Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers

Arthur (Art) Blakey (October 11, 1919–October 16, 1990), also known as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina, was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. Along with Kenny Clarke and

Arthur (Art) Blakey (October 11, 1919–October 16, 1990), also known as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina, was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. Along with Kenny Clarke and Max Roach, he was one of the inventors of the modern bebop style of drumming. He is known as a powerful musician and a vital groover; his brand of bluesy, funky hard bop was (and remains) profoundly influential on mainstream jazz. Over more than 30 years his band the Jazz Messengers included many young musicians who went on to become prominent names in jazz, including Jackie McLean, Clifford Brown, Freddie Hubbard, Wayne Shorter, Curtis Fuller, Donald Byrd, Cedar Walton, Lee Morgan, Hank Mobley, Johnny Griffin, Benny Golson, Bobby Timmons, Jymie Merritt, Chuck Mangione, John Gilmore, Woody Shaw, Wynton Marsalis, Branford Marsalis, Gary Bartz, Keith Jarrett, Joanne Brackeen, Brian Lynch, James Williams, Mulgrew Miller, Benny Green, Donald Harrison, Terence Blanchard, and John Hicks. The band's legacy is thus not only the often exceptionally fine music it produced, but as a proving ground for several generations of jazz musicians; it is comparable only to Miles Davis's bands in this regard.

In the 1940s, Blakey was a member of bands led by Mary Lou Williams, Fletcher Henderson, and Billy Eckstine. He converted to Islam during a visit to West Africa in the late 1940s and took the name Abdullah Ibn Buhaina (which led to the nickname "Bu"). The African visit is the subject of some dispute as he was never absent from America for the length of time claimed. Some suspect the trip never took place. By the late forties and early fifties, Blakey was backing musicians such as Miles Davis, Bud Powell and Thelonious Monk — he is often considered to have been Monk's most sympathetic drummer, and he played on both Monk's first recording session as a leader (for Blue Note Records in 1947) and his final one (in London in 1971), as well as many in between.