Art Blakey

• Born: October 11, 1919
• Birthplace: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• Died: October 16, 1990
• Place of death: New York, New York

Musician

As a drummer and bandleader, Blakey was a major figure in the hard bop style of modern jazz. For more than thirty years, Blakey discovered and educated young jazz musicians though their inclusion in his band, the Jazz Messengers. Many of these young musicians became very prominent jazz performers and composers.

Areas of achievement: Music: bandleading; Music: jazz

Early Life

Art Blakey (BLAY-kee) was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1919. After his mother’s death, Blakey was raised by a cousin, Sarah Parran. He played the piano from an early age and was playing in a Pittsburgh speakeasy before switching to drums when Erroll Garner replaced him. Blakey developed his artistic style on the drums from the aggressive swing styles of Chick Webb and Sid Catlett. During the late 1930’s and early 1940’s, Blakey played in Pittsburgh, New York, and Boston with many prominent jazz musicians, including Mary Lou Williams and Fletcher Henderson. From 1944 until 1947, Blakey was the drummer for Billy Eckstine’s band.

When Eckstine disbanded his group in early 1947, Blakey organized the Seventeen Messengers, a rehearsal band, and recorded with an octet called the Jazz Messengers, the first of his several groups using the Jazz Messengers name. After participating in the earliest of Thelonious Monk’s historic recording sessions for Blue Note (November, 1947, and February, 1948), Blakey traveled to West Africa, where he studied African culture and religion for nearly two years. In honor of his experiences in Africa, Blakey took the Islamic name Abdullah ibn Buhaina. Although he discouraged comparison of his drumming to African drumming, his musical vocabulary included several African devices, including playing on the side of the drum and bending the tom-tom pitch with his elbow.

Life’s Work

After returning to the United States, Blakey worked with Lucky Millinder (1949), Earl Hines (1952), and Buddy DeFranco (1952-1953), and he made several recordings with Monk in the mid-1950’s. Although Blakey played with many musicians during his career, his greatest contributions were with the Jazz Messengers. The quintet and sextet versions of the Jazz Messengers were formed in 1953 with Blakey and Horace Silver as coleaders. The Jazz Messengers actively played and recorded from 1953 to 1990 with Blakey as the constant and guiding member of the group. While other members came and went, Blakey’s unwavering vision focused on excellent quintet performances of acoustic jazz. The Jazz Messengers also became a springboard for the careers of many young jazz musicians.

Among the representative early recordings of the Jazz Messengers, A Night at Birdland volumes 1 and 2 were recorded February 21, 1954. These recordings includedDizzy Gillespie’s “A Night in Tunisia,” which became one of the signature pieces for Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. These recordings are representative examples of the emerging mainstream jazz sound that dominated the mid-twentieth century until the rise of rock styles in the 1970’s.

In addition to his numerous tours and recordings with the Jazz Messengers, Blakey played a world tour in 1971-1972 with the Giants of Jazz, and he frequently appeared as a soloist at the Newport Jazz Festival in New York. Among his best known Newport Jazz Festival performances was a 1974 drum battle with Max Roach, Buddy Rich, and Elvin Jones. Blakey participated in reunions with veteran Jazz Messengers of the 1960’s, and he was the subject of filmed performances and the documentary Art Blakey: The Jazz Messenger (1987). Blakey died from lung cancer on October 16, 1990, at St. Vincent’s Hospital in New York City.

Significance

Blakey was a major figure in modern jazz for four decades and received numerous awards in recognition of his contributions, including several Grammy Awards and induction into the Jazz Hall of Fame. Blakey’s drumming style defined some of the key elements of the mainstream jazz style known as bebop. In his early performances with Eckstine, and particularly in his historic recording sessions with Monk in 1947, Blakey’s signature sound was expressed through powerful playing mixed with originality. Blakey created a texture defined by dark cymbal sounds punctuated by frequent loud snare drum and bass drum accents. The Jazz Messengers’ numerous recordings contain performances of varying degrees of artistic success; however, Blakey’s playing remains somewhat consistent, regardless of whom he is accompanying. His contribution to jazz as a discoverer and molder of young talent for several decades was no less significant than his considerable innovative force as a drummer.

Bibliography

Feather, Leonard. “Art Blakey.” In The Passion for Jazz. New York: Horizon Press, 1980. This brief interview from 1977 focuses on racial issues in jazz and within Blakey’s Jazz Messengers.

Goldsher, Alan. Hard Bop Academy: The Sidemen of Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. Milwaukee, Wis.: Hal Leonard, 2002. Accessible source chronicling the many talented musicians who played with Blakey’s Jazz Messengers over the years.

Rosenthal, David. “Conversation with Art Blakey: The Big Beat!” The Black Perspective in Music 14, no. 3 (1986): 267-290. This extensive interview includes discussion of Blakey’s life and career.

Taylor, Arthur. “Art Blakey.” In Notes and Tones: Musician-to-Musician Interviews. New York: Da Capo Press, 1993. This extensive interview from December 29, 1971, includes Blakey’s discussion of his youth, travels to Africa, career, and racial issues in America.

Watrous, Peter. “Art Blakey, Jazz Great, Is Dead; A Drummer and Band Leader, 71.” The New York Times, October 17, 1990. This obituary includes a brief history of Blakey’s life, career, and contributions to jazz.