Joann Butler: Did you always know you wanted to play drums? Cindy Blackman Santana: I came here knowing what I wanted to do. Joann Butler: When did you get discovered? Cindy Blackman Santana: I played with Lenny Kravitz for 17 years altogether.
And so that was the thing that really propelled me into being known globally. Joann Butler: What's it like working with Carlos Santana? Cindy Blackman Santana: Husband or not, he's just a really great band leader. Joann Butler: And is it true that he proposed on stage one day?
Cindy Blackman Santana: He called me up to the front and he proposed. Joann Butler: What does music do for people? Cindy Blackman Santana: It feels like prayer when I'm playing. Hi, I'm Cindy Blackman Santana and you are watching LifeMinute TV.
Joann Butler: Cindy Blackman Santana in the house. Woohoo. Cindy Blackman Santana: All right. Joann Butler: Thanks for joining us on LifeMinute.
Cindy Blackman Santana: Thank you for having me. Joann Butler: I saw you last night at the winery. Absolutely mind-blowing. Cindy Blackman Santana: Woo.
Thank you. Joann Butler: So good. So good. Cindy Blackman Santana: Thank you.
We had a blast. Joann Butler: What are fans going to get when they see you play live? I mean, I know what I got, which is amazing, but in your words, how would you describe that? Cindy Blackman Santana: A lot of energy, a lot of journeys, a lot of passion.
Everybody in the band plays really passionately. I love it because it's a mix of intellect, but also passion, like wild abandon because, you know, we're really spontaneously combusting in the moment, but yet it's controlled, you know. So just a lot of energy, a lot of fun, a lot of journeys. Joann Butler: Passion for sure.
And how do you arrange it? Like how do you figure out the sets? And I thought it was so neat. Everybody had like, sheet music it looked like, except for you.
But it was fascinating to me, like how does that all come together for you? Cindy Blackman Santana: Oh, thank you. By flow, you know, when I look at the songs that we have that are on the repertoire for whatever this run is, and then I say, "Okay, well this flows into that, flows into that. This sets us up, you know, with this kind of feel or whatever.” And so I go by flow and energy.
Joann Butler: Amazing. And a good band. You guys never actually played together? Cindy Blackman Santana: Not this, not this particular unit because I've played with each person in different units, but this unit, this is our first time together as a full band, you know, playing this together.
So it's amazing. I've played a long time with Aurelien and he's the guitar player, Aurelien Budynek and he's basically been in every format of band that I've had. And Zaccai Curtis, the keyboard player, we've played together quite a lot. He's played in a couple variations of my bands.
J.D. Allen, the saxophone player, he played with my very first band in New York. So, we've been playing together for quite a long time. We recorded a bunch of records together, you know, at that point.
And bass player Benny Rietveld, he obviously, we play together with Santana, but he's played with my band only two other times. We did an all-star band with Benny and we had Carlos, Ravi Coltrane, and that was a San Francisco Jazz Festival show. So, we did the all-star thing and then Benny played with my band, my quintet like some years ago once, but it was a whole different setup of musicians. So, now this is our first time, you know, really coming together and making this unit happen.
So, it's fun. Joann Butler: And of course, you have a new album. Tell us about that. Cindy Blackman Santana: Yes, it's called Coherence.
I'm really excited about this record because it again just tells a lot of stories, goes on many journeys. There's a lot of texture, a lot of different tones, and then sonically the way that we recorded it is awesome. I'm really happy with the sound. Like, we were very nitpicky about the tone of every instrument, the way that everything sounds, and I'm happy about the song selection, the new music that we have, and then of course the musicians who are all spectacular.
Carlos Santana is on it. Matt Garrison, bass player, is on it. John McLaughlin, hero, guitar player, is on it. And then my core band that I've been working with, you know, for the past several years until the forming of the band that you saw last night, was Felix Pastorius on the bass, Emilio Modeste on saxophone.
Again, Zaccai Curtis on the keyboards. That band worked together a lot. So we definitely developed a sound. We also added, which I'm very happy about, strings.
So, we have Dave Eggar who who did the strings for the record and I've always wanted live strings on my records and so this is the first time, I mean we've had strings with you know keyboard strings so and you know you can get some synth sounds that sound really good but there's nothing like having a real live instrument, you know, so we have live strings on there. And we have another guest Ray Angry, a great keyboard player so he's featured on something as well, so there are a lot of different textures and sounds and the music is very adventuresome. So I'm really really excited about it. Joann Butler: Yeah, it's really great.
