Art Blakey Historical Marker

Art Blakey, the foster son of a devout Seventh Day Adventist Family, is one of the world's most talented drummers, but this was not his first instrument of choice. By the time Art was in seventh grade, he was playing music full-time [3]. He was playing the piano to earn money and learning to be a band leader.In the 1930's, Art landed a steady gig at a club playing the piano, but one night Erroll Garner sat in on piano. When the club owner heard Garner, he ordered Blakey to switch to drums. He learned to play drums on the job [3].

Art fell in love with the drums, and became amazingly talented. From 1939 to 1944, Blakey played with fellow Pittsburgh native Mary Lou Williams and toured with the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra.  From 1944 to 1947, Blakey worked with Billy Eckstine's big band [4]. Through this band, Blakey became associated with the bebop movement. After the Eckstine band broke up in 1947, Blakey traveled to Africa and ended up staying for two years. He wanted to see how the people lived and learned more about the drums there [1].

On December 17, 1947, Blakey led a group known as "The Messengers" in his first recording session for Blue Note Records. The band eventually became known as "Art Blakey and the Messengers" for Columbia Records as Art took over and multiple members joined and left the band [6]. Throughout the 80's Art continued to add new, young musicians to the band and help flourish their careers. He was very successful in his musical career. Art was inducted into the Jazz Hall of Fame Induction in 1982 [5], awarded the Martin Luther King Humanitarian Award in 1991, inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2001 [5], and in 2005, he received the Grammy Life Time Achievement Award [2]. In 2002, Blakey's book titled Hard Bop Academy was published. This book critically examines the multitude of gifted artists who populated the many editions of the Jazz Messengers, and continues to do so.

Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers helped nurture and influenced many of the key figures of the hard bop movement of the late 1950s to early 1960s. They created a sound that will live on and help the next generation. To this day, people from all over give tribute to Art and his music, and thank him for what he has done for the jazz industry.

[1] “Art Blakey, the Mightiest Mentor.” DownBeat Magazine, March 5, 2020. https://downbeat.com/news/detail/art-blakey-the-mightiest-mentor.

[2] “Awards.” Art Blakey. Accessed May 13, 2021. http://artblakey.com/awards/.

[3] “Biography.” Art Blakey. Accessed May 13, 2021. http://artblakey.com/biography/0.

[4] “The Estate of Art Blakey.” Art Blakey. Accessed May 13, 2021. http://artblakey.com/.

[5] “PAS Hall of Fame.” Art Blakey. Accessed May 13, 2021. https://www.pas.org/about/hall-of-fame/art-blakey.

[6] Waring, Charles. “Art Blakey: How The Jazz Messenger Shaped The Future Of Jazz.” uDiscover Music, October 16, 2019. https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/art-blakey-jazz-messenger-hard-bop-drummer/.