The Weldon Irvine Ensemble at Gerald’s (Original Flyer, 1976)

This unique, two-in-one artifact features handwritten lyrics written by Don Blackman for an unreleased song called “Emotions,” written on the reverse side of an original, and extremely rare, flyer promoting a pair of April 1976 appearances from the Weldon Irvine Ensemble at Gerald’s in Cambria Heights, Queens in support of Irvine’s Sinbad album for RCA Records. 

Gerald’s is remembered as one of several Southeast Queens nightspots where a young Don Blackman and his Jamaica Kats crew honed their chops playing under the direction and supervision of Weldon Irvine. Sinbad was the first of Irvine’s albums to feature Don Blackman, and he was naturally featured in the ensemble at these gigs to support its release.