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Legendary Musician, Philanthropist, Vocalist, and Role Model: Cindy Blackman Santana is Changing the Game

by Joyce Jones and Chrys L. Roney

Born in Yellow Springs, Ohio, Cindy Blackman Santana epitomizes the power of passion and perseverance in the world of music. From the moment she could stand on her two feet, Cindy found herself drawn to the rhythmic allure of the drums. "I was just drawn to everything about the drums," Cindy reminisces. "When I heard music, drums were the instrument that I singled out in my ear." Encouraged by her mother, Ghita Blackman, Cindy would tap rhythms on her mother's back, finding the perfect tones. While her parents initially believed Cindy’s fascination with drums was a passing phase, this intrigue evolved into a lifelong passion and career.

Cindy’s relentless pursuit of drumming mastery guided her trajectory. "I always searched out drums to play, people to play with, things to play music, and everything involved with playing. I was very interested in it, and I loved it, so that’s what I developed," she explains. This fervor for drumming—and a profound admiration for the legendary Tony Williams—led her to enroll at Berklee College of Music in Boston. There, she studied under Alan Dawson, the same instructor who taught Tony Williams. Berklee also introduced her to the late trumpeter and composer Wallace Roney, whose encyclopedic knowledge of music further broadened her horizons. "Wallace turned me on to a ton of incredible records, and it really opened up my head in terms of what I was thinking about," she says with evident appreciation.

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