A working musician from before he could legally drive a car, Art Blakey persisted his way into a job with Billy Eckstein's bebop big band during the mid-1940s. This gave the young drummer exposure to the likes of Charlie Parker, Dizzu Gillespie, Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk and other creators of modern jazz. After a stint in Africa gathering spiritual roots, the renamed Abdullah Ibn Buhaina returned to New York in 1948 and his old associates marveled at how incendiary his drumming had become. His awakened talents landed him a role as house drummer for Blue Note records. By 1955, the bands he worked with became known as the Jazz Messengers, helping to define the soulful hard bop style that unified their best recordings. Although the line-up of accompanists was always changing, through at least 1964 Blakey's recorded work was never less than outstanding. As Lyons and Perlo put it, "Blakey's long press roll followed by a cymbal crash seems to elevate the entire band a foot above the stage" (Jazz Portraits, 1989). His best stuff through 1964 would be A Night at Birdland with the Art Blakey Quintet Volumes 1 and 2.
--Phil Mershon
--Phil Mershon