Arthur "Art" Blakey, was an American Grammy Award-winning jazz drummer and bandleader. Blakey made a name for himself in the 1940's in the big bands of Fletcher Henderson and Billy Eckstine. He worked with bebop legends Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. In the mid 1950's he formed a group with Horace Silver with which he would be associated for the next 35 years: the Jazz Messengers. The Messengers were formed as a collective of contemporaries, but over the years the band became known as an incubator for young talent, including such luminaries as Freddie Hubbard, Wayne Shorter and Wynton Marsalis. The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz calls the Jazz Messengers "the archetypal hard-bop group of the late '50s...". A relentless performer, he continued to record as a sideman throughout his career?frequently for Messengers alumni. He also led several percussion-centric albums with many of his peers. I'll play drums until Mother Nature tells me different. I'll retire when I'm six feet under. ? Art Blakey, Blakey's final performances were in July 1990. He died mere months later, on October 16 of the same year. 

October 11th, 1919 in Pittsburgh  /  Died:   Oct 16th, 1990