There
exists a misguided notion among some music fans that the words rock musician
and wild life are synonymous, however as Riveting Riffs discovered in our
conversation with prolific rock / jazz drummer Cindy Blackman, that truly is a
misperception, for the congenial, articulate Blackman is very family oriented.
In fact, Blackman who toured as Lenny Kravitz’s drummer for ten years, before
embarking on a solo career as a jazz drummer, credits those deep family roots,
for a lot of her early musical influences, and dedicated her current album,
Music For The New Millennium, to her paternal grandmother. Do not
misunderstand what we are saying here, Blackman can be as dynamic and loud on
the drum kit when she is keeping the beat, for songs like Kravitz’s “Let Love
Rule,” as any rocker you have ever heard. There is however, far more to this
superb musician than what the casual listener may assume.
The crafting of Blackman’s keen sense of musicianship began when she was a child, and in part, under the watchful eye of her maternal grandmother, who was a classical pianist. “She didn’t like the damper or sustain pedal on a piano, because she felt that if you wanted to make a note ring, you should do it with your touch, and if you wanted to dampen a note, you should do that with your touch as well. That always stayed in my head, and when I got to a certain level of proficiency with an instrument, I completely understood what she meant. That really got me to thinking about my touch, how I hit the instrument and the sound that I get out of the instrument. Those two people were really important to my growth and the path that I got on very early in my life,” says Blackman.
The second disc of Blackman’s current double CD Music For The New Millennium, contains two songs, “Insight (From My Mother),” and “Insight (From My Father),” which speak to her family centric values, and pay tribute to the influence that each of her parents had on her life.
“(The song) “Insight,” is given different treatments throughout the entire record. It is recorded on both CDs (“Insight (Past Wisdom),” “Insight (Right Now),” and “Insight (The Future),” and each one reflects a different period of my learning, the different things that I am experiencing, and the things that I have learned from different people. “Insight (From My Mother),” is like my mother, who is very strong, but also very soft. She is a beautiful person inside and out. My mom is pretty special, and the song reflects what I get from her. “Insight (From My Father),” is more hard hitting and driving. It is more like my dad. It is more the strong guy, the heavy hitter kind of guy,” says Blackman, noting the song reflects the jazz musical influences of her father.
As for the other treatments of “Insight,” which appear on Music For The New Millennium, Blackman says that they represent her maturing, both a person and an artist. “The different Insights are woven together throughout the record, and there is a different feel and approach to the way that we play them. They are the very same song, the very same form, but they feel very different. That is a very noticeable thread (that connects them).”
“Even the songs that are not my compositions, but are J. Dee’s compositions, fit in a certain way with all of the rest. They are like big pieces of a puzzle that are put together, and they make a collage,” says Blackman.