And of course your husband's Carlos Santana. What's it like working with Carlos Santana? Cindy Blackman Santana: It's awesome because he's got a really huge rolodex in his brain of music that he knows. So he can call on different influences at any time, you know, that he wants the band to add something into the music.
And I love that he likes jazz, he likes creative music. So he wants a certain kind of flow and energy and spontaneity in the music, but yet he's also very rooted like in the blues, you know, and obviously in rock and funk. So he's got a real wide variety of influences that he can draw on. So it's really fun.
And I have to say, husband or not, he's just a really great band leader. You know, he's really amazing to work with and to watch. I love the way he leads his band. And, you know, when he says he's going to do something, he does it.
You know, he follows through. So, he's a really good role model for how to lead a band and how to really get the best out of the players, you know, and to make everybody feel comfortable and at ease and to really let everyone know how much you appreciate them. Like, he always lets people know that they're there. You know, you're in this band and you're here, you're on the crew, you're working with us together because I love you.
I appreciate you. And so, he always lets people know that. and I appreciate that, you know. So, he's amazing to work with. And then his guitar playing speaks for itself, you know.
He's so great. He's just got a tone that's incredible. His feel is amazing, you know. So, it's a win-win all the way around.
Joann Butler: It was an amazing combo. Cindy Blackman Santana: Thank you Joann Butler: And I saw that last night with you, too. The way you're leading and the way everyone was looking at you. They're just like looking at you like smiling.
And it's so neat. And it's so cool, like you know, seeing the drummers. I think Gina Schock once from the Go-Go’s. She told me, I never thought of that like, the drummer kind of leads, really leads the band and leads everything you know.
Cindy Blackman Santana: Absolutely. Absolutely. Joann Butler: And especially you of all because that's your music but like you're back there and you kind of, and she said you get this like broad view of everything, right? Like you can actually see what everybody's doing.
Cindy Blackman Santana: That's true. Joann Butler: You know, but it was neat how they're all looking back at you and they're really like “Okay master.” You know, it's cool. And then you two together. My gosh.
How did you first meet Carlos? Cindy Blackman Santana: The very first time that I met him, I was playing with Lenny Kravitz and we were touring in Europe and of course that was a blast. And we did a concert in Germany and Santana was on the bill. Dennis Chambers, who's been a longtime friend of mine, was the drummer at the time for Santana.
And so we were hanging out, just talking, and he introduced me to Carlos, very brief, you know, I was like, "Oh, nice to meet you." And then, you know, I went to do my thing to warm up and they were playing and I was warming up getting ready for our show. Five years later, Carlos had a show booked like apart from his tour and Dennis couldn't make it because it was after the tour was over and he had already booked something else. So, they called to see if I would do it. And when I got the call, they said, "Carlos Santana is calling to see if you…” “Yes, of course I want to play with Santana.
That would be an honor.” So, I subbed the show for Dennis, and was just a one-off and, you know, just a sub, you know, on the gig. We really hit it off, you know, musically we hit it off and we love a lot of the same stuff. You know, he was speaking my language, you know, talking about Miles Davis and Tony Williams. So, I was like, "Oh, okay.
You're there. Okay, that's definitely where I live." And spiritually I loved where he was at. So it went from being like a great musical connection to being obviously, as we got married, an amazing personal connection too. Yeah.
I loved his spiritual path and that really was very alluring and intriguing to me. Yeah. Joann Butler: Amazing. And then he was like, “Later Dennis.” Poor Dennis.
Cindy Blackman Santana: Well, I mean, you know, no, that was quite a while later that I, that I joined the band because I went back with Lenny in 2014 and 15, which was an amazing tour. And then in 2016, is when I joined Santana. Dennis was in the band. And then after that, another drummer, Pepe Jiménez, was in the band.
And then Carlos called me. We were actually already married, but he was like, “You know, do you want to play in the band?” And I said, “That would be great.” And he said, "You know, I was told by some people in the camp that, you know, it won't work because you're married and maybe you two shouldn't be in." He said, "But I want you to play." And I said, "Well, I think we can handle it. And if we find that we can't, then we just won't do it." And so we did it. And that was, you know, again, 2016.
So now almost 10 years later, and it's working. Joann Butler: It works. Cindy Blackman Santana: Yeah. Joann Butler: Any secrets to making it work?
Cindy Blackman Santana: Space is a big one. You know, we give each other space. I give him space to do what he wants to do. He gives me space to do what I want and need to do.
