This latest release by Cindy Blackman Santana continues to show her growth and progression as an artists. The lady that started her career with the likes of Wallace Roney and Jackie McLean displays a Bitches Brew-styled album cover this time, showing she’s plugging in even more so than her last album, the tribute to Tony Williams’ Lifetime. Here, she brings in some of the heaviest guitarists as guests, including John McLaughlin, Kirk Hammett, Vernon Reid and hubby Carlos Santana and sings on more songs than ever before, resulting in a wide ranging fusion of fusion.
She still includes a handful of instrumentals, with some tasty Miles Davisy horn and BB-In A Silent Way themed pieces like “Miles Away”, Velocity” with bassists Matt Garrison-Benny Rietveld, electric pianist Neal Evans and then the deeply dug and assertive “We Came To Play” with McLaughlin searing on the guitar in a thunderous power trio highlight. Her vocals are impressive, clear and confident, understated on the “Come Together”ish read of John Lennon’s “Imagine” and cleverly hip and funny on the rocker “I Need A Drummer”and fist pumping with the metallic team of six stringers Kirk Hammett and Vernon Reid on the had banging “Evolution Revolution”. Carlos Santana chimes in with some flamenco sketches on the upbeat “Everybody’s Dancin’” and blueses out on the hard hitting “You Don’t Wanna Break My Heart” with the better half keeping the groove on both sticks and voice. Blackman shows she knows how to carry the heat from the fuse of fusion.