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 ...
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", San ...
,
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 w ...
,
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 nu ...
,
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 Sweete ...
,
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 Roc ...
,
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 Merc ...
.
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, brass ...
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 the ...
.
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 Jazz drumming, 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 h ...
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 cours ...
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 th ...
, 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 music, 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, f ...
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
Arthur Blakey (October 11, 1919 – October 16, 1990) was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. He was also known as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina after he converted to Islam for a short time in the late 1940s.
Blakey made a name for himself in the 1 ...
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.
![Cindy Blackman2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/Cindy_Blackman2.jpg)
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 fath ...
's "Jazz Stars of the Future" on
WKCR-FM
WKCR-FM (89.9 FM broadcasting, FM) is a Radio broadcasting, radio station licensed to New York City, New York, New York, United States. The station is owned by Columbia University and serves the New York metropolitan area. Founded in 1941, the s ...
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 ha ...
, 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 and ...
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 tenor ...
,
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 th ...
,
Buster Williams
Charles Anthony "Buster" Williams (born April 17, 1942) is an American jazz bassist. Williams is known for his membership in pianist Herbie Hancock's early 1970s group, working with guitarist Larry Coryell from the 1980s to present, working in th ...
and
Clarence Seay
Clarence Seay (born January 7, 1957, Washington, DC) is a jazz bassist and composer.
He has been an acoustic bassist with the Wallace Roney Quintet for over 15 years. Seay, also known as "Big C", is a disciple of the Paul Chambers school of ja ...
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 jazz, avant-garde.
Willis was b ...
on piano.
Work with Lenny Kravitz
![Cindy Blackman4](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/Cindy_Blackman4.jpg)
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 Roc ...
. 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
![Cindy Blackman 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/ba/Cindy_Blackman_2.jpg)
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 W ...
'' 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 Fr ...
.
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
Doug Carn (born July 14, 1948) is an American jazz musician from St. Augustine, Florida, formerly married to Jean Carne and known for his several albums released for Black Jazz Records. Carn is a multi-instrumentalist known primarily for his wor ...
following the line-up of the original
Tony Williams Lifetime
The Tony Williams Lifetime was a jazz fusion group led by jazz drummer Tony Williams.
Original line-up
The Tony Williams Lifetime was founded in 1969 as a power trio with John McLaughlin on electric guitar, and Larry Young on organ. The band ...
. 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 Awar ...
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 situatio ...
'', 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
Matthew Justin Garrison (born June 2, 1970) is an American jazz bassist.
Since 2011, he has run ShapeShifter Lab in Brooklyn, New York, with Fortuna Sung. Described by ''the New York Times'' as "an electric bass virtuoso", he has toured with He ...
,
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
![Cindy Blackman5](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ef/Cindy_Blackman5.jpg)
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 featured ...
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 compete ...
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 Baháʼí Faith and the unity of religion, essential worth of all religions and Baháʼí Faith and the unity of humanity, the unity of all people. Established by ...
at the age of 18; she also started studying
Kabbalah
Kabbalah ( he, קַבָּלָה ''Qabbālā'', literally "reception, tradition") is an esoteric method, discipline and Jewish theology, school of thought in Jewish mysticism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal ( ''Məqūbbāl'' "rece ...
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 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 jazz, avant-garde.
Willis was b ...
,
Buster Williams
Charles Anthony "Buster" Williams (born April 17, 1942) is an American jazz bassist. Williams is known for his membership in pianist Herbie Hancock's early 1970s group, working with guitarist Larry Coryell from the 1980s to present, working in th ...
,
Clarence Seay
Clarence Seay (born January 7, 1957, Washington, DC) is a jazz bassist and composer.
He has been an acoustic bassist with the Wallace Roney Quintet for over 15 years. Seay, also known as "Big C", is a disciple of the Paul Chambers school of ja ...
(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 both ...
(
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 the ...
, 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 W ...
'' with
Antoine Roney Antoine Roney (born April 1, 1963, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American tenor saxophonist, brother to trumpeter Wallace Roney.Allmusic profile/ref>
He attended the Duke Ellington School of the Arts and the Hartt School of Music of the Univer ...
,
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
Clarence Seay (born January 7, 1957, Washington, DC) is a jazz bassist and composer.
He has been an acoustic bassist with the Wallace Roney Quintet for over 15 years. Seay, also known as "Big C", is a disciple of the Paul Chambers school of ja ...
(Muse, 1992
994
Year 994 ( CMXCIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Byzantine Empire
* September 15 – Battle of the Orontes: Fatimid forces, under Turkish gener ...
*''
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 nu ...
(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 G ...
'' 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 sa ...
, Jacky Terrasson, Ron Carter (
HighNote
HighNote Records is a jazz record company and label founded by Joe Fields with his son, Barney Fields, in 1997.
Joe Fields worked for Prestige Records in the 1960s, and in the 1970s founded Muse Records. After he sold Muse, he started the Highn ...
, 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, 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
Doug Carn (born July 14, 1948) is an American jazz musician from St. Augustine, Florida, formerly married to Jean Carne and known for his several albums released for Black Jazz Records. Carn is a multi-instrumentalist known primarily for his wor ...
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 Awar ...
, 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 fil ...
(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 project ...
* ''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
Santana may refer to:
Transportation
* Volkswagen Santana, an automobile
* Santana Cycles, manufacturer of tandem bicycles
* Santana Motors, a former Spanish automobile manufacturer
Boats
* Santana 20, an American sailboat design by W. D. Sch ...
*''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 Thelonious Monk, Monkish wit and drive".
Career
At twenty-one, Kendr ...
*''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 Roc ...
* ''
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 The Standard Bearer may refer to:
* ''The Standard Bearer'' (album), 1989 album by Wallace Roney
* ''The Standard Bearer'' (Rembrandt, 1636)
* ''The Standard Bearer'' (Lanzinger painting), portrait of Adolf Hitler
* ''The Standard Bearer'' (ma ...
'' (Muse, 1989)
*''
Obsession'' (Muse, 1990)
With
Santana
Santana may refer to:
Transportation
* Volkswagen Santana, an automobile
* Santana Cycles, manufacturer of tandem bicycles
* Santana Motors, a former Spanish automobile manufacturer
Boats
* Santana 20, an American sailboat design by W. D. Sch ...
*''
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 featured ...
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 w ...
* ''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
''Big Neighborhood'' is the fourteenth solo studio album by jazz guitarist Mike Stern. The 2009 release was produced by Jim Beard and released by Heads Up International. It debuted at number five on the ''Billboard'' Top Traditional Jazz Albums c ...
'' (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 Merc ...
*''
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
Thomas Michael "T. M." Stevens (born July 28, 1951) is an American bass guitarist from New York City. Stevens has worked with an array of rock, R&B, and pop acts as a session musician, and also leads his own groups and works as a solo performer ...
,
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