Cindy Blackman Santana (born November 18, 1959), sometimes known as Cindy Blackman,
is an American
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major f ...
and rock drummer. Blackman has recorded several jazz albums as a bandleader and has performed with
Pharoah Sanders
Pharoah Sanders (born Ferrell Lee Sanders; October 13, 1940 – September 24, 2022) was an American jazz saxophonist. Known for his overblowing, harmonic, and multiphonic techniques on the saxophone, as well as his use of " sheets of sound", Sa ...
,
Sonny Simmons
Huey "Sonny" Simmons (August 4, 1933 – April 6, 2021) was an American jazz musician.
Biography
Simmons was born on August 4, 1933 in Sicily Island, Louisiana. He grew up in Oakland, California, where he began playing the English horn. (Along ...
,
Ron Carter
Ronald Levin Carter (born May 4, 1937) is an American jazz double bassist. His appearances on 2,221 recording sessions make him the most-recorded jazz bassist in history. He has won three Grammy awards, and is also a cellist who has recorded ...
,
Sam Rivers,
Cassandra Wilson
Cassandra Wilson (born December 4, 1955) is an American jazz singer, songwriter, and producer from Jackson, Mississippi. She is one of the most successful female Jazz singers and has been described by critic Gary Giddins as "a singer blessed wi ...
,
Angela Bofill
Angela Tomasa Bofill (born May 2, 1954) is an American singer-songwriter of Cuban- Puerto Rican origins. A New York native, Bofill began her professional career in the mid-1970s. Bofill is most known for singles such as, " This Time I'll Be Swee ...
,
Buckethead
Brian Patrick Carroll (born May 13, 1969), known professionally as Buckethead, is an American guitarist, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He has received critical acclaim for his innovative electric guitar playing. His music spans severa ...
,
Bill Laswell
William Otis Laswell (born February 12, 1955) is an American bass guitarist, record producer, and record label owner. He has been involved in thousands of recordings with many collaborators from all over the world. His music draws from funk, w ...
,
Lenny Kravitz
Leonard Albert Kravitz (born May 26, 1964) is an American singer-songwriter. His style incorporates elements of rock, blues, soul, R&B, funk, jazz, reggae, hard rock, psychedelic, pop and folk.
Kravitz won the Grammy Award for Best Male ...
,
Joe Henderson
Joe Henderson (April 24, 1937 – June 30, 2001) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. In a career spanning more than four decades, Henderson played with many of the leading American players of his day and recorded for several prominent l ...
and
Joss Stone
Joscelyn Eve Stoker (born 11 April 1987), known professionally as Joss Stone, is an English singer, songwriter and actress. She rose to prominence in late 2003 with her multi-platinum debut album, '' The Soul Sessions'', which made the 2004 Mer ...
.
Biography and early career
Born November 18, 1959, in
Yellow Springs, Ohio, her mother and grandmother were classical musicians and her uncle a
vibist
The vibraphone is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone is called a ''vibraphonist,'' ''vibraharpist, ...
.
When Cindy was a child, her mother took her to classical concerts.
Blackman's introduction to the drums happened at the age of seven in her hometown of Yellow Springs, Ohio. 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.".
Soon after, Blackman began playing in the
school band
A school band is a group of student musicians who rehearse and perform instrumental music together. A concert band is usually under the direction of one or more conductors (band directors). A school band consists of woodwind instruments, bras ...
and persuaded her parents to get her toy drums.
When Blackman was 11, she moved to
Bristol, Connecticut
Bristol is a suburban city located in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, southwest-west of Hartford. The city is also 120 miles southwest from Boston, and approximately 100 miles northeast of New York City. As of the 2020 census, the ...
and studied at the
Hartt School of Music
The Hartt School is the comprehensive performing arts conservatory of the University of Hartford located in West Hartford, Connecticut, United States, that offers degree programs in music, dance, and theatre. Founded in 1920 by Julius Hartt and ...
in
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since ...
.
Blackman began to have an interest in jazz at age 13 after listening to
Max Roach
Maxwell Lemuel Roach (January 10, 1924 – August 16, 2007) was an American jazz drummer and composer. A pioneer of bebop, he worked in many other styles of music, and is generally considered one of the most important drummers in history. He work ...
and got her first professional drum set at 14.
