Cindy Blackman Santana

Last updated

Cindy Blackman
Cindy Blackman .jpg
Blackman performing in May 2008
Background information
Born (1959-11-18) November 18, 1959 (age 65)
Yellow Springs, Ohio, U.S.
Genres
Occupations
  • Musician
  • bandleader
Instruments
  • Drums
  • percussion
Years active1980s–present
Labels
Spouse
​
(m. 2010)​
Website cindyblackmansantana.com

Cindy Blackman Santana (born November 18, 1959), sometimes known as Cindy Blackman, [1] is an American jazz and rock drummer. Blackman has recorded several jazz albums as a bandleader and has performed with Pharoah Sanders, Sonny Simmons, Ron Carter, Sam Rivers, Cassandra Wilson, Angela Bofill, Buckethead, Bill Laswell, Lenny Kravitz, Joe Henderson and Joss Stone.

Contents

Early life and education

Blackman was born November 18, 1959, in Yellow Springs, Ohio. Her mother and grandmother were classical musicians and her uncle was a vibist. [2] As a child, her mother took her to classical concerts. [3]

Blackman's introduction to the drums happened at the age of seven in Yellow Springs. At a pool party at a friend's house. she saw a drum set and began playing them. "Just looking at them struck something in my core, and it was completely right from the second I saw them," says Blackman. "And then, when I hit them, it was like, wow, that's me." [4] Soon after, Blackman began playing in the school band and persuaded her parents to get her toy drums. [4] [5]

When Blackman was 11, she moved to Bristol, Connecticut, [3] where she attended the Hartt School of Music in Hartford. [3] Blackman began to have an interest in jazz at age 13 after listening to Max Roach and got her first professional drum set at 14. [3] [6]

Blackman then attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston, where she studied with Alan Dawson, who had also taught Tony Williams, an inspiration for Blackman. [7] While she was at Berklee, a friend recommended her for a gig with The Drifters, [5] so Blackman left college after three semesters and moved to New York City in 1982. [2]

Career

Blackman performing at Iridium Jazz Club in New York City in December 2007 Cindy Blackman2.jpg
Blackman performing at Iridium Jazz Club in New York City in December 2007

In New York City, Blackman worked as a performer [8] but also attended shows to listen to masters play. [5] Art Blakey became a significant influence. [9] Blackman said, "he really was like a father to me. I learned a lot just watching him. I asked him a lot of questions about the drums and music – and he answered all of them." [9]

In 1984, Blackman was showcased on Ted Curson's Jazz Stars of the Future on WKCR-FM in New York. [2] In 1987, Blackman's first compositions appeared on Wallace Roney's Verses album. [2] In 1988 Blackman released Arcane on Muse Records, her debut as a bandleader. [2] Her band included Wallace Roney on trumpet, Kenny Garrett on alto saxophone, Joe Henderson on tenor saxophone, Buster Williams and Clarence Seay on bass, and Larry Willis on piano. [2]

Work with Lenny Kravitz

Blackman performing with Lenny Kravitz in Chile in March 2005 Cindy Blackman4.jpg
Blackman performing with Lenny Kravitz in Chile in March 2005

In 1993, Blackman had an opportunity to work with Lenny Kravitz. From New York, Blackman talked over the phone with Kravitz in Los Angeles, and played drums for him as he listened. Kravitz immediately asked Blackman to fly out to LA. She stayed for two weeks including shooting the video for "Are You Gonna Go My Way". [5] She would go on to have an 18-year run as Kravitz's touring drummer. [10]

Solo career

Blackman performing at Federation Square in Melbourne, Australia, in May 2008 Cindy Blackman 2.jpg
Blackman performing at Federation Square in Melbourne, Australia, in May 2008

In the late 1990s, Blackman made her first recording with a working group. They called the album Telepathy because of the tight communication in the band. [11] Blackman and her band also recorded the instructional video Multiplicity. [12]

In 2004, Blackman took a break from touring with Lenny Kravitz to focus on her own music. [13] That year, she released Music for the New Millennium on her Sacred Sounds Label. [8] "We experiment – but it's never free. Everything is written out. I have charts for all the songs. We expand on what's there, and stretch harmonics and note choices". [8]

In September 2007, she made a tour of South America, teaching clinics in Argentina, Chile, and Brazil, [14] and on November 30, 2007, Blackman and her quartet performed at Art After 5 at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

In 2010, she released a first tribute album to her inspiration Tony Williams. Another Lifetime featured Mike Stern on guitar and organist Doug Carn following the line-up of the original Tony Williams Lifetime. As guest musicians appear Joe Lovano, Patrice Rushen and Vernon Reid. Reid is the lead guitarist on the second Williams tribute album Spectrum Road (2012), a collaboration between Blackman, Reid, John Medeski on organ and former bassist of Lifetime and Cream Jack Bruce. Bruce also sings on three tracks of the album and Blackman lends her voice to "Where", originally written by (then Lifetime guitarist) John McLaughlin and sung by Williams ( Emergency! , 1969), which already appeared on Another Lifetime in an instrumental version. She appeared at the 2011 Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, where she played drums for husband Carlos's one-off reunion with John McLaughlin, after which she helped mix the sound for the video.

