Cindy Blackman

Cindy Blackman is one of those musicians who refuses to be boxed in, and I find that thrilling. A Berklee-trained jazz drummer who can trade phrases with Pharoah Sanders and Ron Carter, then turn around and detonate stadiums behind Lenny Kravitz, she embodies a fearless musical range. Her later partnership with Carlos Santana feels almost fated, two restless artists finding each other. What moves me most is how she carries the legacy of explosive, expressive drumming while opening doors for women behind the kit. Every fill she plays sounds like both discipline and liberation. I hold her in deep esteem.

Name (English)

Cindy Blackman

Name (Japanese)

シンディ・ブラックマン

Reading

しんでぃ・ぶらっくまん

Born

November 18, 1959 (age 66)

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Scorpio / Boar

Origin

Yellow Springs, Ohio, United States

Occupation

jazz musician / drummer / musician

University

Berklee College of Music

• Official sitehttp://www.cindyblackman.com/
• Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/cindyblackmansantana/
• Xhttps://x.com/drumstress
• Wikipedia (English)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cindy%20Blackman%20Santana
• Wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q447642

Tags

• Ohio
• jazz musician
• drummer
• musician

Last updated

2026-06-17

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.