Cindy Blackman Santanahas confirmed that she will be joined by a special guest for her upcoming Bay Area shows.

Her husband, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame musician and Grammy-winning guitaristCarlos Santana, is now scheduled to perform with the renowned drummer and her band atBlue Note Napaon Sunday, June 11, andSFJazz Centeron Wednesday, June 14.

“I love playing with him,” she told The Chronicle by phone from their home in Kauai. “He’s so talented that he can just meld into any situation. I’m honored that he said yes, because he didn’t have to play.”

在2021年出售自己的马林县的家之后,the couple has been splitting their time between Hawaii and Las Vegas, where Carlos Santana’s band has a residency at the House of Blues.

These upcoming performances will mark Blackman Santana’s first shows in Wine Country. At Blue Note Napa, her band — consisting of bassist Felix Pastorius, saxophonist Emilio Modeste, and keyboardist Zaccai Curtis — will play two sets of original music. The SFJazz show will feature guitarist Vernon Reid and keyboardist John Medeski joining Blackman Santana for her long-running tribute to Lifetime, the influential 1970s jazz-rock group led by her mentor, the late drummerTony Williams.

Reflecting on Williams, she said, “he was incredible on every level.”

“He was a sound innovator, so the drums have to have a certain quality to even get that vibration. His technique is so superhuman that you have to have your technical skills up to a certain level to play the stuff he played,” she continued. “And then, conceptually, you have to be thinking a certain way to put everything together. The only way that you can really approach it is from really, really loving it.”

Given her impressive background, Blackman Santana is up for the challenge.

Her musical journey began in 1988 when she led an all-star ensemble with renowned San Francisco tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson. In 1993, she joinedLenny Kravitz’s band, performing with him for more than a decade before resuming her solo career.

Blackman Santana has led jazz groups, conducted drum clinics worldwide and collaborated with artists such as Joss Stone, Sly Johnson and Dionne Warwick. In 2010, she became the regular touring drummer for Santana, coinciding with her marriage to Carlos Santana.

She has also led three jazz outfits: the Cindy Blackman Quartet, Cindy Blackman’s Explorations, and Cindy Blackman’s Another Lifetime.

Her most recent solo album, “Give the Drummer Some,” was released in 2020. But audiences in the Bay Area can expect a diverse repertoire during the upcoming shows.

Blackman Santana said being back on stage after the isolation caused by COVID-19 hits differently.

“There’s nothing like it,” she said. “You can play in your practice room for a hundred years, but until you’re really getting out there and playing in front of and with people experiencing all of life’s roller-coaster ride and putting that all into the music, you’re missing out on something special.”

达到Aidin Vaziri: avaziri@sfchronicle.com