Blackman moved to Boston to study at the
Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level course ...
with
Alan Dawson
Alan Dawson (July 14, 1929 – February 23, 1996) was an American jazz drummer and percussion teacher based in Boston.
Biography
Dawson was born in Marietta, Pennsylvania and raised in Roxbury, Massachusetts. Serving in the U.S. Army during t ...
, who had also taught
Tony Williams—an inspiration for Blackman.
[''Code Red''. Liner Notes. 1992.] While she was at Berklee a friend recommended her for a gig with
The Drifters
The Drifters are several American doo-wop and R&B/soul vocal groups. They were originally formed as a backing group for Clyde McPhatter, formerly the lead tenor of Billy Ward and his Dominoes in 1953. The second group of Drifters, formed in 1 ...
so Blackman left college after three semesters and moved to New York City in 1982.
While in New York, Blackman worked as a performer
but also attended shows to listen to masters play.
Art Blakey became a significant influence.
"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.", said Blackman.
In 1984, Blackman was showcased on
Ted Curson
Theodore Curson (June 3, 1935 – November 4, 2012) was an American jazz trumpeter.
Life and career
Curson was born in Philadelphia. He became interested in playing trumpet after watching a newspaper salesman play a silver trumpet. Curson's fa ...
's "Jazz Stars of the Future" on
WKCR-FM
WKCR-FM (89.9 FM) is a radio station licensed to New York, New York, United States. The station is owned by Columbia University and serves the New York metropolitan area. Founded in 1941, the station traces its history back to 1908 with the fir ...
in New York.
In 1987, Blackman's first compositions appeared on
Wallace Roney
Wallace Roney (May 25, 1960 – March 31, 2020) was an American jazz (hard bop and post-bop) trumpeter. He has won 1 Grammy award and has two nominations.
Roney took lessons from Clark Terry and Dizzy Gillespie and studied with Miles Davis from ...
's ''
Verses'' album.
In 1988 Blackman released ''
Arcane
Arcane may refer to:
Books and comics
* Anton Arcane, a DC Comics character
* Arcane Jill Watson, a character in ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy''
* Arcane literature, such as in Cthulhu Mythos
Gaming
* Arcane magic (''Dungeons & Drago ...
'' on
Muse Records
Muse Records was a jazz record company and label founded in New York City by Joe Fields in 1972.
Fields worked as an executive for Prestige Records in the 1960s. Several of the albums were previously released on Cobblestone Records. Muse also ...
, her debut as a bandleader.
Her band included Wallace Roney on trumpet,
Kenny Garrett
Kenny Garrett (born October 9, 1960) is an American post-bop jazz musician and composer who gained recognition in his youth as a member of the Duke Ellington Orchestra and for his time with Miles Davis's band. His primary instruments are alto an ...
on
alto saxophone
The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in E, smaller than the B teno ...
,
Joe Henderson
Joe Henderson (April 24, 1937 – June 30, 2001) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. In a career spanning more than four decades, Henderson played with many of the leading American players of his day and recorded for several prominent l ...
on
tenor saxophone
The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while t ...
,
Buster Williams and
Clarence Seay on
bass, and
Larry Willis
Lawrence Elliott Willis (December 20, 1942 – September 29, 2019) was an American jazz pianist and composer. He performed in a wide range of styles, including jazz fusion, Afro-Cuban jazz, bebop, and avant-garde.
Willis was born in New York C ...
on piano.
Work with Lenny Kravitz
In 1993, Blackman had an opportunity to work with
Lenny Kravitz
Leonard Albert Kravitz (born May 26, 1964) is an American singer-songwriter. His style incorporates elements of rock, blues, soul, R&B, funk, jazz, reggae, hard rock, psychedelic, pop and folk.
Kravitz won the Grammy Award for Best Male ...
. 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.
She would go on to have an 18-year run as Kravitz's touring drummer.