I love playing my drums. I love practicing. I love just working out stuff. And he's okay with that.
Like some people are like, "Well, you've been playing for a long time. When you coming home?” You know, but he's really supportive of that. And that's important to me. And I want him on his instrument.
I'm like, "Oh, you got to play. Please do. Yeah, go play. I've got stuff to do.” You know, I can play or read or I always have something to do.
So, you know, I'm independent, you know. And so, we like our space, but then we have our together time, which is beautiful. And then we like enough of the same things and enough of the different things that make our union really exciting, you know, because if you like everything that is the same, that's great, but it can be kind of boring, you know. So he likes different things and I like different things, but, and so together plus the things that we both like that are the same, it makes a nice kind of creative pot of things that we can draw from and things that we can share.
So it's really good. It works. Joann Butler: Interesting. Do you guys like jam together?
Cindy Blackman Santana: Not too much. Joann Butler: Really? Cindy Blackman Santana: Actually, people are like, "Oh, you play together at home all the time?" No, not really. We don't.
You know, I'm on the drums. He's at his guitar, and you know, in another room. You know I'm either at home playing or I'm at the office playing, you know, so we don't, we talk about music all the time but we at home we don't really play together that much. No, we do other things, you know?
Joann Butler: Did you always know you wanted to play drums? Cindy Blackman Santana: Yes. Joann Butler: How old were you? Cindy Blackman Santana: Three.
Joann Butler: Three? Like, what did you do, how did you know, and were you self taught or did you have lessons or? Cindy Blackman Santana: I was self taught initially. I was a child and I didn't, I didn't know.
I was like, “Well, I don't want to sound like that person, so I don't think I should study from that.” But that was silly because you can really learn from anybody, you know, and somebody's always got something different, a different perspective than what you have, which can add to what you do. And when I finally figured that out, I was like, "Mom, I need some drum lessons because I have to, I mean, there's something I'm missing. I need to push myself more. I need to learn more." So, she got me drum lessons, which was great. you know, my mom's very supportive even to this day, you know.
So, that was awesome. I think I came here, No, I don't think, I know I came here knowing what I wanted to do because my mom and my older sister who's like 6 years my senior, so she knew me, obviously was old enough to understand and see a new baby come in. They both told me that I was playing rhythms like from when I was born, like I was always tapping on something. And my mom at first was like, "She's gonna grow out of that." And then she said, "But you never did." And my mom is a violinist.
So she said, she admitted to me once, she said, "You know, I never really like the drums cuz they're loud." You know, she's a violinist. They like quiet little soft little music. But she said, "You know, when you started playing, and it really started to become musical and I started to hear sound in it and, I mean song in it." She said, "I started to love the drums.” And now she loves the drums, you know. So I converted her.
Joann Butler: Oh, that's so neat. I love it. I love it. And you busked for a while, right?
When did you get discovered? Cindy Blackman Santana: I think my first kind of major thing was playing with Jackie McLean and then Sam Rivers. So it was a, it was a tenor opening kind of for me because it was Jackie McLean, Sam Rivers, and then Joe Henderson. So I was playing with quite a few tenor players at first and then I did some beautiful gigs.
I did a three-year stint with Don Pullen, amazing piano player. I played, you know, like I recorded a lot. I played with my peers. So I was playing with Wallace Roney a lot.
Great trumpet player now now deceased, but he was an amazing musician. So we played a lot together. That was kind of our click. And I was able to record a lot.
And so I was recording with people like Ron Carter and Kenny Barron, Charnett Moffett, like the young cats, Kenny Garrett, you know, that whole crew, you know we were recording records, I was recording on Wallace's records, doing my records, and you know, other people's records. Joann Butler: Very diverse. Cindy Blackman Santana: And then in ‘93, I played with Lenny Kravitz. Joann Butler: For a long time: Cindy Blackman Santana: And so that was the thing that really propelled me into really being more known, like globally.
That was, that was the one that did that, you know. Joann Butler: What was he like? What was that like playing with him? Cindy Blackman Santana: Oh, it's awesome.
Lenny's incredible because he's really talented. You know, he plays every instrument and plays them well, you know, like I think drums is really probably his favorite. So, he can get on the drums and he plays these grooves that are just really solid and killing. And then he gets on the bass and he can play that.
He can play piano. He's a great guitar player. Really got soul like out of this world. Really funky.
