Art Blakey born 11 October 1919

Blakey was born on October 11, 1919, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, probably to 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. 

Blakey is described as having been "raised with his siblings by a family friend who became a surrogate mother"; he "received some piano lessons at school", and was able to spend some further time teaching himself. According to Leslie Gourse's biography, the surrogate mother figure was Annie Peron. The stories related by family and friends, and by Blakey himself, are contradictory as to how long he spent with the Peron family, but it is clear he spent some time with them growing up. 

Equally clouded by contradiction are stories of Blakey's early music career. It is agreed by several sources that by the time he was in 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. Until the age of 11 Blakey was a self-taught pianist, even playing in clubs. However, at the age of 13, during the gig he was playing, Errol Garner took over from him at piano and Blakey was told to play the drums. This was the start of a long and influential career as a jazz drummer. As a budding drummer Blakey was tutored by the best in his field – serving as Chick Webb’s valet. 

In 1942, he played with pianist Mary Lou Williams in New York. He toured the South with Fletcher Henderson's band in 1943-1944. From there, he briefly led a Boston-based big band before joining Billy Eckstine's new group, with which he would remain from 1944-1947. Eckstine's big band was the famous "cradle of modern jazz," and included (at different times) such major figures of the forthcoming bebop revolution as Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, and Charlie Parker. Blakey then embarked on a trip to Africa where he converted to the Islamic religion and also became known as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina. Whilst there he learnt African drum beats and then incorporated these into his music on his return. 

The late 1940s saw Blakey form the first of the Jazz Messengers bands – this one was a 17 piece big band. In 1954 Blakey, along with pianist Horace Silver, formulated the quintet that became known as the Jazz Messengers. The band typified the growing hard bop movement -- hard, funky, and bluesy, the band emphasized the music's primal rhythmic and harmonic essence. A year later, Silver left the band, and Blakey became its leader. 

From that point, the Messengers were Blakey's primary vehicle, though he would continue to freelance in various contexts. Notable was A Jazz Message, a 1963 Impulse record date with McCoy Tyner, Sonny Stitt, and Art Davis; a 1971-1972 world tour with "the Giants of Jazz," an all-star venture with Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Stitt, and Al McKibbon; and an epochal drum battle with Max Roach, Elvin Jones, and Buddy Rich at the 1964 Newport Jazz Festival. Blakey also frequently recorded as a sideman under the leadership of ex-Messengers.

The band was one of the longest-running in jazz history and played to a consistently high standard. Blakey wanted to see upcoming talent nurtured by this group and then see members move on to form their own bands and expand their musical experiences. Some talented musicians to form the Jazz Messengers over the years include Clifford Brown, Hank Mobley, Johnny Smith, Lee Morgan and Benny Golsen. 

Blakey’s extraordinary thundering drum rolls and powerful beats earned him recognition as a drum soloist and from this point in jazz, other drummers were given greater recognition for their contributions to jazz music. Without Art Blakey, the era of Hard Bop would definitely have not been the same; a musician that drove himself and his colleagues to the limit in the name of jazz.He continued performing and touring with the group through the end of the 1980s. Over the years heplayed 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. Blakey's final performances were in July 1990. 

 Blakey had been living in Manhattan when he died on October 16, 1990 of lung cancer, five days after his 71st birthday, at St. Vincent's Hospital and Medical Center after spending more than six decades at his chosen career.

Blakey was inducted into the Jazz Hall of Fame (in 1982), the Grammy Hall of Fame (in 2001), and was awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005.

(Edited from Wikipedia, AllMusic & Stellabooks)