The Cindy Blackman Santana OM Series was designed in conjunction with
Cindy to capture the vibier, more dynamic cymbal sounds from the golden
era of Jazz. Focused, metallic sticking with a dark, dry wash and a
thunderous crash make this ride a perfect choice for Jazz, Indie Rock,
or any situation calling for the classic 60's Turkish sound.
The Mantra series plays perfect counterpart to Cindy's OM series. Adding
higher volume, and greater attack, while still maintaining a musical
balance of warm overtones. Great for situations which require greater
projection and cut that still require a rich, dark sound.
Cindy Blackman-Santana
COUNTRY: USA
BAND: Spectrum Road
Cindy Blackman Santana is a virtuoso drummer whose
artistry spans the realms of jazz and rock. As a bandleader and as a musician,
Cindy is a sound innovator with a passion for pushing creative boundaries and
exploring movement and change. She is as known for the nuances and colors she
brings to her beats and fills as she is for the sheer power of her soulful
playing. “Some drummers act, some react. Some keep time, others create it.
Cindy Blackman Santana is among the few who can,” writes Mike Zwerin for the
International Herald Tribune.
“I think of playing as controlled freedom, and in jazz, especially, that’s
exactly what you have. I love it,” says Cindy. “You know the forms of the
songs, but you have the freedom to stretch over them. You want the music to
grow and breathe, and you want to invite creativity from all the musicians. As
you’re going along, you can change the color, the feel, the mood in different
ways, or go off the chart and open it up to something new. Controlled freedom
is an incredible discipline in itself, requiring a lot of focus. Improvisation
like that is art in its highest form.”
Cindy has been creating magnificent musical time and space since the beginning
of her career as a busking street performer in New York City in the ’80s through
the present day, touring the globe and making albums at the top of her
game—including her latest, the critically acclaimed Another Lifetime (2010). In
addition to collaborating onstage and in-studio with her own group—also known
as Another Lifetime—she has toured and recorded with artists including Pharoah
Sanders, Cassandra Wilson, Bill Laswell, Joss Stone, Joe Henderson, Buckethead,
Don Pullen, Hugh Masakela, and Angela Bofill. From 1993 to 2007, she was also
the drummer in Lenny Kravitz’s band, through multiple world tours and hit
albums. In 2010, she was part of the all-star line-up performing “Bitches
Brew,” a tribute to Miles Davis’ seminal album staged at the San Francisco Jazz
Festival and NYC Winter JazzFest.
More recently, Cindy has been sitting in with Santana on the road. "They
have a great band vibe. It's nice to play with people who have grown together,
built a sound together, and stayed together," she says. "When that
happens, you can create so many different levels of communication. That's what
they've done, and I love interacting with it." Cindy first played with
Santana in spring 2010, when drummer Dennis Chambers had a previous commitment.
They had first met several years earlier at a festival in Europe when Cindy was
touring with Kravitz.
Electricity onstage generated chemistry offstage—Carlos proposed to Cindy
during a July 2010 concert, and they married in December. Looking ahead, they
will collaborate artistically as well, on projects that will no doubt reflect
their shared passion for improvisation, and belief in the transcendent nature
of music. “To me, music is completely spiritual, it’s the way you connect with
your higher self, with the universe,” says Cindy. “It’s also a way to share
light with millions of people. They don’t need to speak your language, have
your beliefs, or be in the same place you are. The music speaks, it channels
good energy, and makes a difference in people’s lives. Carlos and I are both
conscious of doing that.”
On her own, Cindy is continuing to develop the heady jazz-rock fusion that she
drives so powerfully on 2010’s Another Lifetime. The tour de force album is a
tribute to her mentor, the legendary drummer Tony Williams, and features
reimaginings of eight songs from his seminal ’70s group Lifetime, as well as
three original tracks by Cindy. In its review, All About Jazz wrote,
“Blackman's sonic explorations take jazz-rock beyond where the late drummer
envisioned it when he was putting heads to bed with guitarist John McLaughlin,
bassist Jack Bruce and organist Larry Young…Jazz-rock as performed by Williams,
and now Blackman, is very much alive and well.” The Guardian (U.K.) review
called it “a firebreathing session,” adding “the mad-axeman guitar and
boneshaking drumming this style invites is certainly present…but Blackman
balances it with tonal splashes of abstract colour.”
“I loved everything about Tony’s playing. He changed the sound of music several
times with different tunings and configurations, and innovated with every
limb,” says Cindy—who first met Williams in her teens when he did a clinic at
the drum shop near her home in Connecticut. “His attitude and bravado behind
the kit was incredible, and his technique was impeccable.” Another Lifetime was
recorded on both coasts, with New York sessions featuring Mike Clarke, Doug
Carn, and Benny Reitveld accompanying Cindy, and L.A. sessions including Vernon
Reid, Patrice Rushen, Joe Lovano, and David Santos. Going forward, Cindy is
planning to incorporate more of a vocal element into her music.
Cindy remembers first asking for drums when she was about five or six—“My mom
says I was born hitting things and making rhythms,” she says. She graduated
from a toy drum kit to her first professional one at age 13, and went on to
play in her high school band. She was living in New York just a few years
later. Cindy took advantage of abundant opportunities to see legendary drummers
perform live, including Max Roach, Al Foster, Jack DeJohnette, Roy Haynes, and
Art Blakey, who became another of her major influences and mentors. Outside of
the jazz realm, other greats she admires include Clyde Stubblefield (James
Brown), John Bonham (Led Zeppelin), and Mitch Mitchell (Jimi Hendrix).
Her recording career began in the late ’80s, and she has released albums with
an acoustic ensemble—the Cindy Blackman quartet—as well as with her electric
outfit. One she cites as among her favorites is 2000’s Works On Canvas. “I like
where the band was at that point, our sound was becoming really cohesive,” she
says. The review in Jazz Times noted that the album, “proceeds like an
impressionistic suite in which she not only functions as the main rhythmic
engine of the music, but also a magnificent colorist…Works on Canvas is an
amazing portrait of one of this generation's most colorful drummers.”
Cindy Blackman Santana continues to build a body of work and artistic legacy
that make her one of the finest drummers of this or any generation.