And his singing is amazing. He's really a great singer. So playing with him was really incredible. He's very confident, you know.
So watching that, I played with him for 17 years altogether. So experiencing that was awesome. We played all over the globe and we logged in thousands of playing hours together. So, we really really knew each other very very well musically and that was a blast.
I really loved playing with that situation. He's amazing. Yeah. So, it was, I'm grateful for that.
It was, it was awesome. Joann Butler: Really cool. Really cool. And then you have stuff coming up with Santana, of course.
Cindy Blackman Santana: Yeah, we have stuff coming up with Santana. We did an amazing tour of Europe. We went everywhere all over Europe and we even had a little, we were there for so long, all summer, so like three months, and so we had a in the middle we had a 10-day break in Milano which was incredible. I've never spent that much time in Milano and it was amazing because the food is incredible.
The style is incredible, you know, just the people are so soulful. It was, it was awesome. So we went all over Europe and that was great. And Carlos has an amazing residency at the House of Blues in Las Vegas.
So we do that four times a year and so that's a lot of fun too. And we're, we live there too. So we're at home. So you know you play the shows and then you get to go home to your own bed into your own house and to your own surroundings.
So for us it's really a beautiful thing. It's a lot of fun. Very cool. And we have some stuff coming up in the year, you know, this year coming, some nice tours.
So, it's fun. It's really a beautiful experience. And everybody in the band is really dedicated and they're all really great musicians. They play so well.
It's like, oh my goodness, you guys. Yeah, they're really, everybody's very proficient and they're very consistent, you know. So they're great consistently, which is a wonderful thing to be around, you know, because you can play good one day and great one day and really poorly the next day, but to be able to play great like every day, to do that consistently is amazing. And that's what that band is.
It's very consistent. Joann Butler: We couldn't get over your stamina, too. Like how you just play and then you just get up and just talk like it's nothing. Like, you didn't even take a breath.
It's amazing. Do you do anything to like stay in that shape or is it just from playing, or like do you work out? Like how do you stay fit? Cindy Blackman Santana: Oh, thank you.
I do a lot of things, you know, because I'm really a health nut. I rarely eat cookies except for today. Those lovely cookies you had in the green room. Naughty naughty.
You know, I’m really very conscious of what I ingest and that means what I ingest mentally, emotionally, you know, what I eat, what I drink. You know, I drink the best water. I'm hydrating all the time. I eat organic food.
I'm a vegan. You know, I do a little cheat once in a while, like with those cookies. I know they weren't vegan, but I had a little bite of that. So, you know, I'm not staunch, but I'm very consistent with what I eat, and that's a big, huge part of it.
I don't drink alcohol, you know, I don't do anything that harms my body like that. Except an occasional little bit of sugar. Which is not good for you either, but you know, sometimes you, you know, I just go for it. I exercise a lot.
You know I have trainers here and there. I also do Tai Chi. And I get a lot of rest. I like to meditate.
I like to feed myself spiritually. So I look at the whole body as something that needs to be cared for in a healthy way. Actually, I shouldn't say the whole body, the whole being, you know, because it's not only the body, the physical body, but it's also, as I was mentioning, the emotional body, the spiritual body. So I try to take care of all of those bodies.
Yeah. Joann Butler: I remember when I interviewed your husband before, he said the same thing. He said, "Your light, it's all about the light." You know, he's very spiritual. And it was just I just remember I left with a big smile on my face just by, and you have the same vibe.
Cindy Blackman Santana: Oh, thank you. Thank you. We talk about that all the time. It's and it's true.
It's what we believe. You know, when I first met Carlos, coincidentally, Benny, you know, is in my band now, Benny Rietveld. And I said to Benny because I knew Benny from before. We had played together.
I had never hung out with Carlos before until I subbed that show that I mentioned. Even though I had met him once briefly, but you know, we didn't talk at all. And I said to Benny, I said, "Is he like this all the time?" and he said, "Yeah." And he is, you know, he's like that at home. He's like, he's kind of like a sage because he comes up with all this stuff that's just I'm like, "Where did you get that from?" But yet, he's very funny.
He's got an incredible sense of humor. Like, he keeps me laughing all the time. People say, "What is he like at home?" Like, you would never guess. There's a whole ‘nother side of him that, you know, you'd be happy to see cuz he's hilarious.
You know, this morning before I left, he was like, "Look, Cindy." He was showing me jokes. I'm like, "I gotta go. Okay. I like it, but I'll see that when I get back.” I mean, he's funny.
