Meet This Lady Blackman Who Drums.....

ONE of the latest sensations to emerge on the jazz scene is Cindy Blackman, a female drummer whose rhythms speak volumes for her technique. As if to confirm the saying ‘what a man can do, a woman can do (even better?)’, Cindy is currently blazing the trail as one of jazz’s most percussive drummers.

   Blackman maintains a busy recording and performing schedule where she’s called upon for recording and performing gigs by many of today’s top jazz artists. Also a noted rock-n-roll drummer for the last several years, she has been the drummer for Lenny Kravitz’s band. Squeezed in between these obligations she composes, records and performs with her own groups. A versatile drummer, Blackman represents the best of the jazz artist in constant pursuit of a unique form of her instrument’s expression.


    The female vocalists have had it easier than those playing instruments. And even the known female instrumentalists (with due respect to trombonist Melba Liston) usually hover around the piano, violin and flute as the case maybe. These are instruments of the least resistance — not known for posing the challenges associated with saxophones, trumpets, trombones, drums and bass. The guitar has however become a common instrument for accompaniment where the likes of Tracy Chapman and Joan Armatrading are presently excelling in terms of using the instrument as vehicle for self-expression. The drum is an uncommon instrument for the female gender. Cindy knows this, but she finds it challenging and interesting. Tony Williams — her greatest percussion influence — inspired her. And this is perhaps why her style has become more tilted towards jazz even within the context of rock outfits. She has imbibed the techniques that endeared Tony Williams’ jazz fans when he was perfecting this percussive feat with Miles Davies in the 60s.

    “I was influenced by Tony Williams from a very early age because there was a friend of mine who was a guitar player, an older guy who you should check out,” explains Cindy. “So, he brought me to his house and took me to his basement where he had all his records and stereo equipment; and he put a record on, and then he just went upstairs. And then he came back, and I said, “Oh man, who was that? That was incredible,” And he said, well, believe it or not, this guy was like seventeen on this record, 16 or 17. And it was Tony Williams. And then he put on Live in Europe. And so from then on I was totally into Tony Williams.”

   A couple of years later, Cindy was fortunate to see his percussion idol in a clinic, just Tony Williams and a bass player in a Connecticut drum store called Creative Music. She saw him there, and for her, it was really, really incredible: “I had never seen anything like that, and immediately I knew that that was the direction that, for me, drumming should go; and drumming should be,” she further explains.

  Jazz poses challenges in various ways and dimensions for the men and women who are its exponents. There is the problem of manipulation, colour, business acumen and creativity. Cindy defies all these problems. More importantly, she realises the fact that as a drummer, she is commercially disadvantaged because drummers are not considered the main focal point in terms of leaders. It’s as hard for a bass player to get a contract as it is for a drummer. But Cindy’s sense of commitment knows no bounds; she is determined to forge ahead.

  Throwing more light on the odds against the drummer, Cindy acknowledges the presence of some drummer band leaders such as Art Blakey, Philly Joe Jones, Tony Williams, Elvin Jones, Roy Haynes, Billy Cobham and even as far back as Chick Webb and Cozy Cole; but maintains “it’s easier for a record company to look at a group and say, Okay lead this project because they can do trio or they can do whatever; the piano players can lead it. But in terms of a drummer leading it, there are more contracts I would say for people who play the other instruments than there are for drums or bass. In terms of gender, I won’t even care about that. That’s really nothing that I — things happen, but they sometimes happen because of your colour, sometimes because of your hairstyle, sometimes because of your gender, sometimes this or that. That exists across the board for different people at different times. But none of that is anything that I really focus on because to me that just holds you back. Because while you are thinking about that, you could have been practising or studying something. You could just have been enjoying a moment which would have inspired you to play something else.”

Cindy began studying percussion at a very early age and attended the Berklee School of Music, Boston. She fell in love with jazz because it is creative; and because you can interject your feelings and personal opinion and personality into it. She ventured into jazz because she loved the challenges posed by its creativity.

Since jazz music was created, it has gone through various periods that have been labeled cross- over, fusion and the like. Cindy whose passion for jazz is that of restlessly creating and moving to new levels believes in Charlie Parker’s philosophy that creativity is unlimited. She is ready even within the context of her drumming, to evolve percussive patterns that will take the music to new levels of creativity. And her drumming can be heard in such selected discography as The Oracle, Telepathy, Code Red and Arcone recorded on Muse Record label.

As far as collaborative efforts with other musicians go, Cindy has recorded such ground-breaking sessions as Sax Storm with Grand Central; and Tenor Conclave, a tribute to Hank Mobley on Evidence label. This session must have given her perhaps the most historically instructive experience in her career as the motive behind it would remain indelible in her memory. Hank Mobley was a phenomenal saxophonist, a great soloist.

  Other collaborations by female jazz drummer Cindy Blackman for Muse Records include Obsession and The Standard Bearer both with Wallace Rodney.

The history of jazz is replete with female singers who rose to the top as singers: Bessie Smith, Billy Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Helen Humes, Sarah Vaughan, Mahalia Jackson, Ma Rainey among several others who are still singing adopted their voices as instruments for self expression. Cindy’s preference for the drums, an instrument that is powerful and extremely vital to jazz band instrumentation; and which relegates the musician to the back seat - is instructive. It is an eye opener for the new generation of musicians.