65-501: Buhaina is an album by drummer Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers recorded in 1973 and released on the Prestige label. The name comes from the name Blakey took for himself after conversion to Islam. Allmusic awarded the album 3 stars. Art Blakey Arthur Blakey (October 11, 1919 – October 16, 1990) was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. He was also known as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina after he converted to Islam for
130-509: A blues song for his band. The result was "Roll 'Em", a boogie-woogie piece based on the blues, which followed her successful "Camel Hop", named for Goodman's radio show sponsor, Camel cigarettes . Goodman tried to put Williams under contract to write for him exclusively, but she refused, preferring to freelance instead. In 1942, Williams, who had divorced her husband, left the Twelve Clouds of Joy, returning again to Pittsburgh. She
195-496: A medley encompassing spirituals , ragtime , blues and swing . Other highlights include Williams's reworkings of " Tea for Two ", " Honeysuckle Rose ", and her two compositions "Little Joe from Chicago", and "What's Your Story Morning Glory". Other tracks include "Medley: The Lord Is Heavy", "Old Fashion Blues", " Over the Rainbow ", "Offertory Meditation", "Concerto Alone at Montreux", and " The Man I Love ". In 1980, she founded
260-563: A book of reminiscences and favorite food recipes from the period of the late 1970s to early 1980s when Blakey lived in Northfield, New Jersey , with Warren and their son, Takashi. Blakey traveled for a year in West Africa in 1948 to explore the culture and religion of Islam , which he later adopted alongside changing his name; his conversion took place in the late 1940s at a time when other African Americans were being influenced by
325-476: A collective. Donald Byrd replaced Dorham, and the group recorded an album called simply The Jazz Messengers for Columbia Records in 1956. Blakey took over the group name when Silver left after the band's first year (taking Mobley and Watkins with him to form a new quintet), and the band name evolved to include Blakey's name, eventually settling upon "Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers". Blakey led
390-420: A complete list of Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers alumni, including some who did not actually record with the band, see The Jazz Messengers . Blakey went on to record dozens of albums with a constantly changing group of Jazz Messengers. He had a policy of encouraging young musicians: as he remarked on-mic during the live session which resulted in the A Night at Birdland albums in 1954: "I'm gonna stay with
455-505: A dark cymbal sound punctuated by frequent loud snare and bass drum accents in triplets or cross-rhythms." This source continues: Although Blakey discourages comparison of his own music with African drumming, he adopted several African devices after his visit in 1948–9, including rapping on the side of the drum and using his elbow on the tom-tom to alter the pitch. Later he organized recording sessions with multiple drummers, including some African musicians and pieces. His much-imitated trademark,
520-517: A few hours later [we] would go [...] to a restaurant [...and] have a drink and order some ribs", and suggests that reasons for the name change included the pragmatic: that "like many other black jazz musicians who adopted Muslim names", musicians did so to allow themselves to "check into hotels and enter 'white only places' under the assumption they were not African-American". Drummer Keith Hollis, reflecting on Blakey's early life, states that his fellow drummer "wound up doing drugs to cope"; like many of
585-571: A halfway house for the poor as well as musicians who were grappling with addiction; she also made money over a longer period of time for the halfway house by way of a thrift store in Harlem. Her hiatus may have been triggered by the death of her long-time friend and student Charlie Parker in 1955 who also struggled with addiction for the majority of his life. Father John Crowley and Father Anthony aided in persuading Williams to return to playing music. They told her that she could continue to serve God and
650-440: A leader, for Blue Note Records . The records were released as 78 rpm records at the time, and two of the songs were released on the "New Sounds" 10" LP compilation (BLP 5010). The octet included Kenny Dorham , Sahib Shihab , Musa Kaleem , and Walter Bishop, Jr. Around the same time (1947 or 1949 ) he led a big band called Seventeen Messengers. The band proved to be financially unstable and broke up soon after. The use of
715-553: A musical hiatus and a later transformation in the nature of her music. She continued to perform and work as a philanthropist , educator, and youth mentor until her death from bladder cancer in 1981. The second of eleven children, Williams was born in Atlanta , Georgia, and grew up in the East Liberty neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania . A musical prodigy , at the age of two she was able to pick out simple tunes and by
