Don at the Jazz Café
"If things don't change, then that's it", Don preached to a congregation of devoted followers. We weren't sure if he was having a joke, but later all was to become clear. Don's Jazz Café performance, as always, featured virtually every track from his '82 album, 'Never Miss A Thing' causing a particular stir. Also featured was the brilliant new album 'Listen', and two audience-pleasers: the Bernard Wright penned 'Haboglabotribin'; and 'I Love You', which he recorded with the late great Weldon Irvine.

Don demonstrated precisely why he is one of the all time greats: his vocals were spot on, the funky vibe was deep and heavy, and he had the eager crowd eating from his palm throughout his two-hour-plus set.

Concerns about the industry
So what was Don eluding to with the worrying words of warning which provided a somber interlude to this great man's total entertainment policy? Radiocaféwas fortunate to be invited to speak to Don, who willingly opened up to express grave concerns about the state of the profession: "the music industry has gone in the wrong direction," he told us. "The companies' efforts are put into so many artists who don't deserve it these days. The real talent doesn't get a look in any more".

We fully agreed with Don's sentiments. However, of more concern was Don's assertion that if the industry doesn't change soon, this may be the last time we have the privilege to seem Don perform live.

The need for a Campaign For Real Music
So we told Don about the Campaign For Real Music, the very existence of which is to raise the profile of great albums like 'Blackman'. "That sounds like a great idea, I'm fully in support of that", he told us, before concluding: "however, the music industry is very frustrating nowadays". We mentioned how hard it is to obtain the 'Blackman' album , and Don said he was disappointed that this had never officially been released on CD in the UK (we had to pay £28 for our Japanese import a number of years ago). However, Don still gave us a trade-mark bear hug, and we said we'd continue to campaign on behalf of him and the many other, overlooked artists who simply deserve so much more.

We hope, and suspect, he just might be back...

Don Blackman
Don's influence on music has been immense, his 1982 self entitled album rightly labeled an all time classic, with a cult following. Don continues to play to sell out audiences at the Jazz Café each year (although see below...). He has worked with some of the biggest names in music, including Lenny White, Bernard Wright, Parliament, Funkadelic and more recently Sting.

His talents at the keyboard, soulful voice and his song-writing genius that have won him a loyal base of dedicated fans across the world. If you haven't experienced the magic of Don yet, we urge you to do so, as you'll soon be caught under his music's incredible spell.