John Blackwell Jr. was an early adopter of electronic drums.
John Blackwell Jr. (September 9, 1973 – July 4, 2017) was an American contemporary R&B, funk, jazz, fusion, and pop drummer, best known for his work with Prince.[1] Later, he was a member of D'Angelo's backing band, The Vanguard.
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.[2]
Blackwell played with Maze, featuring Frankie Beverly. He released his debut album in December 2009, titled The John Blackwell Project. He has released two educational drumming DVDs: John Blackwell - Technique, Grooving and Showmanship, and John Blackwell. He joined the European leg of singer D'Angelo's The Second Coming Tour in 2015, as a member of his band, The Vanguard.[5] He also toured as a member of bassist William "Bootsy" Collins' Bootsy's Rubber Band that year.[6]
Blackwell joined Chinese musician Xu Wei's band for his tour named "At This Moment" in 2013. They performed in cities such as Beijing (May 17), Shanghai (July 13), Harbin (August 10), Hangzhou (August 24) and Shenzhen (September 7).
Death
In July 2016, Blackwell announced that he had lost the use of his left arm and leg due to a brain tumor.[7] On July 4, 2017, his wife announced his death.[8] John Blackwell was 43.