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#1732801481630780-558: A period where he was less affected by drugs during performances. Blakey was a heavy smoker; he appears in a cloud of smoke on the Buhaina's Delight album cover, and in extended footage of a 1973 appearance with Ginger Baker , Blakey begins a long drummers' "duel" with cigarette alight. Blakey died in Manhattan , on October 16, 1990, from lung cancer , five days after his 71st birthday, at St. Vincent's Hospital and Medical Center. He
845-664: A professional musician at the age of 15, citing Lovie Austin as her greatest influence. She married jazz saxophonist John Overton Williams in November 1926. In 1922, at the age of 12, Williams went on the Orpheum Circuit of theaters. During the following year she played with Duke Ellington and his early small band, the Washingtonians. One morning at three o'clock, she was playing with McKinney's Cotton Pickers at Harlem's Rhythm Club. Louis Armstrong entered
910-797: A proving ground for young jazz talent, and recorded albums such as Buhaina's Delight , Caravan , and Free For All . While veterans occasionally reappeared in the group, by and large, each iteration of the Messengers included a lineup of new young players. Having the Messengers on one's resume was a rite of passage in the jazz world and conveyed immediate bona fides. Many Messenger alumni went on to become jazz stars in their own right, such as: Lee Morgan , Benny Golson , Wayne Shorter , Freddie Hubbard , Bobby Timmons , Curtis Fuller , Chuck Mangione , Keith Jarrett , Joanne Brackeen , Woody Shaw , Wynton Marsalis , Branford Marsalis , Terence Blanchard , Donald Harrison and Mulgrew Miller . For
975-495: A second drummer due to Blakey's failing health. Ron Wynn notes that Blakey had "played with such force and fury that he eventually lost much of his hearing, and at the end of his life, often played strictly by instinct." He stubbornly refused to wear a hearing aid , arguing that it threw his timing off, so most of the time he played by sensing vibrations. Javon Jackson, who played in Blakey's final lineup, claimed that he exaggerated
1040-485: A short time in the late 1940s. Blakey made a name for himself in the 1940s in the big bands of Fletcher Henderson and Billy Eckstine . He then worked with bebop musicians Thelonious Monk , Charlie Parker , and Dizzy Gillespie . In the mid-1950s, Horace Silver and Blakey formed the Jazz Messengers , a group which he led for the next 35 years. The group was formed as a collective of contemporaries, but over
1105-569: A single mother who died shortly after his birth; her name is often cited as Marie Roddicker, or Roddericker, although Blakey's own 1937 marriage license shows her maiden name to have been Jackson. His biological father was Bertram Thomas Blakey, originally of Ozark, Alabama , whose family migrated northward to Pittsburgh sometime between 1900 and 1910. Blakey's uncle, Rubi Blakey, was a popular Pittsburgh singer, choral leader, and teacher who attended Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee . Blakey
1170-586: A time when no more than two clubs in Manhattan offered jazz full-time. In addition to club work, she played at colleges, formed her own record label and publishing companies, founded the Pittsburgh Jazz Festival (with the bishop's help), and made television appearances. Bishop Wright let her teach at Seton High School on the city's North Side. It was there that she wrote her first Mass, called The Pittsburgh Mass . Williams eventually became
1235-763: A year later. (Some accounts have him joining Henderson as early as 1939.) While playing in Henderson's band, Blakey was subjected to an unprovoked attack by a white Georgia police officer which necessitated a steel plate being inserted into his head. These injuries caused him to be declared unfit for service in World War II . He led his own band at the Tic Toc Club in Boston for a short time. From 1944 to 1947, Blakey worked with Billy Eckstine 's big band. Through this band, Blakey became associated with
1300-556: A year she had left Baker and the group and returned to New York. Williams accepted a job at the Café Society Downtown, started a weekly radio show called Mary Lou Williams's Piano Workshop on WNEW and began mentoring and collaborating with younger bebop musicians such as Dizzy Gillespie and Thelonious Monk . In 1945, she composed the bebop hit "In the Land of Oo-Bla-Dee" for Gillespie. "During this period Monk and
1365-619: Is called into question in the Gourse biography, as Blakey himself gives other accounts in addition to this one. The style Blakey assumed was "the aggressive swing style of Chick Webb , Sid Catlett and Ray Bauduc ". From 1939 to 1944, Blakey played with fellow Pittsburgh native Mary Lou Williams and toured with the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra. While sources differ on the timing, most agree that he traveled to New York with Williams in 1942 before joining Henderson
