The past few months have been a blur for
CINDY BLACKMAN SANTANA, who is currently touring and performing with her
husband Carlos Santana, is featured as a vocalist, drummer, and songwriter on
“Power of Peace,” the new Santana/Isley Brothers collaboration, and has been
busy touring with her own band and recording tracks in the studio with the
legendary producer NARADA MICHAEL WALDEN. Together through Walden's Tarpan
Records label they will release the new single “FUN, PARTY, SPLASH” featuring
Carlos Santana on all digital platforms on August 25, 2017.
CINDY BLACKMAN SANTANA is a virtuoso drummer whose artistry
spans the realms of jazz and rock. As a bandleader and as a musician, Cindy is
a sound innovator with a passion for pushing creative boundaries and exploring
movement and change. She is as known for the nuances and colors she brings to
her beats and fills as she is for the sheer power of her soulful playing. “Some
drummers act, some react. Some keep time, others create it. CINDY BLACKMAN
SANTANA is among the few who can,” writes Mike Zwerin of the International
Herald Tribune.
Among a handful of the most innovative, original and
influential artists of our time, NARADA MICHAEL WALDEN'S stature as an
authentic musical renaissance man is a matter of record. Producing hits for
Artists as diverse as Aretha Franklin (including the platinum “Freeway of
Love”), Steve Winwood, Ray Charles, Sting, Elton John, Whitney Houston, George
Michael, Mariah Carey, Barbara Streisand, Lionel Ritchie, Lisa Fischer, Stevie
Wonder, Tom Jones, Gladys Knight, and The Temptations, the EMMY and multi-GRAMMY
winner (Producer, Album and Song of The Year) has been at the helm of hit music
that spans decades.
CINDY BLACKMAN SANTANA has been creating magnificent musical
time and space since the beginning of her career as a busking street performer
in New York City in the '80s through the present day, touring the globe and
making albums at the top of her game—including the critically acclaimed Another
Lifetime (2010). In addition to collaborating onstage and in-studio with her
own group—also known as Another Lifetime—she has toured and recorded with
artists including Pharoah Sanders, Cassandra Wilson, Bill Laswell, Joss Stone,
Joe Henderson, Al B. Sure, Buckethead, Don Pullen, Hugh Masakela, Buster
Williams, and Angela Bofill. Cindy was part of the Tony Williams Lifetime
Tribute Band called Spectrum Road with Jack Bruce, Vernon Reid, and John
Medeski. From 1992 to 2007 and again in 2014 & 2015 she was the drummer in
Lenny Kravitz's band, performing through multiple world tours and hit albums.
In 2010, she was part of the all-star line-up performing “Bitches Brew,” a
tribute to Miles Davis' seminal album staged at the San Francisco Jazz Festival
and NYC Winter JazzFest.
More recently, Cindy has become the regular touring drummer
for Santana. Having met several years earlier at a festival in Europe while she
was touring with Kravitz, Cindy first played with Santana in spring 2010, when
drummer Dennis Chambers had a previous commitment. “They have a great band
vibe. It's nice to play with people who have grown together, built a sound
together, and stayed together,” she says. “When that happens, you can create so
many different levels of communication. That's what they've done, and I love
reacting with it and being a part of it.”
Electricity onstage generated chemistry offstage—Carlos
proposed to Cindy during a July 2010 concert, and they married in December.
Looking ahead, they will collaborate artistically as well, on projects that
will no doubt reflect their shared passion for improvisation, and belief in the
transcendent nature of music. Cindy was an integral part of the new
Santana/Isley Brothers release Power of Peace, featuring the song “I Remember,”
which she wrote and sings. “To me,” she says, “music is completely spiritual,
it's the way you connect with your higher self, with the universe. It's also a
way to share light with millions of people. They don’t need to speak your
language, have your beliefs, or be in the same place you are. The music speaks,
it channels good energy, and makes a difference in people's lives. Carlos and I
are both conscious of doing that.”
NARADA MICHAEL WALDEN started his storied career as a
drummer with John McLaughlin and the Mahavishnu Orchestra. Narada's music flows
freely from pop, rock and soul, to the rarified realms of jazz, fusion, and
world music. With Jeff Beck, Narada wrote and played drums on the seminal album
Wired that earned them both their first Gold Album. Walden was an integral part
of introducing Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey to millions of fans worldwide,
producing and writing their breakthrough hits. Billboard Magazine honored him
as one of the Top Ten Producers of all time.
In 2016, Cindy connected with her fellow drummer and
world-class producer NARADA MICHAEL WALDEN, and together the two have been
working on new material ever since. CINDY BLACKMAN SANTANA continues to build a
body of work and artistic legacy that make her one of the finest drummers and
recording artists of this or any generation.
No comments:
Post a Comment