Solo career
In the late 1990s, Blackman made her first recording with a working group. They called the album ''
Telepathy
Telepathy () is the purported vicarious transmission of information from one person's mind to another's without using any known human sensory channels or physical interaction. The term was first coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Frederic ...
'' because of the tight communication in the band.
Blackman and her band also recorded the instructional video ''Multiplicity.''
In 2004, Blackman took a break from touring with Lenny Kravitz to focus on her own music.
That year, she released ''
Music for the New Millennium'' on her Sacred Sounds Label.
"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
A harmonic is a wave with a frequency that is a positive integer multiple of the ''fundamental frequency'', the frequency of the original periodic signal, such as a sinusoidal wave. The original signal is also called the ''1st harmonic'', the ...
and note choices".
In September 2007, she made a tour of South America, teaching clinics in Argentina, Chile, and Brazil,
and on November 30, 2007, Blackman and her quartet performed at Art After 5 at the
Philadelphia Museum of Art
The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMoA) is an art museum originally chartered in 1876 for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The main museum building was completed in 1928 on Fairmount, a hill located at the northwest end of the Benjamin ...
.
In 2010, she released a first tribute album to her inspiration
Tony Williams. ''
Another Lifetime'' featured
Mike Stern
Mike Stern (born January 10, 1953) is an American jazz guitarist. After playing with Blood, Sweat & Tears, he worked with drummer Billy Cobham, then with trumpeter Miles Davis from 1981 to 1983 and again in 1985. He then began a solo career, re ...
on guitar and organist
Doug Carn following the line-up of the original
Tony Williams Lifetime. As guest musicians appear
Joe Lovano
Joseph Salvatore Lovano (born December 29, 1952)"Joe Lovano." ''Contemporary Musicians''. Vol. 13. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale, 1994. Retrieved via ''Biography in Context'' database, May 5, 2017. is an American jazz saxophonist, alto clarin ...
,
Patrice Rushen
Patrice Louise Rushen (born September 30, 1954) is an American jazz pianist and R&B singer. She is also a composer, record producer, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and music director.
Her 1982 single " Forget Me Nots" received a Grammy Awa ...
and
Vernon Reid
Vernon Alphonsus Reid (born 22 August 1958) is an English-born American guitarist and songwriter. Reid is the founder and primary songwriter of the rock band Living Colour, Reid was named No. 66 on ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's 2003 list of the ...
. Reid is the lead guitarist on the second Williams tribute album ''
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 ...
'' (2012), a collaboration between Blackman, Reid,
John Medeski
Anthony John Medeski (born June 28, 1965) is an American jazz keyboard player and composer. Medeski is a veteran of New York's 1990s avant-garde jazz scene and is known popularly as a member of Medeski Martin & Wood. He plays the acoustic piano ...
on organ and former bassist of Lifetime and
Cream
Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this process ...
Jack Bruce
John Symon Asher Bruce (14 May 1943 – 25 October 2014) was a Scottish bassist, singer-songwriter, musician and composer. He gained popularity as the primary lead vocalist and bassist of British rock band Cream. After the group disbande ...
. Bruce also sings on three tracks of the album and Blackman lend her voice to "Where", originally written by (then Lifetime guitarist)
John McLaughlin John or Jon McLaughlin may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* John McLaughlin (musician) (born 1942), English jazz fusion guitarist, member of Mahavishnu Orchestra
* Jon McLaughlin (musician) (born 1982), American singer-songwriter
* John McLaug ...
and sung by Williams (''
Emergency!
''Emergency!'' is an American action-adventure medical drama television series jointly produced by Mark VII Limited and Universal Television. Debuting on NBC as a midseason replacement on January 15, 1972, replacing the two short-lived situat ...
'', 1969), which already appeared on ''Another Lifetime'' in an instrumental version. She appeared at the 2011 Montreux festival, Switzerland, playing 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 John or Jon McLaughlin may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* John McLaughlin (musician) (born 1942), English jazz fusion guitarist, member of Mahavishnu Orchestra
* Jon McLaughlin (musician) (born 1982), American singer-songwriter
* John McLaug ...