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#17328014816301430-497: Is often considered to have been Monk's most empathetic 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. Blakey toured with Buddy DeFranco from 1951 to 1953 in a band that also included Kenny Drew . On December 17, 1947, Blakey led a group known as "Art Blakey's Messengers" in his first recording session as
1495-673: The Ahmadi missionary Kahili Ahmed Nasir, according to the Encyclopedia of Muslim-American History , and at one time in that period, Blakey led a turbaned, Qur'an -reading jazz band called the 17 Messengers (perhaps all Muslim, reflecting notions of the Prophet 's and music's roles as conduits of the divine message). A friend recollects that when "Art took up the religion [...] he did so on his own terms", saying that "Muslim imams would come over to his place, and they would pray and talk, then
1560-615: The Monterey Jazz Festival in 1965, with a jazz festival group. Throughout the 1970s, Williams' career flourished. She released numerous albums, including as solo pianist and commentator on the recorded The History of Jazz . She returned to the Monterey Jazz Festival in 1971. She could also be seen playing nightly in Greenwich Village at The Cookery, a new club run by her former boss from
1625-488: The bebop movement, along with his fellow band members Miles Davis , Dexter Gordon , Fats Navarro , Dizzy Gillespie , Charlie Parker and Sarah Vaughan among others. After the Eckstine band broke up, Blakey states that he traveled to Africa for a time: "In 1947, after the Eckstine band broke up, we—took a trip to Africa. I was supposed to stay there three months and I stayed two years because I wanted to live among
1690-529: The Café Society, Barney Josephson . That engagement too, was recorded. Williams had a two-piano performance with avant-garde pianist Cecil Taylor at Carnegie Hall on April 17, 1977. Despite onstage tensions between Williams and Taylor, their performance was released on an live album titled Embraced . Williams instructed school children on jazz. She then accepted an appointment at Duke University as artist-in-residence (from 1977 to 1981), teaching
1755-498: The Catholic Church by utilizing her exceptional gift of creating music. Moreover, Gillespie convinced her to return to playing, which she did at the 1957 Newport Jazz Festival with Gillespie's band. Father Peter O'Brien, a Catholic priest , became her close friend and manager in the 1960s. Gillespie also introduced her to Pittsburgh's Bishop John Wright . O'Brien helped her establish new venues for jazz performance at
1820-725: The History of Jazz with Father O'Brien and directing the Duke Jazz Ensemble . With a light teaching schedule, she also made many concert and festival appearances, conducted clinics with youth, and in 1978 performed at the White House for President Jimmy Carter and his guests. She participated in Benny Goodman's 40th-anniversary Carnegie Hall concert in 1978. Williams' final recording, Solo Recital (Montreux Jazz Festival, 1978), three years before her death, had
1885-684: The Jazz Hall of Fame (in 1982), the Grammy Hall of Fame (in 2001), and was awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005. Japanese video game music composer Yasunori Mitsuda , who composed the Chrono and Xeno video game soundtracks, cited Art Blakey as the jazz musician who had the deepest influence on him, due to his father frequently playing his music. In addition to his musical interests, Blakey
1950-766: The Jazz Messengers "the archetypal hard bop group of the late 50s." Blakey was inducted into the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame (in 1981). Posthumously, he was inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 1991 and the Grammy Hall of Fame (in 1998 and 2001). He was awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005. Blakey was born on October 11, 1919, in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania, probably to
2015-743: The Mary Lou Williams Foundation. In 1981, Mary Lou Williams died of bladder cancer in Durham , North Carolina at the age of 71. Dizzy Gillespie, Benny Goodman, and Andy Kirk attended her funeral at the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola . She was buried in the Calvary Catholic Cemetery in Pittsburgh. Looking back at the end of her life, Mary Lou Williams said: "I did it, didn't I? Through muck and mud." She
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2080-787: The Memphis band when her husband accepted an invitation to join Andy Kirk 's band in Oklahoma City. Williams joined her husband in Oklahoma City but did not play with the band. The group, Andy Kirk's Twelve Clouds of Joy, moved to Tulsa , Oklahoma, where Williams, when she wasn't working as a musician, was employed transporting bodies for an undertaker . When the Clouds of Joy accepted a longstanding engagement in Kansas City, Missouri , Williams joined her husband and began sitting in with
