Cindy Blackman Santana facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Cindy Blackman
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Blackman performing in May 2008
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| Born | November 18, 1959 Yellow Springs, Ohio, U.S. |
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| Years active | 1980s–present |
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Cindy Blackman (born November 18, 1959) is a super talented American drummer. She plays both jazz and rock music. Since marrying famous guitarist Carlos Santana in 2010, she is also known as Cindy Blackman Santana.
Cindy has made many jazz albums as a bandleader. She has also played drums for many well-known musicians. Some of these include Lenny Kravitz, Joss Stone, and of course, Carlos Santana. She has been performing since the 1980s.
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Cindy's Early Life and Learning Music
Cindy Blackman was born on November 18, 1959, in Yellow Springs, Ohio. Music was a big part of her family. Her mom and grandma were classical musicians. Her uncle played the vibraphone, which is like a xylophone. When she was little, her mom often took her to classical music concerts.
How Cindy Started Playing Drums
Cindy first saw a drum set when she was seven years old. It was at a pool party at a friend's house in Yellow Springs. She started playing them right away. Cindy said that just looking at the drums felt right. When she hit them, she knew that was what she wanted to do. Soon after, Cindy began playing drums in her school band. She also convinced her parents to get her toy drums.
When Cindy was 11, her family moved to Bristol, Connecticut. She then went to the Hartt School of Music in Hartford. At age 13, Cindy became very interested in jazz music. This happened after she listened to the famous drummer Max Roach. She got her first professional drum set when she was 14.
Studying Music and Moving to New York
Later, Cindy went to the Berklee College of Music in Boston. There, she studied with a teacher named Alan Dawson. He also taught Tony Williams, who was a big inspiration for Cindy. After three semesters at Berklee, a friend suggested her for a job playing with The Drifters. So, Cindy left college and moved to New York City in 1982.
Cindy's Music Career
In New York City, Cindy Blackman worked as a performer. She also went to many shows to watch and learn from master musicians. Art Blakey, another famous drummer, became a very important mentor to her. Cindy said he was like a father to her. She learned a lot by watching him and asking him questions about drums and music.
In 1984, Cindy was featured on a radio show called Jazz Stars of the Future. This show was on WKCR-FM in New York. In 1987, her first songs appeared on Wallace Roney's album called Verses. Then, in 1988, Cindy released her first album as a bandleader, called Arcane. It was released on Muse Records. Her band for this album included Wallace Roney on trumpet and Joe Henderson on tenor saxophone.
Playing with Lenny Kravitz
In 1993, Cindy got a chance to work with the rock star Lenny Kravitz. She talked to him on the phone from New York while he was in Los Angeles. She played drums for him over the phone. Kravitz immediately asked her to fly to LA. She stayed for two weeks and filmed the music video for his song "Are You Gonna Go My Way". Cindy then became Lenny Kravitz's touring drummer for 18 years!
Cindy's Solo Music
In the late 1990s, Cindy Blackman made her first album with her own band. They named the album Telepathy. They chose this name because the band members communicated so well while playing. Cindy and her band also made a video to teach others how to play drums, called Multiplicity.
In 2004, Cindy took a break from touring with Lenny Kravitz. She wanted to focus on her own music. That year, she released an album called Music for the New Millennium. She said that her band experiments with music, but everything is planned out. She writes charts for all the songs, and they build on those ideas.
In September 2007, Cindy toured South America. She taught drum clinics in Argentina, Chile, and Brazil. On November 30, 2007, Cindy and her band played at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
In 2010, she released an album that honored her inspiration, Tony Williams. This album was called Another Lifetime. It featured musicians like Mike Stern on guitar. In 2012, she released a second tribute album to Tony Williams, called Spectrum Road. This album was a collaboration with Vernon Reid, John Medeski, and Jack Bruce.
In 2020, Cindy released a 17-song album called Give the Drummer Some. She sang on 11 of the songs on this album. Other musicians who played on the album included John McLaughlin and Kirk Hammett.
Cindy's Personal Life
On July 9, 2010, Carlos Santana asked Cindy Blackman to marry him. This happened on stage during a concert in Tinley Park, Illinois. Cindy was Santana's touring drummer at the time. He proposed right after her drum solo! They got married in Maui, Hawaii, on December 19, 2010.
Cindy Blackman believes that music is very special. She feels that when you play music, you are doing something like a prayer. This is because you are focusing your energy and intentions.
Cindy is one of the few female jazz drummers. She says that in the past, there were ideas that women shouldn't play certain instruments. But she believes that if you let someone stop you because of their opinions, you only hurt yourself. She doesn't want to give anyone that power over her.
Cindy's Music Albums
Here are some of the albums Cindy Blackman has released:
As the Main Artist
- Arcane (1987)
- Code Red (1990)
- Telepathy (1992)
- The Oracle (1996)
- In the Now (1998)
- Works on Canvas (1999)
- Someday... (2001)
- Music for the New Millennium (2004)
- Another Lifetime (2010)
- Give the Drummer Some (2020)
Playing with Other Artists
Cindy has also played drums on many albums with other musicians, including:
- With Lenny Kravitz: 5 (1998)
- With Santana:
- Corazón (2014)
- Power of Peace (2017)
- Africa Speaks (2019)
- In Search of Mona Lisa (2019)
- Blessings and Miracles (2021)
- Sentient (2025)
- With Joss Stone: The Soul Sessions (2003) and Mind Body & Soul (2004)
- With Spectrum Road (a group with Jack Bruce, Vernon Reid, John Medeski, and Cindy Blackman Santana): Spectrum Road (2012)
See also
In Spanish: Cindy Blackman para niños