You know, we laugh a lot, which is also part of being healthy. Joann Butler: Yeah, for sure. For sure. I didn’t ask you, what were your, well, kind of know, your influences.
Cindy Blackman Santana: Well, I'm a jazz musician, so I love creative music. I love Miles Davis. He's like one of my huge heroes. Tony Williams, my favorite drummer in the universe.
That whole 60s band that Miles had is my hero. You know that band, I say is my hero, but they are all my heroes. That band is my hero band. And that's obviously Miles, Tony, Ron Carter, Herbie Hancock, and Wayne Shorter.
I listen to them every day. Either I'm listening to them on, you know, some device or I hear them in my head because that's just the band that is like my ultimate, you know. John Coltrane, I love that band. The Tony Williams Lifetime Band, Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan, you know, Charlie Parker.
These are like all you know. So there's Elvin Jones, there's Max Roach, there's Philly Joe, there's Papa Joe, there's Roy Haynes, Jimmy Cobb, you know, there's Al Foster and and and Billy Hart, there's Billy Higgins. All these great drummers, you know, and then there's like the rock side of the drummers. There's like John Bonham and Mitch Mitchell, who I love, you know.
There's so many cats. Joann Butler: I feel like I heard a Rush last night. I heard it all last night. Like, you're so diverse.
Like, Cindy Blackman Santana: Thank you. I got Louis Hayes. I can't leave that name out. There's a bunch that I'm leaving out, but I just, certain ones I just can't leave out.
And that's another one that I can't leave out. Yeah. And Jimmy Cobb. Joann Butler: I swear I heard a Rush song.
I guess I didn't, but it sounded like a Rush song. I'm like, my god. You went from like the, like the jazziest jazz and funky funk and then the hard heavy like, it was so good. Cindy Blackman Santana: Oh, thank you.
I love it all. And I like having my own band because we can play it all because it's my band. So, yes, we're going to play it because I love it. Joann Butler: What's something you want to do you haven't done yet?
Cindy Blackman Santana: I want to tour my band on really huge venue stages like stadiums because I think that it's a small band, but we not only have the power, but we have the diversity to do it. And I want to bring creative music to wide audiences. You know, I think that once more people hear creative music, they're going to love it because it really draws you in and it influences you and makes you think in a creative way instead of thinking in a box, you know, and there's nothing wrong with music that's in a box. I mean, I love pop music, you know, but I love music that thinks outside of the box, too.
And so, I want to inspire people to visit their own creativity because we are all sparks of the most incredible creator, you know, who was the ultimate creator who created us. And so, we have that in us. And so, I want to ignite that in people. And it might ignite it in a way where they express it through music or it might be through something else.
It could be through cooking. It could be through journalism, doing what you do. It could be through any outlet. But I just want to inspire people to get in touch with that more as we need that, you know, because the more that we're in touch with that side of us, the less we are involved in doing things that don't matter and things that are stupid and things that take away from humanity, from society.
You know, I want to do things that help build. And when you're creating in a way that is positive, joyful, and loving, it only helps society become better, you know. So, I would like to push the spark of that to more and more people. Joann Butler: I like it.
Beautiful. Beautiful. What does music do for people? Cindy Blackman Santana: Inspires, you know, it helps them feel their heart center, helps them feel themselves, helps them communicate.
It also helps them realize that, you know, the barriers that we imagine and that we create, whether they're language, cultural, whether they're race, life choices, whatever they are, these are barriers that we create that really mean nothing. Because when you strip all of this off, we're all light, you know, we all have that. So music to me is the one thing that transcends the crosses and just really does away with any of those, you know, blocks that we use as crutches to feed something that's not positive, you know? And so that's one of the things that I love about music most because it's to me the most incredible communicative tool.
It doesn't matter what your race, religion, culture, doesn't matter what your weight is, whether you're bald, have an afro, straight hair, whether you're black, white, green, brown, doesn't matter what you do, who you are. You can always speak through music, you know? So, that's why it's so special to me. It feels like prayer when I'm playing.
Joann Butler: I love that. That's so good. Oh, the Monday Night Football theme opening. That's neat.
Tell us about that. Cindy Blackman Santana: That is so much fun. I had such a ball doing that. I mean, you know, first of all, I was just completely honored when Chris Stapleton called me to do it, you know, and he said, "Yeah, I was thinking it'd be really cool if it were me, you, and Snoop." Like, whoa, yeah, that's very cool.