2145-498: The Messengers tag finally stuck with the group co-led at first by both Blakey and pianist Horace Silver , though the name was not used on the earliest of their recordings. The "Jazz Messengers" name was first used for this group on a 1954 recording nominally led by Silver, with Blakey, Mobley, Dorham and Doug Watkins —the same quintet recorded The Jazz Messengers at the Cafe Bohemia the following year, still functioning as
2210-464: The age of three, she was taught piano by her mother. Mary Lou Williams played piano out of necessity at a very young age; her white neighbors were throwing bricks into her house until Williams began playing the piano in their homes. At the age of six, she supported her ten half-brothers and sisters by playing at parties. She began performing publicly at the age of seven when she became known admiringly in Pittsburgh as "The Little Piano Girl". She became
2275-572: The band's most celebrated tunes, such as Golson's "Along Came Betty", Bobby Timmons' "Moanin ' ", and Wayne Shorter's "One by One". Jackson, a member of Blakey's last Jazz Messengers group, recalled how his experiences with the drummer changed his life, saying that "He taught me how to be a man. How to stand up and be accounted for". Musicians Jackie McLean , Ray Bryant , Dizzy Gillespie , and Max Roach also paid tribute to Blakey at his funeral. Mary Lou Williams Mary Lou Williams (born Mary Elfrieda Scruggs ; May 8, 1910 – May 28, 1981 )
2340-468: The band, as well as serving as its arranger and composer. She provided Kirk with such songs as "Froggy Bottom", "Walkin' and Swingin ' ", "Little Joe from Chicago", "Roll 'Em", and "Mary's Idea". Williams was the arranger and pianist for recordings in Kansas City (1929) Chicago (1930), and New York City (1930). During a trip to Chicago, she recorded "Drag 'Em" and "Night Life" as piano solos. She used
2405-582: The church. She opened a charitable organization and opened thrift stores in Harlem , directing the proceeds, along with ten percent of her own earnings, to musicians in need. As a 1964 Time article explained, "Mary Lou thinks of herself as a ' soul ' player — a way of saying that she never strays far from melody and the blues, but deals sparingly in gospel harmony and rhythm. 'I am praying through my fingers when I play,' she says. 'I get that good "soul sound", and I try to touch people's spirits.'" She performed at
2470-409: The drums, I wasn't after that. I went over there to see what I could do about religion. When I was growing up I had no choice, I was just thrown into a church and told this is what I was going to be. I didn't want to be their Christian. I didn't like it. You could study politics in this country, but I didn't have access to the religions of the world. That's why I went to Africa. When I got back people got
2535-440: The era, Blakey and his bands were known for their drug use (namely heroin) while traveling and performing (with varying accounts of Blakey's influence on others in this regard). Other specific recollections have Blakey forswearing serious drink while playing (after being disciplined by drummer Sid Catlett early in his career for drinking while performing), and suggest that the influence of "clean-living cat" Wynton Marsalis led to
2600-473: The extent of his hearing loss. "In my opinion, his deafness was a little exaggerated, and it was exaggerated by him. He didn't hear well out of one ear, but he could hear just fine out the other one. He could hear you just fine when you played something badly and he was quick to say 'Hey, you missed that there.' But anything like 'I don't think I'll be available for the next gig', he'd say 'Huh? I can't hear you. ' " Another bandmate, Geoffrey Keezer, claimed that 'He
2665-696: The first jazz composer commissioned by the church to compose liturgical music in the jazz idiom. Following her hiatus, Willams' first piece of music was a Mass she wrote and performed named Black Christ of the Andes , based around a hymn in honor of the Peruvian saint Martin de Porres , and two other short works, Anima Christi and Praise the Lord . It was first performed in November 1962 at St. Francis Xavier Church in Manhattan. She recorded it in October of
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2730-410: The forceful closing of the hi-hat on every second and fourth beat, has been part of his style since 1950–51. ... A loud and domineering drummer, Blakey also listens and responds to his soloists. The legacy of Blakey and his bands is not only the music they produced, but also the opportunities they provided for several generations of jazz musicians. The Jazz Messengers nurtured and influenced many of
2795-519: The group for the rest of his life. It was the archetypal hard bop group of the 1950s, playing a driving, aggressive extension of bop with pronounced blues roots. Towards the end of the 1950s, the saxophonists Johnny Griffin and Benny Golson were in turn briefly members of the group. Golson, as musical director, wrote several jazz standards which began as part of the band book, such as " I Remember Clifford ", "Along Came Betty", and " Blues March ", and were frequently revived by later editions of
