Art Blakey's Legacy: A Rallying Cry And A Gathering Place

Art Blakey was born 100 years ago, on Oct. 11, 1919, and America's homegrown music — jazz — might not sound quite like it does today if it weren't for the influence of the late drummer.

"I would call Art Blakey's music the spine of the jazz tradition post-World War II," Giovanni Russonello, a music critic for The New York Times, says. According to Russonello, Blakey's rhythmic groove set the pace for jazz in the second half of the 20th century. "He was playing music that was meant to pull people together, and that was why I think he became such a great mentor, such a great carrier of the tradition and passing on of the tradition. That beat was magnetic. That beat was a rallying cry [and] it was also a gathering place."

That gathering place became his group, the Jazz Messengers, founded in 1954 with pianist Horace Silver. From the beginning, he sought out talented young musicians and encouraged them to compose for the group. It came to be called "Blakey's University."

Blakey himself learned from his elders. He grew up in Pittsburgh and was playing in jazz clubs as a teenager while working in steel mills during the day. In his 20s, the drummer made a name for himself with some of the biggest big bands and the early beboppers before passing on his knowledge to the next generation.