You know, and then recording it was fun. The way that it's shot, the videography is so amazing. Those guys are so good. I mean, it looks like just the highest quality feature film, you know?
It looks like a movie. It's so amazing the way that they shot it. The whole production from A to Z is just done in, you know, the highest fashion, you know, the highest quality. It's so good.
You know, I'm just really so honored to be involved with that. Just, you know, the whole staff, everybody, the way that they treat you, the way that they work is so easy. And it was so wonderful and they made it fun, you know. So, it's really, I'm just honored to be involved in that.
It's really awesome. Joann Butler: That's cool. Cindy Blackman Santana: And then the song is fun. Joann Butler: Yeah.
Phil Collins song is it? Cindy Blackman Santana: Mhm. Yeah. In the air tonight.
Joann Butler: He's good. Did you like him too as a drummer? Cindy Blackman Santana: I told you like, I'm a jazz drummer, so those are my heroes. But, you know, he did some great stuff.
He made some great music. So, I really dig him. Absolutely. Yeah.
Joann Butler: What's the secret to happiness? Cindy Blackman Santana: I would say it's being at peace with yourself, first of all. Because when you're at peace with yourself and you're comfortable in your own skin, then you're more able to be comfortable with your outer environment, you know, with other people, you know, because you're happy, you're solid, you're set, you know, and you're not threatened by somebody who's different. You know, I think, you know, when, if somebody's prejudiced against another person, if they're prejudiced against, you know, because you of your race or, you know, the style that you wear, you know, your hair or whatever it is, I think there's something that has caused a fear within themselves.
But if you're comfortable with yourself and you're comfortable with the oneness of everything, then I think to me that's really a big leg up in making sure and being happy, being joyful, being at peace, you know, because then you're not threatened by anything, you know. You're just, you're happy for other people, you're happy for their success, you're happy for your own success. You're just, you know, in a good place that's inspirational and not just for you, but for everybody. Joann Butler: What does inspire you to keep creating?
And how do you keep it fresh? Cindy Blackman Santana: Life inspires me. You know, nature inspires me, babies inspire me, children inspire me, people inspire me. Having the gift of music inspires me, you know, because it is a gift.
I hear rain and that inspires me because I hear music in it, you know. I see a sunset or sunrise and that inspires me because I hear music in that, you know, I hear a baby whether it's chuckling, giggling, talking, or even crying. That inspires me because I hear that life, the freshness that's just here, you know, so everything about this realm, everything about the universe and the cosmos, you know, that to me is all very inspiring. And so I draw on that, you know, for sure.
Joann Butler: Do you like, when you think of something, do you go like write it down? Like what do you do? Cindy Blackman Santana: I do. Joann Butler: You do?
Cindy Blackman Santana: Yeah. I do. I do. I dictate into my, into my device, my phone or whatever, you know, whether I'm singing an idea or whether I'm just expressing an idea or a thought.
I write stuff down all the time, you know I have tons of little notes around, you know, when I I get inspired, you know, and it might be a line, you know, it might be a couple of notes, you know, but I put it down because somewhere that comes back, you know, so yeah, I do as much as possible keep track and then sometimes, you know, if I don't have any device with me or if I don't have a, you know, I put it in my brain, in my mental rolodex, and sometimes it goes away, sometimes it comes back, you know, but I have it, you know, or I have that to be something that I can draw from. Joann Butler: So good. It's cool. And what are you wearing right now?
Do you know? Cindy Blackman Santana: What am I wearing? Joann Butler: You're so stylish. Cindy Blackman Santana: Oh, thank you.
Joann Butler: You have great style. Cindy Blackman Santana: Well, my watch is a gift from my lovely husband, as is my bracelet and my beautiful wedding ring. My friends made this ring. They live in Luca, Italy, and they have an incredible jewelry shop.
My jacket is Roberto Cavalli. And my clothing is Wolford. Joann Butler: It looks great. I love your style.
Cindy Blackman Santana: Thank you. Joann Butler: So good. Is there anything else you want to tell us? Cindy Blackman Santana: So I'm also playing in another project.
We call it The Power of Three, and it features Orianthi on guitar, Rhonda Smith on bass, and myself on drums. So it's just a trio. We've recorded, our album is yet to come out, and it's awesome. It's like, I would call it pop rock or rather rock pop because it's more rock than it is pop but you know some of it's kind of poppy and then you know most of it's rock, like influences, quite a bit of Hendrix influence you know because Orianthi loves loves Hendrix, as as we all do and it's very cool you know the music is great we write the pieces together, you know, we recorded everything with Eddie Kramer, so he's our producer and he helped you know, record.