2860-631: The group. " Whisper Not " and "Are You Real" were other Golson compositions for Blakey. From 1959 to 1961, the group featured Wayne Shorter on tenor saxophone, Lee Morgan on trumpet, pianist Bobby Timmons and Jymie Merritt on bass. The group recorded several albums for Blue Note Records including The Big Beat and A Night in Tunisia . From 1961 to 1964, the band was a sextet that added trombonist Curtis Fuller and replaced Morgan, Timmons, and Merritt with Freddie Hubbard , Cedar Walton , and Reggie Workman , respectively. The group evolved into
2925-474: The idea I went there to learn about music. Blakey is known to have recorded from 1947 to 1949. He studied and converted to Islam during this period, taking the name Abdullah Ibn Buhaina and the nickname "Bu", although he stopped being a practicing Muslim in the 1950s and continued to perform under the name "Art Blakey" throughout his career. As the 1950s began, Blakey was backing musicians such as Davis, Parker, Gillespie, Bud Powell and Thelonious Monk ; he
2990-404: The inventors of the modern bebop style of drumming. Max Roach described him thus: Art was an original... He's the only drummer whose time I recognize immediately. And his signature style was amazing; we used to call him 'Thunder.' When I first met him on 52d Street in 1944, he already had the polyrhythmic thing down. Art was perhaps the best at maintaining independence with all four limbs. He
3055-478: The key figures of the hard bop movement of the late 1950s to early 1960s, and of the Neotraditionalist movement of the 1980s and 1990s, both of which had the Jazz Messengers in a stylistically seminal role. In the words of drummer Cindy Blackman shortly after Blakey's death, "When jazz was in danger of dying out [during the 1970s], there was still a scene. Art kept it going." Blakey was inducted into
3120-594: The kids would come to my apartment every morning around four or pick me up at the Café after I'd finished my last show, and we'd play and swap ideas until noon or later", Williams recalled in Melody Maker . In 1945, Williams composed the classically-influenced Zodiac Suite , in which each of the twelve parts corresponded to a sign of the zodiac , and were accordingly dedicated to several of her musical colleagues, including Billie Holiday , and Art Tatum . She recorded
3185-507: The name "Mary Lou" at the suggestion of Jack Kapp at Brunswick Records . The records sold quickly, raising Williams to national prominence. Soon after the recording session she became Kirk's permanent second pianist, playing solo gigs and working as a freelance arranger for Earl Hines , Benny Goodman , and Tommy Dorsey . In 1937, she produced In the Groove (Brunswick), a collaboration with Dick Wilson , and Benny Goodman asked her to write
3250-658: The next year. Throughout the 1960s, Williams' composing concentrated on sacred music, hymns, and Masses. One of the Masses, Music for Peace, was choreographed by Alvin Ailey and performed by the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater as Mary Lou's Mass in 1971 . About the work, Ailey commented, "If there can be a Bernstein Mass , a Mozart Mass , a Bach Mass , why can't there be Mary Lou's Mass ?" Williams performed
3315-429: The people and find out just how they lived and—about the drums especially." He stated in a 1979 interview, discussing the context of the decision at the time: I didn't go to Africa to study drums – somebody wrote that – I went to Africa because there wasn't anything else for me to do. I couldn't get any gigs, and I had to work my way over on a boat. I went over there to study religion and philosophy. I didn't bother with
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#17328014816303380-655: The piano during a performance in Paris in 1954. She returned to the United States, converting to Catholicism in 1954 alongside Dizzy Gillespie 's wife Lorraine. In addition to spending several hours at Mass , her energies were then devoted mainly to the Bel Canto Foundation , an effort she initiated using her savings as well as help from friends to turn her apartment in Hamilton Heights into
3445-542: The revision of Mary Lou's Mass, her most acclaimed work, on The Dick Cavett Show in 1971. She also made a guest appearance on Sesame Street in 1975. Williams put much effort into working with youth choirs to perform her works, including "Mary Lou's Mass" at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City in April 1975 before a gathering of over three thousand. It marked the first time a jazz musician had played at
3510-543: The room and paused to listen to her. Williams shyly told what happened: "Louis picked me up and kissed me." In 1927, Williams married saxophonist John Overton Williams . She met him at a performance in Cleveland where he was leading his group, the Syncopators, and moved with him to Memphis, Tennessee. He assembled a band in Memphis, which included Williams on piano. In 1929, 19-year-old Williams assumed leadership of
3575-549: The suite with Jack Parker and Al Lucas and performed it December 31, 1945, at The Town Hall in New York City with an orchestra and tenor saxophonist Ben Webster . In 1952, Williams accepted an offer to perform in England and ended up staying in Europe for two years. By this time, her musical career had left Williams mentally and physically drained. A three-year hiatus from performing began when she suddenly backed away from
