Exclusive Interview With Cindy Blackman Santana

Spotlight on Spotlight on Cindy Santana Cindy Santana

EXCLUSIVE EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH INTERVIEW WITH CINDY BLACKMAN CINDY BLACKMAN SANTANA SANTANA

Cindy Blackman Santana is an African-American jazz and rock drummer famous for her jazz albums as well as performing with other musicians like Pharaoh Sanders, Ron Carter, Joss Stone, Lenny Kravitz, and many more musicians. She is educated in the Hartt School of Music in Hartford, Connecticut and the Berklee College of Music, in Boston Massachusetts. Berklee allowed her to expand her musical horizons by exposing her to multiple styles, such as jazz or African beats. Cindy recalls a lot of other mentors from places like Berklee that served as inspiration for her journey as a female percussionist like Lenny Nelson.

Cindy Blackman Santana Cindy Blackman Santana Carlos Santana Carlos Santana

Her first compositions are included in albums such as Verses by Wallace Rooney and her own album Arcane, in which she was bandleader. After her time performing with Lenny Kravitz, she would focus on creating more of her own music from 2005 to recent times. She would later marry Carlos Santana as well as adopt the Baha’i faith as her new religion. Her recent interview with Afrovibes TV Host, Ysa Abraham, starts with Cindy describing the account of her birth according to her mother as someone who was already drumming meaning she was destined to be a percussionist. Her interest in drums went far back as being three years old. She also had desires of becoming a lawyer due to her strong opinions against injustice as well having interest in being a neurosurgeon, until she realized that could keep her from drumming full time. In the second half of the interview, Cindy Santana recalls her time with Lenny Kravitz, who she knew through her ex-boyfriend’s brother, who is a saxophonist. She first communicated with him on the phone. After hearing her play drums on the phone, Kravitz offered Cindy Santana to fly over to Los Angeles right away. There were many other drummers that auditioned as well, but Cindy was the one chosen. Cindy Santana mentioned how she had to understand the kind of music language that Kravitz was conveying. Breaks between tours with Lenny Kravitz allowed Cindy Santana to record her own music allowing to continue her own individual career. this day to create more music to recent times including connecting with other artists like fellow drummer and producer, Narada Michael Walden. Cindy Santana continues to be one of the most accomplished drummers of modern times and inspiration for many, especially women musicians. Cindy Santana is quoted in saying: “if you let somebody stop you because of their opinions, then the only thing you're doing is hurting yourself. I don't want to give somebody that power over me.”