Long before Carlos Santana proposed to his drummer on stage after a big solo in and made her his wife in 2010, Cindy Blackman Santana was an ass-kicker. As a drummer and band leader, her propulsive rhythmic overdrive has guided her (so far) through 12 albums, including her most recent, Give the Drummer Some, and a handful of co-leadership collaborations.
Within the jazz idiom and mentorship of the legendary Art Blakey, Blackman Santana (or Blackman as she was known before marrying the Mexican-born, psychedelically endowed guitarist) has recorded and toured with bassist Ron Carter, trumpeter Wallace Roney, saxophonists Pharoah Sanders, Joe Henderson, and Sam Rivers, and pianist-vocalist Cassandra Wilson. Jazz, progressive jazz, is where she nestles and finds nuance, up to and including releasing tribute albums to her acknowledged inspiration Tony Williams, Another Lifetime, with guitarist Mike Stern and organ great Doug Carn.
Make no mistake, however: Blackman Santana rocks out. Along with her time spent playing with avant-garde rockers such as Buckethead and Bill Laswell, recording ballsy R&B with Joss Stone, and teaming with guitarists Vernon Reid and Metallica’s Kirk Hammett for her solo vocal jam, Give the Drummer Some, there are the times she has toured and recorded with her husband. Along with recording on Santana’s Corazón studio session from 2014, as well as his Corazón: Live From México – Live It To Believe It album, Blackman Santana played as part of the vital, rare, one-time reunion between Carlos Santana and John McLaughlin that is the Live at Montreux 2011: Invitation to Illumination DVD.
Then there is Lenny Kravitz. Along with playing on the Day-Glo rocker’s best-ever album, 5, in 1998 and the “Are You Gonna Go My Way” video, Blackman Santana was Kravitz’s touring drummer for nearly 20 years.
That’s a very long-winded way of saying that when Blackman Santana plays North Broad Street’s South Jazz Kitchen on Thursday, March 14, with a band that consists of Aurelien Budynek (guitar), Felix Pastorius (bass), Emilio Modeste (saxophones) and Zaccai Curtis (keyboards), anything can happen. Especially since she loves Philadelphia and famously brought her quartet to Art After 5 at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 2007.
“I’m really excited to play in Philly at South Jazz Kitchen,” Blackman Santana texted dosage MAGAZINE’s A.D. Amorosi last night. “There is a rich history of sooooo many great musicians from this city. It’s an honor to play here. Making music in a music town. I love it!”
Blackman Santana and her band play two sets, 7 pm and 9 pm, as part of Gerald Veasley’s Unscripted Jazz Series. She doesn’t come around often without her husband, so get in on this rare affair.
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