3640-409: The years the band became known as an incubator for young talent, including Freddie Hubbard , Wayne Shorter , Lee Morgan , Benny Golson , Kenny Dorham , Hank Mobley , Donald Byrd , Jackie McLean , Johnny Griffin , Curtis Fuller , Chuck Mangione , Chick Corea , Keith Jarrett , Cedar Walton , Woody Shaw , Terence Blanchard , and Wynton Marsalis . The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz calls
3705-417: The youngsters. When these get too old I'll get some younger ones. Keeps the mind active." After weathering the fusion era in the 1970s, the popularity of the Jazz Messengers faded away. But Blakey's band continued performing with new jazz men such as Terence Blanchard and Kenny Garrett . He continued performing and touring with the group through the end of the 1980s. Ralph Peterson, Jr. joined in 1983 as
3770-475: Was also self-taught. By seventh grade, Blakey was playing music full-time and had begun to take on adult responsibilities, playing the piano to earn money and learning to be a band leader. He switched from piano to drums at an uncertain date in the early 1930s. An oft-quoted account of the event states that Blakey was forced at gunpoint to move from piano to drums by a club owner, to allow Erroll Garner to take over on piano. The veracity of this story
3835-477: Was an American jazz pianist, arranger, and composer. She wrote hundreds of compositions and arrangements and recorded more than one hundred records (in 78, 45, and LP versions). Williams wrote and arranged for Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman , and she was friend, mentor, and teacher to Thelonious Monk , Charlie Parker , Miles Davis , Tadd Dameron , Bud Powell , and Dizzy Gillespie . She has been noted for her 1954 conversion to Catholicism , which led to
3900-584: Was described by Jerry "Tiger" Pearson as a storyteller, as having a "big appetite for music [...] women [and] food", and an interest in the sport of boxing . Blakey married four times and had other long-lasting relationships throughout his life. He married his first wife, Clarice Stewart, while yet a teen, then Diana Bates (1956), Atsuko Nakamura (1968), and Anne Arnold (1983 ). He had 10 children from these relationships — Gwendolyn, Evelyn, Jackie, Kadijah, Sakeena, Akira, Art Jr., Takashi, Kenji and Gamal. Sandy Warren, another longtime companion of Blakey, published
3965-579: Was doing it before anybody was." His drumming form made continuing use of the traditional grip , though in later appearances he is also seen using a matched grip . In a 1973 drum battle with Ginger Baker he can be seen repeatedly changing grip during his performance. As the supporting materials for Ken Burns 's series Jazz notes, "Blakey is a major figure in modern jazz and an important stylist in drums. From his earliest recording sessions with Eckstine, and particularly in his historic sessions with Monk in 1947, he exudes power and originality, creating
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#17328014816304030-666: Was joined there by bandmate Harold "Shorty" Baker , with whom she formed a six-piece ensemble that included Art Blakey on drums. After an engagement in Cleveland, Baker left to join Duke Ellington 's orchestra. Williams joined the band in New York City , then traveled to Baltimore, where she and Baker were married. She traveled with Ellington and arranged several tunes for him, including "Trumpet No End" (1946), her version of " Blue Skies " by Irving Berlin . She also sold Ellington on performing "Walkin' and Swingin'". Within
4095-486: Was raised with his siblings by a family friend who became a surrogate mother. According to Leslie Gourse 's biography, the surrogate mother was Annie Parran and her husband Henry Parran Sr. The stories related by family and friends, and by Blakey himself, are contradictory as to how long he spent with the Parran family, but it is clear he spent some time with them growing up. Blakey received some piano lessons at school but
4160-462: Was selectively deaf. He'd go deaf when you asked him about money, but if it was real quiet and you talked to him one-on-one, then he could hear you just fine.'" Blakey's final performances were in July 1990. Blakey assumed an aggressive swing style of contemporaries Chick Webb , Sid Catlett and Ray Bauduc early in his career, and is known, alongside Kenny Clarke and Max Roach , as one of
4225-541: Was survived by nine children: Gwendolyn, Evelyn, Jackie, Sakeena, Kadijah, Akira, Takashi, Gamal, and Kenji. At his funeral at the Abyssinian Baptist Church on October 22, 1990, a tribute group assembled of past Jazz Messengers including Brian Lynch , Javon Jackson , Geoffrey Keezer , Wynton Marsalis , Terence Blanchard , Valery Ponomarev , Benny Golson , Donald Harrison , Essiet Okon Essiet , and drummer Kenny Washington performed several of
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