• Blakey received some piano lessons at school but also was self-taught.

• By seventh grade, Blakey was playing the piano to earn money.

• He later switched from piano to drums in the 1930s

Instruments

• Blakey was born on October 11, 1919

• Blakey's uncle, Rubi Blakey, was a popular Pittsburgh singer, choral leader, and teacher who attended Fisk University.

Pittsburg, PA

The Early Years

​As a Young Man

• In the 1940s, he was a member of Mary Lou Williams', Fletcher Henderson's, and Billy Eckstine's bands.

• He converted to Islam during a long visit to West Africa in the late 1940s and briefly took the name Abdullah Ibn Buhaina.

• He was noted as one of the inventors of the modern, bebop style of drumming.

In 1955, he and a fellow hard bop musician Horace Silver founded the Jazz Messengers.

• What instrument did Horace Silver play?

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​The Jazz Messengers

• Blakey took over the group name when Silver left the band.

• The band name evolved to "Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers".

• Blakey led the group for the rest of his life. He died October 16, 1990

• Blakey mentored many young musicians that went on to have successful careers.

​Art Blakey and the

Jazz Messengers