In 2020, she released a 17 track album titled Give the Drummer Some. On this album, she sings on 11 of the tracks. The album includes performances by John McLaughlin, Matthew Garrison, Vernon Reid, Kirk Hammett, Bill Ortiz, and Neal Evans. [10]

Personal life

Blackman performing at Sesc Pompeia in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in August 2007 Cindy Blackman5.jpg
Blackman performing at Sesc Pompéia in São Paulo, Brazil, in August 2007

On July 9, 2010, Carlos Santana proposed to Blackman on stage during a concert at Tinley Park, Illinois. [15] Blackman is Santana's touring drummer; he proposed immediately after her drum solo. They were married in Maui, Hawaii on December 19, 2010. [16]

Blackman attended a Baptist church during her teenage years, but became a follower of the Baháʼí Faith at the age of 18; she also started studying Kabbalah in the 2000s. [17] Blackman cultivates spirituality in her musicianship. [17] "I believe that music is so sacred that once you're playing music you are doing the work of prayer, whether you're conscious of it or not, because you have a focused intent," says Blackman. [17]

Blackman is a rarity as a female jazz percussionist. [17] "In the past, there were a lot of stigmas attached to women playing certain instruments," Blackman says. "Any woman, or anyone facing race prejudice, weight prejudice, hair prejudice ... if you let somebody stop you because of their opinions, then the only thing you're doing is hurting yourself. I don't want to give somebody that power over me." [17]

Discography

As leader

As co-leader or sidewoman

With Eddie Allen

With Santi Debriano and David Fiuczynski

With Melinda Doolittle

With Kali Z. Fasteau and William Parker

With Russell Gunn

With The Isley Brothers and Santana

With Rodney Kendrick

With Lenny Kravitz

With Greg Lewis

With Carlos Martins

With Wallace Roney

With Santana

With Carlos Santana and John McLaughlin

With Saxemble

With Sonny Simmons

With Spectrum Road (Jack Bruce, Vernon Reid, John Medeski, Blackman Santana)

With Mike Stern

With Joss Stone

With Alicyn Yaffee

With various artists

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<i>Arcane</i> (album) 1988 studio album by Cindy Blackman

Arcane is the debut studio album led by drummer Cindy Blackman which was recorded in 1987 and released on the Muse label.

<i>Code Red</i> (Cindy Blackman album) 1992 studio album by Cindy Blackman

Code Red is an album led by drummer Cindy Blackman which was recorded in 1990 and released on the Muse label in 1992.

<i>Telepathy</i> (Cindy Blackman album) 1994 studio album by Cindy Blackman

Telepathy is an album by drummer Cindy Blackman, recorded in 1992 and released on the Muse label.

<i>The Oracle</i> (Cindy Blackman album) 1996 studio album by Cindy Blackman

The Oracle is an album led by drummer Cindy Blackman which was recorded in 1995 and released on the Muse label.

<i>Verses</i> (album) 1987 studio album by Wallace Roney

Verses is the debut album by American jazz trumpeter Wallace Roney, recorded in 1987 and released on the Muse label.

<i>Intuition</i> (Wallace Roney album) 1988 studio album by Wallace Roney

Intuition is the second album by American jazz trumpeter Wallace Roney which was recorded in 1988 and released on the Muse label.

<i>The Standard Bearer</i> (album) 1990 studio album by Wallace Roney

The Standard Bearer is the third album by American jazz trumpeter Wallace Roney which was recorded in 1989 and released on the Muse label early the following year.

<i>Obsession</i> (Wallace Roney album) 1991 studio album by Wallace Roney

Obsession is the fourth album by American jazz trumpeter Wallace Roney which was recorded in 1990 and released on the Muse label early the following year.

<i>In the Now</i> (Cindy Blackman album) 1998 studio album by Cindy Blackman

In the Now is an album by the drummer Cindy Blackman, recorded in 1997 and released on the HighNote label.

<i>Village</i> (album) 1997 studio album by Wallace Roney

Village is an album by American jazz trumpeter Wallace Roney, recorded in late 1996 and released on the Warner Bros. label the following year.

