Cindy Blackman - Another Lifetime - Four Quarters Entertainment. Cindy Blackman Pays Tribute to Mentor and Friend Tony Williams.

    SHUTESBURY, MA, March 03, 2010 /24-7PressRelease/ -- When Tony Williams tragically died at the age of 51 in 1997 in the midst of continuing to speed ahead with new compositional projects, he left in his wake a drummer who counted him an invaluable mentor and close friend whose career has been a testament to Williams' legacy. Cindy Blackman is not only one of contemporary music's most creative drummers but also a passionate witness to the role model that Williams provided to her. In her first recording as a leader since 2005's double CD Music for the New Millennium, Blackman pays homage to the Jazz-Rock legend with Another Lifetime (Four Quarters Entertainment), a tour de force collection of many of Williams' songs from his seminal group Lifetime, which he helmed from 1969-1976.

Cindy Blackman's Another Lifetime quartet, featuring Marc Cary (keyboards), Felix Pastorius (bass) and Aurelien Budynek (guitar), will perform music from Another Lifetime at the Highline Ballroom, NYC on Wednesday, March 10 at 8PM.

"It's true that this album celebrates him, but really this is only a documentation of the recording sessions that make up Another Lifetime," says Blackman, a top-drawer jazz drummer whose resume also includes a lengthy association with rocker Lenny Kravitz (1993-2004, 2005-2007). "Tony's impact was so great on me that I celebrate him every day of my life. Every time I think about music, I celebrate Tony because I celebrate that level of virtuosity. I'm here to let it be known what that man created and how in his drumming he carried the entire history of all the great jazz drummers. He was an incredibly schooled drummer who set up the direction for me. When I first heard him, I knew that's how I wanted it to go for me. I remember thinking I've got to get to that. Celebrating Tony is not just one day or one album, but it's a way of living, a way of being-creative, spontaneous, thoughtful and diligent in pushing the envelope."

Without copying or resorting to duplicating the Tony Williams experience, Blackman set out to imaginatively re-envision some of her favorite Lifetime tunes (including "Vashkar," "Where," "There Comes a Time" and "Wildlife") as well as dynamically improvise originals that capture her master teacher's energy.

As for her volcanic delivery throughout, Blackman laughs and says, "That was my goal. I love being the driving force. It's what every great drummer does regardless of how subtle you play. That was how Tony played.

Blackman hopes that Another Lifetime will rekindle interest in Tony Williams' importance to jazz, rock and drumming in general. "Tony kept studying and searching, right up to the end," she says. "This was a man who was born a genius. He was advanced as a drummer at the age of 15, and he kept striving his entire life, regardless of what people thought about him. He was a true innovator."

March 10, 2010

Cindy Blackman's Another Lifetime

Highline Ballroom
http://www.highlineballroom.com/bio.php?id=1384
431 West 16th Street
New York, NY 10011-5892
(212) 414-5994

Concert starts @ 8PM
Doors open @ 6PM
Tickets $18.00 in advance
$20.00 day of show.

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