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Cindy Blackman: Another Lifetime
by Jeff Winbush
When Cindy Blackman took an insult from another musician directed toward her and the late, great drum virtuoso Tony Williams, she got even. She decided that the best revenge would not be to snipe back, but instead to put together a band featuring guitarists Mike Stern and Vernon Reid, tenor saxophonist Joe Lovano, and other like-minded souls to recapture the power and glory of Williams' Lifetime band, the seminal group of jazz-rock.
Does everything work to perfection on Another Lifetime? ...
Continue ReadingCindy Blackman: Another Lifetime
by Jerry D'Souza
In paying tribute to her friend and mentor Tony Williams through songs and other material associated with him, drummer Cindy Blackman proves that she is not a slavish imitator. Blackman has always been a tasteful drummer. Never obtrusive, she strikes the right combination of dynamics, harmony, and accent. At home both in jazz and rock, this is the perfect vehicle for her.
The moods on this release are varied. The textures on “Vashkar" are thrust into the open ...
Continue ReadingCindy Blackman: Changing Jazz
by Bill Leikam
Cindy Blackman The Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society Half Moon Bay, California December 7, 2008
Jazz has been in cycles of change almost from its inception, and I see another of those changes happening now. Jazz drummer Cindy Blackman's recent performance at the Bach is a prime example of this change. Some writers refer to her style as post-bop but that's too nebulous a term to distinguish it from other modern jazz forms. ... Continue ReadingCindy Blackman: Music For The New Millennium
by Troy Collins
Drummer Cindy Blackman's solo output has been sporadic since touring and recording with retro-rocker Lenny Kravitz for the past fifteen years. Recorded in 2005 with her regular working quartet, Music For The New Millennium is a double disc collection of inspired post-bop that heralds her return as a session leader. A persuasive reminder of her technical prowess, it reveals a stylistic allegiance to past masters while keeping an eye to the future.
Blackman is heavily influenced by the ...
Continue ReadingCindy Blackman: Music For The New Millennium
by Mark F. Turner
A fierce and dynamic performer, Cindy Blackman is one of the top female drummers around, well-known for her years with cult rock icon Lenny Kravitz. A far cry from gigs for thousands of screaming fans, her muse is rooted in jazz, where she is an equally intrepid craftsperson having released a number of noteworthy, if lesser-known titles including High Note's In The Now (1998) with Ravi Coltrane, Jacky Terrasson and Ron Carter, and Someday (2001) with her current band--saxophonist J.D. ...
Continue ReadingCindy Blackman: Someday
by AAJ Staff
While one would not guess so by the soft lines of her face, Cindy Blackman has now been on the modern jazz scene for nearly twenty years. She has compiled an impressive resume along the way: Jackie Mclean, Joe Henderson, Don Pullen, Hugh Masekela, Pharaoh Sanders, Sam Rivers, Cassandra Wilson, Ravi Coltrane and Bill Laswell. Of course she probably has gained the most notoriety for her stint with Rock Superstar Lenny Kravitz, which Jazz fans will either politely (or impolitely) ...
Continue ReadingCindy Blackman: A Lil
by Jim Santella
Drummer Cindy Blackman propels her hard bop ensembles the way Art Blakey did. With a compilation taken from her four Muse recordings (1987-1995), 32 Jazz has found an appropriate way to demonstrate her tasteful leadership while revealing Blackman’s crisp and powerful drum work. That she studied classical percussion at the University of Hartford is evident in her reliable articulation. Furthermore, studies at the Berklee College of Music in Boston seem to have contributed to the variety she exhibits throughout her ...
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