Cindy Blackman Santana

Blackman was the drummer for some of the shows of the famous Mexican-American musician Carlos Santana and they dated for a while. Santana proposed to Blackman after her drum solo during a concert at Tinley Park, Illinois, on July 9, 2010. On December 19, 2010, the two got married at Maui, Hawaii. Blackman lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Blackman was born on November 18, 1959, in Yellow Springs, Ohio. She spent her later childhood years in Bristol, Connecticut. She has a strong musical background as her mother and grandmother were classical musicians, while her uncle played the vibraphone. Her mother played violin in orchestras during her young days, and her grandmother was a classical pianist. Her mother took young Cindy for classical concerts.

From very early, she was attracted toward the drums and asked her mother for drums at the age of 3. At 7, she played drums for the first time at a friend’s party. Blackman got her first professional set at 13 years of age.

Her family relocated to Bristol, Connecticut, when she was 11 and she played in jazz band, concert band and orchestra during her high school years. She attended the ‘Hartt School of Music’ in Hartford, Connecticut.

At 12, she participated in local drum corps and learnt the ‘drum rudiments.’ She also learnt controlled movements of hands, which was difficult for a 12 year old.

Blackman developed interest in jazz after listening to Max Roach. She attended famous drummer Tony William’s clinic at Bob Gatzen’s local drum store, ‘Creative Music,’ and it had a lot of impact on her.

In 1984, Blackman was featured on New York’s ‘King’s Crown Radio’ (WKCR – FM) in Ted Curson’s ‘Jazz Stars for the Future.’ Her compositions were included in Wallace Roney’s album, ‘Verses,’ in 1987. After listening to these compositions, ‘Muse Records’ offered her a recording contract. 'Arcane,’ her debut creation as a band leader was released in 1988.

In 1993, Lenny Kravitz heard her play, and invited her to Los Angeles. She appeared for auditions along with 30 others and got selected. She recorded with him for his ‘Are You Gonna Go My Way.’ Blackman continued to play mainly as his touring drummer (Kravitz usually played his own drums while recording an album).

In 2004, she stopped playing for Kravitz’s group as she wished to concentrate on her own music. In 2014 she returned to play for Kravitz’s promotional tours for his tenth studio album, ‘Strut.’

Her first recording with a working group was for the album, ‘Telepathy,’ in 1994. Blackman’s first drumming instructional video, ‘Multiplicity,’ was brought out by ‘Warner Brothers’ publications in 1998. With her own label, ‘Sacred Sound Label,’ she released the album, ‘Music for the New Millennium,’ in 2005.

Blackman has released nine studio albums as band leader – ‘Arcane’ (1988), ‘Code Red’ (1990), ‘Telepathy’ (1992), ‘The Oracle’ (1995), ‘In the Now’ (1998), ‘Works on Canvas’ (1999), ‘Someday’ (2001), ‘Music for the New Millennium’ (2005), and ‘Another Lifetime’ (2010). Some other albums she has worked on include ‘Organ Monk’ (2012), ‘Spectrum Road’ (2012), and ‘Power of Peace’ (2017).