,
Matthew Garrison,
Vernon Reid
Vernon Alphonsus Reid (born 22 August 1958) is an English-born American guitarist and songwriter. Reid is the founder and primary songwriter of the rock band Living Colour, Reid was named No. 66 on ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's 2003 list of the ...
,
Kirk Hammett
Kirk Lee Hammett (born November 18, 1962) is an American musician who has been the lead guitarist and a contributing songwriter for heavy metal band Metallica since 1983. Before joining Metallica, he formed and named the band Exodus. In 2003, ...
, Bill Ortiz, and
Neal Evans.
Personal life
On July 9, 2010,
Carlos Santana
Carlos Humberto Santana Barragán (; born July 20, 1947) is an American guitarist who rose to fame in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band Santana, which pioneered a fusion of Rock and roll and Latin American jazz. Its sound feature ...
proposed to Blackman on stage during a concert at Tinley Park, Illinois.
Blackman is Santana's touring drummer; he proposed immediately after her drum solo. They were married on
Maui
The island of Maui (; Hawaiian: ) is the second-largest of the islands of the state of Hawaii at 727.2 square miles (1,883 km2) and is the 17th largest island in the United States. Maui is the largest of Maui County's four islands, which ...
, Hawaii on December 19, 2010.
Blackman attended a
Baptist
Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul com ...
church during her teenage years, but became a follower of the
Baháʼí Faith
The Baháʼí Faith is a religion founded in the 19th century that teaches the essential worth of all religions and the unity of all people. Established by Baháʼu'lláh in the 19th century, it initially developed in Iran and parts of the ...
at the age of 18; she also started studying
Kabbalah
Kabbalah ( he, קַבָּלָה ''Qabbālā'', literally "reception, tradition") is an esoteric method, discipline and school of thought in Jewish mysticism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal ( ''Məqūbbāl'' "receiver"). The defin ...
in the 2000s.
Blackman cultivates spirituality in her musicianship.
"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.
Blackman is a rarity as a female jazz percussionist.
"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."
Discography
As leader
*''
Arcane
Arcane may refer to:
Books and comics
* Anton Arcane, a DC Comics character
* Arcane Jill Watson, a character in ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy''
* Arcane literature, such as in Cthulhu Mythos
Gaming
* Arcane magic (''Dungeons & Drago ...
'' with
Wallace Roney
Wallace Roney (May 25, 1960 – March 31, 2020) was an American jazz (hard bop and post-bop) trumpeter. He has won 1 Grammy award and has two nominations.
Roney took lessons from Clark Terry and Dizzy Gillespie and studied with Miles Davis from ...
,
Joe Henderson
Joe Henderson (April 24, 1937 – June 30, 2001) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. In a career spanning more than four decades, Henderson played with many of the leading American players of his day and recorded for several prominent l ...
,
Kenny Garrett
Kenny Garrett (born October 9, 1960) is an American post-bop jazz musician and composer who gained recognition in his youth as a member of the Duke Ellington Orchestra and for his time with Miles Davis's band. His primary instruments are alto an ...
,
Larry Willis
Lawrence Elliott Willis (December 20, 1942 – September 29, 2019) was an American jazz pianist and composer. He performed in a wide range of styles, including jazz fusion, Afro-Cuban jazz, bebop, and avant-garde.
Willis was born in New York C ...
,
Buster Williams,
Clarence Seay (Muse, 1987)
*''
Code Red'' with
Steve Coleman
Steve Coleman (born September 20, 1956) is an American saxophonist, composer, bandleader and music theorist. In 2014, he was named a MacArthur Fellow.
Early life
Steve Coleman was born and grew up in South Side, Chicago. He started playing al ...
,
Wallace Roney
Wallace Roney (May 25, 1960 – March 31, 2020) was an American jazz (hard bop and post-bop) trumpeter. He has won 1 Grammy award and has two nominations.
Roney took lessons from Clark Terry and Dizzy Gillespie and studied with Miles Davis from ...
,
Kenny Barron
Kenny Barron (born June 9, 1943) is an American jazz pianist, who has appeared on hundreds of recordings as leader and sideman and is considered one of the most influential mainstream jazz pianists since the bebop era.
