Art Blakey

Art Blakey (born October 11, 1919, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.—died October 16, 1990, New York, New York) was an American drummer and bandleader noted for his extraordinary drum solos, which helped define the offshoot of bebop known as “hard bop” and gave the drums a significant solo status. His style was characterized by thunderous press rolls, cross beats, and drum rolls that began as quiet tremblings and grew into frenzied explosions.

Blakey taught himself to play the piano while he was a teenager and performed on piano (and later drums) in jazz clubs in the evenings while working in the steel mills by day. Beginning in 1939, as a drummer, he performed with several bands, most notably (1944–47) with that of Billy Eckstine. Among the artists he met and performed with during that period were Dizzy Gillespie, Sarah Vaughan, Charlie Parker, Dexter Gordon, and Billie Holiday.

When Eckstine’s band broke up, Blakey traveled to Africa, a trip that led to his conversion to Islam. Upon his return to the United States he was hired to play drums on several Blue Note Records recordings with jazz pianist Thelonious Monk. With Horace Silver, Blakey founded the Jazz Messengers (1954), toured Europe, and recorded (1955–61) a brilliant string of records for the Blue Note label. By encouraging young musicians to become members of the Jazz Messengers, Blakey gave them valuable experience as jazz performers; over the years the ensemble included such notable jazzmen as Clifford Brown, Donald Byrd, Benny Golson, Johnny Griffin, Jackie McLean, Lee Morgan, and Wayne Shorter.