He was our recording engineer. And the band's a lot of fun. You know, we've done so far just some private shows. We will be doing some festivals and some tours.
So, I'm looking forward to that, too. But that's a lot of fun, that band. Yeah. And it's great hanging out with them because they're fun people.
So, you know, we have a great time. Joann Butler: Yeah. That's important, right? Spend so much time.
What's something you always take with you when you travel? Cindy Blackman Santana: I take my hydrogen water flask. Joann Butler: And what else? I saw two things popping out of your bag.
Cindy Blackman Santana: I take drumsticks with me everywhere I go. They're always with me. I'm always talking. Yeah, you saw those pop out cuz I always have my drumsticks with me.
Joann Butler: Are they like your security blanket or do you really like pop those things out and like start? Cindy Blackman Santana: Yeah, I have to, you know, because my hands always want to move. You know, they want to move right now, but I'm being still because I should. But I want to do something.
Joann Butler: Amazing. Cindy Blackman Santana: But yeah, I always take those with me. I take that. I take something to read cuz I like to read.
I always have some sort of inspirational book. Like I don't read, I don't read a lot of fiction stuff, you know. I read mostly spiritual books, you know, because that's what inspires me. Although I watch science fiction movies because I'm totally into science fiction.
When I'm reading, I'd rather read something that's involving spirituality, something like that. But when I'm watching a movie, I want to watch some science fiction because it just takes me out of the, out of the zone. So I take books with me. There's a few movies that I take and some are comedy because they just keep me laughing on the road, you know.
So I take a few movies with me and yeah, that's about it. I take, I actually do take a few things to exercise with, you know, that I can fit in my bag, you know. Joann Butler: Like what? Cindy Blackman Santana: Well, I have exercise bands and I, you know, I have a few things that I can stretch with and few things that work my hands, you know, always have a drum pad with me, of course, and you know, a couple drum books.
I take my drum books everywhere as well. Joann Butler: Drum books. Cindy Blackman Santana: Mhm. Joann Butler: Really?
Cindy Blackman Santana: Yeah. Joann Butler: You're still learning things from drum books? Cindy Blackman Santana: I do. I still, I practice as much as possible.
I mean, I learn things from books without books. I just learn things. I like, you know, I think that I consider myself, well, I know that I consider myself to be a perpetual student of music and of the drums because I want to keep progressing, you know, and the only way to do that is to keep learning and I love learning, you know. I'm from a little town of 3,000 called Yellow Springs, Ohio, and there was a college there.
So in essence it was a creative little college town, you know, so everybody was always doing something, you know, whether it was something creative, we had a a theater called the little arts theater so they always had programs there and you know had many relatives who were musicians and you know creative, my uncle and my grandmothers, and you know my mom, my sister, cousins, you know so there's always that desire inside of me to learn something, to do something, to create something. And then I love a college town because, you know, everybody's always learning something, whether it's music or whether it's something else. Like I enjoyed going to Berkeley College of Music, not only for the community in the school of musicians who were, you know, learning and always progressing. But Boston is great because it's a college town, you know, and so somebody is always learning something and somebody's always looking to improve themselves and to progress.
And I love that atmosphere, you know. I can't be stale and sedentary. I just can't do it. You know, I have to do something.
Whether it's, you know, working on my body, working on my spirit, you know, working on my drums, I have to learn something, you know. I can't sit still and do nothing. I just can't do it, you know. And if I had to sit in a chair for 18 hours because I'm on a flight, I'm going to be learning something in that chair.
I'm going to do something because I just can't sit still. It's just not my nature to do nothing. I have to do something, you know, and I love that. I get inspired by that.
Joann Butler: You're so cool. I'm glad you do. Any favorites on the album? The new album coming?
Cindy Blackman Santana: Oh, yes. I have some favorites. “Coherence” the title track is a favorite. And that's a trio piece with Carlos, Matt Garrison on bass, and myself.
So, that's certainly a favorite. There's a song on there called “Soon A Queen” which is written by Aurelien Budynek, my guitar player and that's such a beautiful luscious piece. So that's a favorite. There are, I love the whole album.
There's a song on there called “Pulp Fiction” which is, it sounds like movie music to me. It's really, it sounds like it should be scoring some kind of science fiction film. I love that one. And yeah, it's kind of, that’s a real journey.