Biography
Born in Philadel ...
,
Lonnie Plaxico
Lonnie Plaxico (born September 4, 1960) is an American jazz double bassist.
Biography
Plaxico was born in Chicago, Illinois, into a musical family, and started playing the bass at the age of twelve, turning professional at fourteen (playing bo ...
(
Muse
In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in th ...
, 1990
992
Year 992 ( CMXCII) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Worldwide
* Winter – A superflare from the sun causes an Aurora Borealis, with visibility as fa ...
*''
Telepathy
Telepathy () is the purported vicarious transmission of information from one person's mind to another's without using any known human sensory channels or physical interaction. The term was first coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Frederic ...
'' with
Antoine Roney,
Jacky Terrasson
Jacky Terrasson (born November 27, 1965) is a French jazz pianist and composer.
Background
Terrasson's mother is African-American from Georgia, and his father is French. From his parents he heard classical music as a child. He began piano lesson ...
,
Clarence Seay (Muse, 1992
994
*''
The Oracle'' with
Gary Bartz
Gary Bartz (born September 26, 1940) is an American jazz saxophonist. He has won two Grammy Awards.
Biography
Bartz studied at the Juilliard School. In the early 1960s, he performed with Eric Dolphy and McCoy Tyner in Charles Mingus' Jazz Works ...
, Kenny Barron,
Ron Carter
Ronald Levin Carter (born May 4, 1937) is an American jazz double bassist. His appearances on 2,221 recording sessions make him the most-recorded jazz bassist in history. He has won three Grammy awards, and is also a cellist who has recorded ...
(Muse, 1996)
*''
In the Now
''In the Now'' is the second solo album by British singer-songwriter Barry Gibb, released on 7 October 2016 by Columbia Records. Although his second solo album (since 1984's ''Now Voyager''), it is the first of all new material since the Bee Gee ...
'' with
Ravi Coltrane
Ravi Coltrane (born August 6, 1965) is an American jazz saxophonist. Co-owner of the record label RKM Music, he has produced pianist Luis Perdomo, guitarist David Gilmore, and trumpeter Ralph Alessi.
Biography
Ravi Coltrane is the son of ...
, Jacky Terrasson, Ron Carter (
HighNote, 1998)
*''
Works on Canvas'' with
J. D. Allen III (tenor sax), Carlton Holmes (keyboards), George Mitchell (bass) (HighNote, 1999)
*''A Lil' Somethin' Somethin' – The Best of the Muse Years'' (compilation,
32 Jazz
32 Records was a record label established in 1995 by record producer Joel Dorn and attorney Robert Miller. Its 32 Jazz imprint released a successful series of compilation albums. It was named for Dorn's favorite sports number. It also released ...
, 2000)
*''
Someday...'' with J. D. Allen III, Carlton Holmes, George Mitchell (HighNote, 2001)
*''
Music for the New Millennium'' with J. D. Allen III, Carlton Holmes, George Mitchell (Sacred Sound, 2004)
*''
Another Lifetime'' with
Mike Stern
Mike Stern (born January 10, 1953) is an American jazz guitarist. After playing with Blood, Sweat & Tears, he worked with drummer Billy Cobham, then with trumpeter Miles Davis from 1981 to 1983 and again in 1985. He then began a solo career, re ...
and
Doug Carn featuring guests
Joe Lovano
Joseph Salvatore Lovano (born December 29, 1952)"Joe Lovano." ''Contemporary Musicians''. Vol. 13. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale, 1994. Retrieved via ''Biography in Context'' database, May 5, 2017. is an American jazz saxophonist, alto clarin ...
,
Vernon Reid
Vernon Alphonsus Reid (born 22 August 1958) is an English-born American guitarist and songwriter. Reid is the founder and primary songwriter of the rock band Living Colour, Reid was named No. 66 on ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's 2003 list of the ...
,
Patrice Rushen
Patrice Louise Rushen (born September 30, 1954) is an American jazz pianist and R&B singer. She is also a composer, record producer, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and music director.
Her 1982 single " Forget Me Nots" received a Grammy Awa ...