<i>Spectrum Road</i> 2012 studio album by Spectrum Road

Spectrum Road is the debut album by the American supergroup of the same name, featuring bassist and vocalist Jack Bruce, guitarist Vernon Reid, keyboard player John Medeski, and drummer Cindy Blackman Santana. The group's sole release, it was recorded in February 2011 at Maggie's Farm in Pipersville, Pennsylvania, and was issued in 2012 by Palmetto Records. The album pays homage to the jazz fusion band The Tony Williams Lifetime, and is named after the song "Via the Spectrum Road" from the 1969 Lifetime recording Emergency!. Bruce served as a personal link to Lifetime, as he participated in the creation of their second album, Turn It Over (1970).

<i>Another Lifetime</i> (album) 2010 studio album by Cindy Blackman

Another Lifetime is an album by drummer Cindy Blackman. It was recorded at various locations during 2005–2009, and was released in 2010 by the 4Q label. On the album, which pays homage to the jazz fusion band The Tony Williams Lifetime, Blackman is joined by guitarists Fionn O Lochlainn, Mike Stern, and Vernon Reid, saxophonist Joe Lovano, keyboard players Doug Carn, Patrice Rushen, and Carlton Holmes, and bassists Benny Rietveld and David Santos.

<i>Music for the New Millennium</i> 2004 studio album by Cindy Blackman

Music for the New Millennium is a two-CD album by drummer Cindy Blackman. It was recorded at The Music Palace Studio in West Hempstead, New York, and was released in 2004 by Sacred Sound Records. On the album, Blackman is joined by saxophonist J. D. Allen, keyboardist Carlton Holmes, and bassist George Mitchell. The album is dedicated to the memory of Blackman's grandmother Martha Blackman-Higby.

References

  1. ↑ "Blackman, Cindy". Current Biography Yearbook 2010. Ipswich, MA: H.W. Wilson. 2010. pp.  42–45. ISBN   978-0-8242-1113-4.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Wynn, Ron. "Cindy Blackman". AllMusic. Retrieved July 18, 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "The Boston Phoenix. "Limbering Up: Cindy Blackman's rock and jazz" by Jon Garelick. February 21, 2000". Weeklywire.com. Retrieved October 6, 2011.
  4. 1 2 Stieg, Stina (July 16, 2008). "Glenwood Springs' Summer of Jazz features drummer Cindy Blackman". postindependent.com. Retrieved October 18, 2018.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Vargas, Andrew (May 17, 2007). "Cindy Blackman". archive.li. DRUMHEAD Magazine. Archived from the original on May 17, 2007. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
  6. ↑ Stewart, Zan (May 12, 2007). "Dedicated to her drums - Entertainment - NJ.com". archive.is. New Jersey Star-Ledger. Archived from the original on May 12, 2007. Retrieved October 18, 2018.
  7. ↑ Code Red. Liner Notes. 1992.
  8. 1 2 3 "The Village Voice. "Cindy Blackman plays for Bird" by Rick Mark. August 24, 2005". Thevillager.com. Archived from the original on December 26, 2007. Retrieved October 6, 2011.
  9. 1 2 "Jazz House. "New York Drummer Cindy Blackman" interviewed by Natasha Nargis. 2001". Jazzhouse.org. Retrieved October 6, 2011.
  10. 1 2 Walker, Chris J. (November 2020). "This Drummer Got Some". Jazz Times : 5–6.
  11. ↑ Telepathy (liner notes).
  12. ↑ Windsor, The (February 8, 2008). "the Windsor Star. "Drummer trades Kravitz for jazz" by Patrick Cole. February 8, 2008". Canada.com. Archived from the original on November 4, 2012. Retrieved 2011-10-06.
  13. ↑ Schulman, David (May 1, 2004). "Musicians in Their Own Words: Cindy Blackman". NPR.org. Retrieved October 18, 2018.
  14. ↑ "Report for the Road - Cindy Blackman South America Clinic Tour". Zildjian. October 12, 2007. Archived from the original on October 12, 2007. Retrieved October 18, 2018.
  15. ↑ Vozick-Levinson, Simon (July 12, 2010). "Carlos Santana and Cindy Blackman get engaged onstage". EW.com. Retrieved October 18, 2018.
  16. ↑ Laudadio, Marisa (January 5, 2011). "PHOTO: Carlos Santana Weds Drummer Cindy Blackman". PEOPLE.com. Retrieved October 18, 2018.
  17. 1 2 3 4 5 Infantry, Ashante (June 7, 2008). "Cindy Blackman's got the beat | The Star". thestar.com. Retrieved October 18, 2018.
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