So I love that piece. There's another piece that's, it's actually original of mine. It's called “Peace Please” and I love that one, we added strings to it. So the strings that that Dave Eggar put on it are so beautiful and really to me that is my call for people to have peace because I wrote it when the war was happening you know when there was a lot of bombing going on and you know I won't get specific about that, but,you know that was my call to the universe like peace please let's stop this it's ridiculous why are we hurting each other you know we're not supposed to do that this is stupid, you know, okay, whoever's at fault, whatever.
Let's just stop it. Two wrongs don't make a right, so let's end this. You know, it's ridiculous. So, that was my call at that point.
And so that's a favorite of mine, not only because of the message, but just because, you know, I like the piece. There's another piece that I really love. It's very different. So, there's a piece on the record called “Psychedelic Movie House” and it features strings and drums, and we added Ray Angry on synth.
So, he's on keyboards, so it's, and Carlos is playing like some, just some sounds. He's not soloing or anything, but he's playing some really cool slide sounds on it. And that's one of my favorite pieces on the record as well. “Psychedelic Movie House.” It's very different, you know, and that's one of the things I like about it.
But I love the fact that it features the strings because again I was mentioning how much I love the strings and live strings. So this is really a cool feature. So that's another favorite of mine that's on the record. There's another favorite called “Sunday” and that's an original of mine, “Sunday.” And that's just cool because I like the melody.
It's very catchy and it's got a really cool groove on it, you know. So that's another favorite. So there are actually a bunch of songs on there that I like a lot. Joann Butler: It's really good.
Cindy Blackman Santana: Yeah. Joann Butler: And I love your little talking in the beginning of some of them, too. Cindy Blackman Santana: Oh, thank you. You know, it's interesting because when my engineer and I were first mixing “Coherence," I played “Coherence” for Carlos because, you know, I wanted to make sure that he was happy with his guitar sound, because I know how much his tone is important to him, you know.
So, I played it for him and I said, "Carlos, do you like your tone? I want to make sure you're happy because this is going on the record and this is the title track of the record.” And he said, “I love it. I love the song. I want it on my record, too.” So, it's on his record called Sentient.
But in order to make it different on my record, I decided to put a poem at the beginning and the end, which are my thoughts about “Coherence” and what “Coherence” means to me. So, I wrote this poem and I split it up and made bookends, you know, so that we have something that's slightly different from what it is on his record because it's the same track, you know, mixed slightly different because I wanted to do a mix that was a little bit different. So, mixed a little bit differently, but then we have the bookends of the poem because I wanted to make it like a whole different piece. So, that's where those came in.
Joann Butler: Oh, that's so cool. I'm glad I asked you that. Cindy Blackman Santana: Oh, thank you. Me, too.
Joann Butler: And is it true that he proposed on stage one day after a concert? Cindy Blackman Santana: It is. Yeah. And I was just hanging out with the band.
I wasn't in the band, but I was, you know, when I hung out with them, he would normally ask me to sit in and so we were at this gig and a festival. I think it was at Pine Knob. I believe that's where it was if I remember correctly. He asked me to sit in and I did.
And anytime I sat in, he told me to take a drum solo. He's like, "You want to solo?" I said, "Yeah, of course." So I would take a drum solo and once in a while he would call me up to the front. Not very often. He'd usually just introduce me and then I would just, you know, walk off and let them continue with their set.
But this time he called me up to the front and he was talking a lot. And I'm like, “Boy, he's talking a lot. Why is he talking so much? What's he doing?” And so then he just looked at me and he and he proposed and I was like, “Oh, no wonder he's talking so much.
What?” Joann Butler: Oh my god. Did he know he was gonna do that? Cindy Blackman Santana: Right on stage. Joann Butler: Wow.
Did he know he was going to do that or did he just… Cindy Blackman Santana: I think he knew. I didn't know. But I think he knew because he called me up there, you know, and then he did it, you know.
So maybe he knew, but I didn't know he was going to do that, you know. So that was, that was a nice surprise. Joann Butler: Wow. And the rest is history.
What a match made in heaven. Well, you're just such a beautiful person just like he is. Cindy Blackman Santana: Well thank you. Joann Butler: And gosh, so lovely to have you.
Congratulations on the new album and the tour and everything you're doing. You're so awesome. Cindy Blackman Santana: Thank you. I appreciate it and thanks for having me here.
It's lovely talking to you. Joann Butler: Gosh, you too. You're beautiful. Thank you.
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