his high-school jazz and marching bands. He began playing in jazz clubs at age 13. At 17, he landed his first professional gig backing jazz singer and bandleader Billy Eckstine. After high school, he attended Berklee College of Music and worked steadily in local Boston jazz clubs. He left Berklee in 1995 to play with the funk band Cameo, a gig which lasted for three years.
Blackwell moved to Los Angeles in 1998 to look for more drumming work, and got a job playing with Patti LaBelle for three years. He appeared on her 1998 album Live! One Night Only, which won the Grammy Award for Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance. Blackwell met Prince while performing with LaBelle in Minneapolis. Blackwell toured with Japanese singer Hikaru Utada, and then join Prince's band, The New Power Generation, in 2000.
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