ART BLAKEY

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Arthur "Art" Blakey (October 11, 1919 – October 16, 1990), known later as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina, was an American jazz drummer and bandleader.

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 and 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

Art Blakey caz tarihinin en iyi müzisyen ve caz gurubu liderlerinden biri olarak adlandırılmaktadır. Max Roach gibi o da şaşırtıcı yeteneğiyle sopalarını kullanarak davulu ön plana çıkarmış ve 36 yıl boyunca beğeni kazanan “Jazz Messengers” gurubuyla hard-bop’a güç katmıştır. Art Blakey davul çalarken, piyano ve nefesli sazlarla etkileşime her zaman hazırlıklı ve müziğini bir bayram havasına sokan poliritmik bir doğal güçten aşağı kalmazdı. Beğenilen devinimli vuruş tekniği adeta doğa üstüydü ve zillere dokunuşu eksiksizdi. Blakey genç yeteneklerin solo kariyerlerine başlamadan önce, kendi yaratıcı yönlerini bulmalarına izin vererek üç kuşak boyunca onları yetiştiren bir gurup lideri olarak da üstünlük sağladı.
Biography
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.

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; however, 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).

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

11 Ekim 1919′da Pittsburgh’da doğan Art Blakey başlangıçta bir piyanistti. 1939′da Mary Lou Williams gurubuyla New York’a davulcu olarak gitti ve Charlie Parker, Sarah Vaughan gibi Billy Eckstine’nın parlayan yıldızlarına katılmadan önce Fletcher Henderson’un gurubunda ön hizmetini yaptı. Gözde şarkıcı Eckstine ile beraberliğinin ardından New York kulüplerinde çalışmaya, Miles Davis ve Thelonious Monk ile birlikte kayıt çalışmalarına katılmaya başladı. 1954′de Art Blakey tüm gücünü, piyanist Horace Silver ile kurduğu, Kenny Dorham’ın trompet ve Hank Mobley’in tenor saksofon çaldığı gurubuna verdi(bu gurubun Blue Note’dan çıkan “At the Cafe Bohemia” albümlerini dinlemelisiniz). Horace Silver’ın ayrılması sonrası, yerlerine eşsiz genç müzisyenlerin katılması ile Art Blakey ve grubu yoluna devam etti. 1950′lerde onun kanatları altında bir ya da daha fazla bulunma firsatı bulanlar arasında trompetçi Bill Hardman, Lee Morgan, saksofoncu Jackie McLean, Benny Golson (gurubun “Moanin’ “, “Blues March” ve “Along Comes Betty” parçalarında kalıcı yorumlar yapan) ve piyanist Booby Timmons vardı.

Tenor saksafoncu Wayne Shorter, trompetçi Freddy Hubbard ve tromboncu Curtis Fuller 1960′ların bir bölümünde Jazz Messenger’da yer alarak turnelere çıkmışlar ve “Mosaic “(1961), “Free For All” (1964) gibi Blue Note plak şirketinin değerli taşlarından olan albümlere imza atmışlardır. 1960′ların sonlarında ve 1970′lerde caz ticari bir kriz yaşasa bile Art Blakey; Woody Shaw, George Cables, Bobby Watson ve Chuck Mangione gibi birçok iyi müzisyenin yetişmesini sağlamıştır. Ama en çok 1979′da 19 yaşındaki trompet ustası Wynton Marsalis’in katılımı Art Blakey’in kooperatif beşli, altılı ve yedililerine geniş bir ilgi duyulmasına neden olmuştur. Marsalis’in ayrı çalışmaya karar vermesi bile Jazz Messenger’ın hızını kesmemiş ve Blakey yaratıcılığın yorulmaz bir dinamosu olarak; Terence Blanchard, Donald Harrison, Robin Eubanks, Benny Green, Kenny Garrett ve Geoff Keezer gibi öğrencilerini hem yaratıcı hem de duygusal doğaçlamaları ile ödüllendirmiştir. Yalnızca 16 Ekim 1990′da Blakey’in ölümü dünyaca ünlü Jazz Messenger’ı sessiz kılabilmiştir.