, Benny Rietveld and David Santos (4 Q, 2010)
*''Give The Drummer Some '' (Present Future LLC, 2020)
As co-leader or sidewoman
With
Eddie Allen
*''Summer Days'' (Enja, 2000)
With
Santi Debriano
Santi Wilson Debriano (born 1955 in Panama) is a jazz bassist.
Debriano was raised in Brooklyn, having moved there with his family at age four. He studied composition at Union College in New York, then attended the New England Conservatory of Mus ...
and
David Fiuczynski
David Fiuczynski (born March 5, 1964) is an American contemporary jazz guitarist, best known as the leader of the Screaming Headless Torsos and David Fiuczynski's KiF, and as a member of Hasidic New Wave. He has played on more than 95 albums as ...
* ''Trio + Two'' featuring
Greg Osby
Greg Osby (born August 3, 1960) is an American saxophonist and composer.
Biography
Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Osby studied at Howard University, then at the Berklee College of Music. He moved to New York City in 1982, where he played with Jaki ...
and
Jerry Gonzalez
Jerry may refer to:
Animals
* Jerry (Grand National winner), racehorse, winner of the 1840 Grand National
* Jerry (St Leger winner), racehorse, winner of 1824 St Leger Stakes
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Jerry'' (film), a 2006 Indian film ...
(Free Lance, 1991)
With
Melinda Doolittle
Melinda Marie Doolittle (born October 6, 1977) is an American singer who finished as the third place finalist on the sixth season of ''American Idol''. Prior to her appearance on ''American Idol'', Doolittle worked as a professional back-up sin ...
*''
Coming Back to You'' (Hi Fi, 2009)
With Kali Z. Fasteau and
William Parker
*''An Alternative Universe'' (Flying Note, 2011)
With
Russell Gunn
Russell Gunn (born October 20, 1971 in Chicago) is an American contemporary jazz trumpeter.
He grew up in East St. Louis, Illinois playing trumpet. As a kid his musical interest was hip hop, with LL Cool J being his first music idol. His projec ...
* ''Love Requiem'' (HighNote, 1999)
With
The Isley Brothers
The Isley Brothers ( ) are an American musical group originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, that began as a vocal trio consisting of brothers O'Kelly Isley Jr., Rudolph Isley and Ronald Isley in the 1950s. With a career spanning over seven decades, ...
and
Santana
*''Power of Peace''
(Sony Legacy, 2017)
With
Rodney Kendrick
Rodney Kendrick (born April 30, 1960) is an American jazz pianist, composer, and record producer. He has been described as a "hard swinging player and composer with a delightful Monkish wit and drive".
Career
At twenty-one, Kendrick began a prima ...
*''The Colors of Rhythm'' (Impulse!, 2014)
With
Lenny Kravitz
Leonard Albert Kravitz (born May 26, 1964) is an American singer-songwriter. His style incorporates elements of rock, blues, soul, R&B, funk, jazz, reggae, hard rock, psychedelic, pop and folk.
Kravitz won the Grammy Award for Best Male ...
* ''
5'' (Virgin, 1998)
With Greg Lewis
* ''Organ Monk'' (Greg Lewis Music, 2010)
With
Carlos Martins
* ''Passagem'' (Enja, 1996)
With
Wallace Roney
Wallace Roney (May 25, 1960 – March 31, 2020) was an American jazz (hard bop and post-bop) trumpeter. He has won 1 Grammy award and has two nominations.
Roney took lessons from Clark Terry and Dizzy Gillespie and studied with Miles Davis from ...
*''
Intuition
Intuition is the ability to acquire knowledge without recourse to conscious reasoning. Different fields use the word "intuition" in very different ways, including but not limited to: direct access to unconscious knowledge; unconscious cognition; ...
'' (Muse, 1988)
*''
The Standard Bearer'' (Muse, 1989)
*''
Obsession'' (Muse, 1990)
With
Santana
*''
Corazón'' (RCA, 2014)
*''Corazón: Live From México - Live It To Believe It'' (RCA, 2014)
With
Carlos Santana
Carlos Humberto Santana Barragán (; born July 20, 1947) is an American guitarist who rose to fame in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band Santana, which pioneered a fusion of Rock and roll and Latin American jazz. Its sound feature ...
and
John McLaughlin John or Jon McLaughlin may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* John McLaughlin (musician) (born 1942), English jazz fusion guitarist, member of Mahavishnu Orchestra
* Jon McLaughlin (musician) (born 1982), American singer-songwriter
* John McLaug ...
