JUN 7-17 | 40TH ANNUAL SAN FRANCISCO JAZZ FESTIVAL
Jun 14, 2023
Miner Auditorium
PLEASE NOTE:
This page is an archive of a past production
Please visit our calendar for all upcoming SFJAZZ shows.
Original show description below.
If there is one artist on today’s music scene with the passion, fire, and percussive mastery to do justice to the legacy of the late Tony Williams, it is undoubtedly Cindy Blackman Santana. She returns with her band, plus organ great John Medeski and Living Colour guitar genius Vernon Reid to honor Williams and his groundbreaking late 60s/early 70s electric jazz group Lifetime, with a very special guest legendary guitarist (hint! hint!).
Made famous by her 10+ years providing the bone-deep grooves behind singer and guitarist Lenny Kravitz, Blackman has distinguished herself as a highly versatile player and composer who is as comfortable leading post-bop sessions with Joe Henderson and Wallace Roney as she is touring with pop stars like Kravitz and husband Carlos Santana, whose band she currently anchors.
This tribute has its origins in the all-star project Spectrum Road, which revisited the Lifetime material and featured Blackman Santana, Medeski, Reid, and the late bass legend Jack Bruce, who was a founding member of Cream and performed with Williams’ Lifetime band in the 1970s.
Their eponymous 2012 Palmetto Records release was named for the Williams/John McLaughlin composition “Via the Spectrum Road” from Lifetime’s explosive 1969 debut, and expanded upon the original material, using it as a springboard for fresh directions, which will be in full evidence on this unforgettable night.
The drummer returns with her band, plus organist John Medeski, guitarist Vernon Reid, and a very special guest legendary guitarist to honor Tony Williams’ iconic 1970s electric jazz group Lifetime.
Dynamics, taste, melody, articulation & time are what Cindy Blackman is all about.
Ejazz News
Dynamics, taste, melody, articulation & time are what Cindy Blackman is all about.
Ejazz News
Personnel
Cindy Blackman Santana drums
John Medeski keyboards
Vernon Reid guitar
Emilio Modeste saxophone
Zaccai Curtis keyboards
Aurelien Budynek guitar
David Gilmore guitar
Felix Pastorius bass
In many ways Tony Williams was Cindy Blackman’s spiritual father… A powerful, even volcanic, drummer
JazzTimes
Personnel
Cindy Blackman Santana drums
John Medeski keyboards
Vernon Reid guitar
Emilio Modeste saxophone
Zaccai Curtis keyboards
Aurelien Budynek guitar
David Gilmore guitar
Felix Pastorius bass
In many ways Tony Williams was Cindy Blackman’s spiritual father… A powerful, even volcanic, drummer
JazzTimes
Watch & Listen
Spectrum Road
Vuelta Abajo
Spectrum Road
Vashkar
Spectrum Road
Vuelta Abajo
Spectrum Road
Vashkar