Art Blakey

Arthur Blakey (Abdullah Ibn Buhaina) (1919 - 1990) was an American jazz drummer. In the 1940s he was a member of Mary Lou Williams', Fletcher Henderson's, and Billy Eckstine's bands. He converted to Islam during a long visit to West Africa in the late 1940s and briefly took the name Abdullah Ibn Buhaina. In 1955 he founded the Jazz Messengers, a hard bop group which trained many of the most important young musicians of the day. He continued performing into the late 1980s.