b. Weldon Jonathan Irvine Jnr, 27th October 1943, Hampton, Virginia, U.S.A.
d. 9th April 2002, Uniondale, New York, U.S.A.
Born Weldon Jonathan Irvine Jnr, Weldon Irvine was an accomplished musician since 1964, a time when he was involved with a quintet that won an award at a college jazz festival.
Weldon also studied English, Drama and music theory.
He relocated to New York in 1965 and formed a 17 piece band that included Billy Cobham, Randy Brecker and Lenny White amongst others.
The group recorded seven albums and toured the globe.
In 1977 he began an involvement in musicals, namely 'Young Gifted and Broke', 'The Vampire And The Dentist', 'The Will' and 'Keep It Real', all of which contained music penned by Weldon.
Weldon penned the lyrics to 'Young, Gifted and Black', along with many other songs performed by artists ranging from Stevie Wonder to Donny Hathaway.
Weldon's songs were sampled by A Tribe Called Quest and Ice Cube amonst many other rap artists.
He, also, played instruments on several rap tunes.
Weldon worked closely with Nina Simone, who performed 'Young, Gifted and Black'.
Weldon Irvine was a close friend of the artist Don Blackman.
On the 9th April 2002 Weldon killed himself with a rifle on the front lawn of a Uniondale office complex in New York.
The suicide took place at the EAB Plaza, on Hempstead Turnpike, just west of the Meadowbrook Parkway and across from Nassau Coliseum.
Weldon was taken to the Nassau medical examiner for an autopsy.
A really sad loss.
Albums:
Liberated Brother (Hubbub Records 1972)
Time Capsule (Hubbub Records 1973)
Cosmic Vortex (RCA Records 1974)
Spirit Man (RCA Records 1975)
Sinbad (RCA/BMG Records 1976)
The Sisters (Saucerman Records 1979)
Music Is the Key (Luv N' Haight Records 1994)
Keyboards Wild (Tuff City Records 1995)
Embrace the Positive (Nodlew Records 1998)
Live In Nashville (Nodlew Records 1999)
