The Org received a message from John Blackwell clarifying some facts about the upcoming memorial tribute concert for John Blackwell's late daughter Jia. First, the concert (which is being produced by the Blackwell family and not John specifically) will not be held on August 31, but will be held at a later date in Boston, at the Berklee College of Music. The concert will be made available as a DVD, and there will be some "very special guests" in attendance.

The Berklee College of Music and John & Joann Blackwell have put together The Jia Kennie Blackwell Scholarship Fund, a continuing annual fund which will assist young female musicians who need money to start at Berklee or who need money to continue their studies at the school.

The fund will also benefit water safety awareness for children.

Finally, Mr. Blackwell wanted us to know that the rumors about him sitting out any remaining dates on the Musicology tour are absolutely false.

Sounds good. Thanks for the update.

See you Friday and Saturday, John!

Anxiety said:

Well I guess we have our confirmation that Prince and his band reads the messages on this site.

That's great news for us Boston orgers - just when we thought we wouldn't see John Blackwell (and, um, special guests) again for a while.

And what a great cause - I love how this will really benefit young musicians. Very cool.

WHAT.....this isn't fair.....I guess Columbia doesn't get to see "special guests" now that the memorial concert has been moved

Gold7 said:

at least there's a DVD scheduled to come out from it, unlike the family jamm where they released nada.

LaughinAtYall said:

Keep wishin it!

CherrieMoonKisses said:

Prince -- QUIT teasin!!!!

at least there's a DVD scheduled to come out from it [/quote]


yea, I'm glad that they finally confirmed that there's going to be a dvd

Wow! Awesome that there is gonna b a concert & a dvd, but the reason it's coming 2b... 2sad

I truly hope the whole day raises every1 spirits, & I'm sure it will evenmoreso thanx 2 some special guests!!

John is just the nicest guy, I wish him well with the concert

We got drumsticks from John in San Antonio, Dallas and Houston. He always had his own line of sticks, but now they are dedicated to Jia. It is very touching.

Wow! in Boston! excellent!

BOSTON!!



:crossesfingers: I hope and pray that it happens after I come back from my vacation....

If so, I'll definitely be there, not only to see some amazing musicians, but to support the fund in any way I can.

LaughinAtYall said:

So, John is doing something special for his daughter and all you care about is whether Prince and his band read these sad boards, well I hope he sees this and how selfish you are.

Gold7 said:

So, John is doing something special for his daughter and all you care about is that you won't get to see the "very special guests" [Flame snipped. --Matt]
[This message was edited Fri Aug 27 2:06:59 2004 by matt]

LaughinAtYall said:

Over the years (including 1995-1998, when we were the Paisley Park Mailing List), we've had the occasional contact from Prince-affiliated folks. I even received an email once from the mysterious "NPG2000," who was rumored to be Prince himself. It's always nice to get news directly from the "horse's mouth."

wow... at Berklee huh? I'm gonna try and drive up for that. John has kicked ass on this tour and it'd be great to see what they chose to share at the memorial. What a good way to bring some positivity out of such a devastating thing.

JumpUpOnThe1 said:

What was the cause of his daughter's death?

yasetshego said:

she drowned. i think she was only two years old. he's strong 'cause i don't think i'd be able to tour or do much of anything if something (god forbid) happened to my kids. i wish his whole family the best.
i can't make that concert so i'd have to settle for the dvd.

Mailing Address For Jia Blackwell Memorial Scholarship Fund

-----

Fellow Fans of John Blackwell:

Like all of you, I am as much in awe of John’s talent and as entertained by his contributions to the New Power Generation as I am heartbroken by his family’s loss.

As you know, John’s alma mater, the Berklee College of Music, has established the
Jia Kennie Blackwell Memorial Scholarship Fund, and is organizing a fund-raising concert on campus in Boston featuring John and his friends, tentatively scheduled for December 11th.

Tickets for the concert, to be held at the Berklee Perfomance Center, are not yet on sale. As soon as I know anything, I’ll pass it along. I hope the rest of you do likewise.

Whether or not any of us end up going to the concert, I hope that all of us are able – through as generous a tax-deductible contribution to the fund as we can afford – to let the Blackwell family know where our hearts are.

Contributions to the fund can be made by check payable to “Berklee College of Music”. On your check, please be sure to note, “Jia Blackwell Fund”. Then, mail your check to the following address:
Marjorie O’Malley
Berklee College of Music
MS 1140 I.A.
1140 Boylston Street
Boston, Massachusetts 02215
USA

Keep the party movin' by $showin' your love.[b]