Cindy Blackman (born November 18, 1959), known as Cindy Blackman Santana since she married guitarist Carlos Santana in 2010, is an American jazz and rock drummer performing since the 80s. 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, Joss Stone and Carlos Santana.
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. As a child, her mother took her to classical concerts.
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. "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 and persuaded her parents to get her toy drums.
When Blackman was 11, she moved to Bristol, Connecticut,
Blackman then attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston, where she studied with Alan Dawson, While she was at Berklee, a friend recommended her for a gig with The Drifters, but also attended shows to listen to others play. 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." 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. 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.
Personal life
thumb|Blackman performing at [[SESC Pompeia|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. Blackman is Santana's touring drummer; he proposed immediately after her drum solo. They were married in Maui, Hawaii on December 19, 2010.
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. Blackman cultivates spirituality in her musicianship.