Drummer John Blackwell Has Been Named Associate Professor at Berklee College of Music
John Blackwell Named Associate Professor at Berklee College of Music
Boston,
MA. March 12, 2013 – Premier funk, pop, and R&B drummer John
Blackwell, best known for his work with Prince, Justin Timberlake, and
Patti LaBelle, has been named associate professor of percussion at his
alma matter, Berklee College of Music. He began teaching this semester.
Born
and raised in Columbia, South Carolina, Blackwell started learning
drums at age 3 from his father, John Blackwell Sr., a drummer who played
with Mary Wells, King Curtis, the Drifters, the Spinners, and others.
He played jazz clubs regularly as a teen, and at 17, he landed his first
high profile show with swing bandleader Billy Eckstine. After high
school, he enrolled at Berklee College of Music.
“John studied
with me just about his entire time at Berklee, ” recalls John Ramsay,
chair of the college’s percussion department. “I knew he was good, but
it wasn’t until some time after he graduated, when I caught him playing
on TV with Patti LaBelle, that I realized the full spectrum of his
abilities and talent. I remember thinking, ‘man, this must be one of
those old Motown session guys, ‘ then the camera went to the drummer
and, to my surprise, it was John Blackwell.”
After graduating in
1995, Blackwell joined the funk band Cameo, a three-year gig. In 1998,
he moved to Los Angeles and was recruited by Patti LaBelle, playing on
her Grammy-winning album Live! One Night Only. He met Prince while
performing with LaBelle in Minneapolis. After a tour with Japanese
singer Hikaru Utada, he joined Prince’s band, the New Power Generation.
Blackwell played with Prince for 12 years, appearing on his
Grammy-nominated album, N.E.W.S., and his Live at the Aladdin Las Vegas
DVD. Since leaving Prince’s band in 2004, Blackwell has toured or
recorded with Justin Timberlake, Diddy, Crystal Kay, Charlie Singleton,
and Maze, to name just a few.
With his own band, the John
Blackwell Project, he released the album 4Ever Jia, a tribute to his
late daughter, Jia. In 2004, Blackwell established the Jia Kennie
Blackwell Memorial Scholarship, which supports outstanding female
musicians at Berklee.
