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 continues to be profoundly influential on mainstream jazz. For more than 30 years his band Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers included many young musicians who went on to become prominent names in jazz. The band's legacy is thus not only known for the often exceptionally fine music it produced, but as a proving ground for several generations of jazz musicians; Blakey's groups are matched only by those of Miles Davis in this regard. He was a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.
Legendary jazz drummer Art Blakey (1919-1990) is best known for the band he led, known as Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers, which over the course of thirty years included some of the most prominent jazz musicians of the day -- including Clifford Brown, Wayne Shorter, Lee Morgan, Wynton Marsalis and Branford Marsalis.
Blakey was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. By the time he was a teenager he was playing the piano full-time, leading a commercial band. Shortly afterwards, he taught himself to play the drums in the aggressive swing style of Chick Webb, Sid Catlett and Ray Bauduc. He joined Mary Lou Williams as a drummer for an engagement in New York in autumn 1942. He then toured with the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra (1943–4). During his years with Billy Eckstine’s big band (1944–7) Blakey became associated with the modern-jazz movement, along with his fellow band members Miles Davis, Dexter Gordon, Fats Navarro and others.[4]
In 1947 Blakey organized the Seventeen Messengers, a rehearsal band, and recorded with an octet called the Jazz Messengers. He claimed that he then travelled to Africa. Unfortunately, no documentation has been uncovered that supports this claim. In the early 1950s he performed and broadcast with such musicians as Charlie Parker, Miles Davis and Clifford Brown, and particularly with Horace Silver, his kindred musical spirit of this time. Blakey and Silver recorded together on several occasions, including the album A Night at Birdland (1954, BN), having formed in 1953 a cooperative group with Hank Mobley and Kenny Dorham, retaining the name Jazz Messengers. By 1956 Silver had left and the leadership of this important band passed to Blakey, and he remained associated with it until his death. It was the archetypal hard-bop group of the late 1950s, playing a driving, aggressive extension of bop with pronounced blues roots. Over the years the Jazz Messengers served as a springboard for young jazz musicians such as Donald Byrd, Johnny Griffin, Lee Morgan, Wayne Shorter, Freddie Hubbard, Keith Jarrett, Chuck Mangione, Woody Shaw, JoAnne Brackeen and Wynton Marsalis. Blakey also made a world tour in 1971–2 with the Giants of Jazz (with Dizzy Gillespie, Kai Winding, Sonny Stitt, Thelonious Monk and Al McKibbon). [4]
From his earliest recording sessions with Eckstine, and particularly in his historic sessions with Monk in 1947, Blakey exuded power and originality, creating a dark cymbal sound punctuated by frequent loud snare- and bass-drum accents in triplets or cross-rhythms. Although Blakey discouraged 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. His much-imitated trademark, the forceful closing of the hi-hat on every second and fourth beat, was part of his style from 1950 to '51. A loud and domineering drummer, Blakey also listened and responded to his soloists. His contribution to jazz as a discoverer and molder of young talent over three decades was no less significant than his very considerable innovations on his instrument.
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"). 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 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.
Up to the 1960s Blakey also recorded as a sideman with many other musicians: Jimmy Smith, Herbie Nichols, Cannonball Adderley, Grant Green, and Jazz Messengers graduates Lee Morgan and Hank Mobley, amongst many others. However, after the mid-1960s he mostly concentrated on his own work as a leader.
The origins of the Messengers are in a series of groups led or co-led by Blakey and pianist Horace Silver, though the name was not used on the earliest of their recordings. The most celebrated of these early records (credited to "The Art Blakey Quintet"), is A Night at Birdland from February 1954, one of the earliest commercially released "live" jazz records. This featured Silver, Blakey, the young trumpeter Clifford Brown, alto saxophonist Lou Donaldson and bassist Curly Russell. The "Jazz Messengers" name was first used on a 1954 recording nominally led by Silver, with Blakey, Hank Mobley, Kenny Dorham and Doug Watkins — the same quintet would record The Jazz Messengers at the Cafe Bohemia the following year, still as 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, Byrd and Watkins with him to form a new quintet with a variety of drummers), and the band was known as "Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers" from then onwards.
From 1959 to 1961 the group featured Wayne Shorter on tenor saxophone, Jymie Merritt, Lee Morgan, and Bobby Timmons. The second line-up (1961–1964) was a sextet that added trombonist Curtis Fuller and replaced Morgan and Timmons with Freddie Hubbard and Cedar Walton, respectively. Shorter was the musical director of the group, and many of his original compositions such as "Lester Left Town" remained staples of Blakey's repertoire even after Shorter's departure. (Other players over the years made permanent marks on Blakey's repertoire — Timmons, composer of "Dat Dere" and "Moanin'", Benny Golson, composer of "Along Came Betty" and "Are You Real", and, later, Bobby Watson.) Shorter's more experimental inclinations pushed the band at the time into an engagement with the 1960s "New Thing", as it was called: the influence of Coltrane's contemporary records on Impulse! is evident on Free For All (1964), often cited as the greatest document of the Shorter-era Messengers (and certainly one of the most fearsomely powerful examples of hard bop on record)
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-mike on A Night at Birdland (1954): "I'm gonna stay with 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 with some difficulty (recordings from this period are less plentiful and include attempts to incorporate instruments like electric piano), Blakey's band got revitalized in the early 1980s with the advent of neotraditionalist jazz. Wynton Marsalis was for a time the band's trumpeter and musical director, and even after Marsalis's departure Blakey's band continued as a proving ground for many "Young Lions" like Terence Blanchard, Donald Harrison and Kenny Garrett. Blakey continued performing and touring with the group into the late 1980s, and he died in 1990 of lung cancer in New York City, leaving behind a vast legacy and approach to jazz which is still the model for countless hard-bop players.
