Art Blakey

Leader of the Jazz Messengers, emblem of the hard bop current, drummer Art Blakey has made jazz history by redefining the roles of drummer and conductor in an ensemble. This mythical formation was a springboard for many exceptional musicians such as Wayne Shorter, Keith Jarrett, Jackie McLean or Branford Marsalis. Influenced by African percussion, his soloist technique is fully illustrated on his record Orgy in Rhythm (1957) which testifies to his virtuosity and his sense of rhythm out of the ordinary.

Arthur Blakey (October 11, 1919 – October 16, 1990) was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. He was also known as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina after he converted to Islam for a short time in the late 1940s.

Art Blakeys Jazz Messengers were a major influential creative force in modern jazz for over three decades, with Blakey actively leading different incarnations of the band through to his death in 1990. They were legendary as representing the archetypal hard bop school of jazz, with a driving blues-flavoured approach. These performances came from early in the development of the Messengers soon after drummer Art Blakey and pianist Horace Silver had formed the group with tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley, trumpeter Kenny Dorham and bassist Doug Watkins, and these recordings were the first live performances by this line-up to be recorded and released, and so represent something of a landmark.

In May of 1957, Art Blakey and his Jazz Messengers went into the studio with Thelonious Monk to record a one-off album for Atlantic.

The Art of Jazz: Live in Leverkusen is a live album by Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers at the Leverkusen Jazz Festival in Germany on October 9, 1989.

In 1961, Art Blakey did his first tour of Japan with his then-current lineup of the Jazz Messengers. It was a young crew of players—Lee Morgan, Wayne Shorter, Bobby Timmons, and Jymie Merritt were all in their early 20s, while Blakey was comparatively an elder statesman at 42—and the group only been together for a little more than a year with just two albums (The Big Beat and A Night in Tunisia) under their belt. This two-week tour could have been a straight cash grab, with Blakey and the band giving jazz-starved Japanese audiences a well-mannered and highly competent run through a collection of straight-ahead bop standards.

Arthur Blakey (October 11, 1919 – October 16, 1990) was an American jazz drummer and bandleader.

New Sounds was originally a 10" LP compiling previously released 78 rpm records on the Blue Note label. A CD reissue with the same name and cover appeared in 1991, but while using many of the same personnel, had only two tracks in common with the original LP.