This Drummer Got Some
When James Brown famously yelled, “Give the drummer some,” it was a recognition of sorts that drummers deserved a moment in the spotlight. Cindy Blackman Santana, however, has never been content to wait for her moment; she took it, thundering away with unrelenting fire as both a band member and leader. She’s still doing so on her newest recording, titled—yes—Give the Drummer Some. Three years in the making, it’s essentially a double CD with 17 tunes.
“I wanted to do something that wasn’t boxed [genre-wise] and I couldn’t tell the story I wanted to with just, a tribute to one of her main influences, Tony Williams. For its follow-up, she’s gathered a batch of mostly up-tempo fusion, rock, R&B, and funk songs peppered with social, ecological, humanistic, and political calls to arms. Most significant of all is that the bandleader sings on 11 of them.