Split Kick
Art Blakey Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
when you applaud for the different passages, your hands go right out over the redords tehre, so when they play them over and over, throughout over the country, you may be some place and say, well, uh, that's my hand on those records there, that I dig down Birdland...
We're bringing back to the badstand at this time, ladies and gentleman, the great Art Blakey and his wonderful group featuring the new trumpet sensation Clifford Brown,
Horace Silver on piano,
Lou Donaldson on alto,
Curly Russell is on bass.
Let's get together and bring Art Blakey to the bandstand with a great big round of applause here, how about a big hand here for Art Blakey!
Thaaank yowww!"
The opening lines of Art Blakey's song "Split Kick" are actually spoken by the emcee at Birdland. He introduces a special night of recording for Blue Note Records, urging the audience to applaud during different sections so they can hear themselves on the record when it is played across the country. With this exhortation to his audience, the emcee sets the stage for Art Blakey and his group to return to the bandstand.
The emcee then introduces each member of the group, highlighting the new trumpet sensation Clifford Brown, as well as Horace Silver on piano, Lou Donaldson on alto saxophone, and Curly Russell on bass. These introductions are meant to express the depth of talent present on stage, and to hype up the audience for what is about to come.
The song's title, "Split Kick", refers to the drumming technique Blakey uses throughout the piece. It is a complex and highly rhythmic style that was characteristic of Blakey's playing. The track itself is up-tempo and lively, with the individual instruments playing off each other and building to a frenetic finish. It is a classic example of the hard bop style that was popular in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
Line by Line Meaning
Ladies and gentleman, as you know we have something special down here at Birdland this evening; a recording for Blue Note records...
This is special night at Birdland because Art Blakey and his group are making a recording for Blue Note records, which will be distributed throughout the country.
when you applaud for the different passages, your hands go right out over the redords tehre, so when they play them over and over, throughout over the country, you may be some place and say, well, uh, that's my hand on those records there, that I dig down Birdland...
When you applaud at Birdland, you're contributing to the sound of the recording because your clapping will be heard on the record. So when you hear the recorded tracks distributed throughout the country, you might recognize your claps and feel a sense of connection to the recording.
We're bringing back to the badstand at this time, ladies and gentleman, the great Art Blakey and his wonderful group featuring the new trumpet sensation Clifford Brown,
Now it's time to introduce Art Blakey and his talented group, which includes the amazing new trumpet player Clifford Brown.
Horace Silver on piano,
Also accompanying Art Blakey is the skilled pianist Horace Silver.
Lou Donaldson on alto,
Lou Donaldson is playing the alto saxophone with Art Blakey's group.
Curly Russell is on bass.
Curly Russell is rounding out the group on bass guitar.
Let's get together and bring Art Blakey to the bandstand with a great big round of applause here, how about a big hand here for Art Blakey!
Let's welcome Art Blakey to the bandstand with a warm and enthusiastic round of applause to show our appreciation for the great music he and his group are about to play.
Thaaank yowww!
Art Blakey thanks the audience for their warm welcome and is ready to start playing his music.
Contributed by Liliana F. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Adam Gelatt
probably my favorite trumpet solo of all time
Ben Maddox
Same. Honestly even one of may favourite solos period.
TheHighTower
These recordings are among the best live jazz albums, these are some of the most legendary historical recordings ever.
Joe Golding
This tune hit me hard in college doing my own listening session in the library. And it hit me just as hard right now. A great tune!
Ole Birger Pedersen
One of those sessions, which inspired us the most when we were young. Our drummer was very much inspired from Art Blakey and I found Lou Donnaldson very interesting. Together we were good, but individuelly very different. Our pianoplayer loved Monk and Bud Powel at the same time, our trumpet was backleaned as was Miles Davis and our bassplayer had a drive as Charles Mingus. Later my most beloved idol was Cannonball Adderley and still he is today more than 60 years later. All that came to my mind hearing this gordious session.
Delaney Haines
This is music at its finest!!!! <3
Philip Voerding
I first heard this album when I was about 12 years old, in the early 1970s. My father introduced me to Jazz when I was about 6 when he bought a Magnovox console stereo. I always quite liked Horace Silver.
Ole Birger Pedersen
My grandfather introduced me to Louis Armstrong when I was ten . That was just after the war, when he happend to get all those Records from his brother who has imigrated to the states. First later I heard Charlie Parker and changed my trompet for an altosax.
ghairraigh
I always preferred Volume 2. Those albums are the best, and are a complete road-map to Hard Bop followed by a generation of musicians to come. A dozen years ago, I heard Lou at the Jazz Showcase in Chicago with his working group with Dr. Lonnie Smith and Randy Johnston. I noticed Lou was signing autographs between sets, so I went out to my car to get Volume 2 (always in my trunk). You should have seen Lou's eyes bug out when I handed him a 1954 recording to sign!
𝑵𝒐𝒕𝒆⠆Volume 1 sounds damn good, too.
loveyouall66
ONE HELL OF AN ENSEMBLE. WISH I COULD HAVE BEEN THERE FOR THOSE SETS.