*''Live at Montreux 2011: Invitation to Illumination'' (DVD) (Eagle Rock, 2015)
With Saxemble
* ''Saxemble'' (Qwest, 1996)
With
Sonny Simmons
Huey "Sonny" Simmons (August 4, 1933 – April 6, 2021) was an American jazz musician.
Biography
Simmons was born on August 4, 1933 in Sicily Island, Louisiana. He grew up in Oakland, California, where he began playing the English horn. (Along ...
* ''American Jungle'' (Qwest, 1997)
With Spectrum Road (
Jack Bruce
John Symon Asher Bruce (14 May 1943 – 25 October 2014) was a Scottish bassist, singer-songwriter, musician and composer. He gained popularity as the primary lead vocalist and bassist of British rock band Cream. After the group disbande ...
,
Vernon Reid
Vernon Alphonsus Reid (born 22 August 1958) is an English-born American guitarist and songwriter. Reid is the founder and primary songwriter of the rock band Living Colour, Reid was named No. 66 on ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's 2003 list of the ...
,
John Medeski
Anthony John Medeski (born June 28, 1965) is an American jazz keyboard player and composer. Medeski is a veteran of New York's 1990s avant-garde jazz scene and is known popularly as a member of Medeski Martin & Wood. He plays the acoustic piano ...
, Blackman Santana)
* ''
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 ...
'' (
Palmetto, 2012)
With
Mike Stern
Mike Stern (born January 10, 1953) is an American jazz guitarist. After playing with Blood, Sweat & Tears, he worked with drummer Billy Cobham, then with trumpeter Miles Davis from 1981 to 1983 and again in 1985. He then began a solo career, re ...
*''
Big Neighborhood'' (Heads Up, 2009)
With
Joss Stone
Joscelyn Eve Stoker (born 11 April 1987), known professionally as Joss Stone, is an English singer, songwriter and actress. She rose to prominence in late 2003 with her multi-platinum debut album, '' The Soul Sessions'', which made the 2004 Mer ...
*''
The Soul Sessions'' (S-Curve, 2003)
*''
Mind Body & Soul'' (S-Curve, 2004)
With Alicyn Yaffee
*''Someone Else'' (Madman Junkyard / Little Green Butterfly, 2016)
With various artists
*''Black Night – Deep Purple Tribute According to New York'' with
TM Stevens,
Stevie Salas
Stevie Salas (born November 17, 1964) is a Native American guitarist, author, television host, music director, record producer, film composer, and former advisor of contemporary music at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. ...
,
Corey Glover
Corey Glover (born November 6, 1964) is an American singer, guitarist and actor. He is the lead vocalist of the rock band Living Colour and has toured as the vocalist for the funk band Galactic. As an actor, he played Francis in the 1986 war movi ...
,
Richie Kotzen
Richard Dale Kotzen Jr. (born February 3, 1970) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. As a solo artist, Kotzen has back catalogue of more than 20 album releases. He was a member of glam metal band Poison from 1991 to 1993, Mr. Big ...
(Revolver, 1997)
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blackman Santana, Cindy
American jazz drummers
American rock drummers
African-American drummers
American women drummers
American women jazz musicians
1959 births
Living people
People from Yellow Springs, Ohio
African-American Bahá'ís
Muse Records artists
University of Hartford Hartt School alumni
Former Baptists
Converts to the Bahá'i Faith from Protestantism
20th-century Bahá'ís
21st-century Bahá'ís
Berklee College of Music alumni
20th-century American drummers
20th-century American women musicians
Jazz musicians from Ohio
Tak Matsumoto Group members
HighNote Records artists
African-American women musicians
20th-century African-American women
20th-century African-American musicians
21st-century African-American people
21st-century African-American women