Born in 1919, legendary jazz drummer Art Blakey made his professional debut amid the bebop revolution of the ‘40s. Working as a sideman for jazz giants like Thelonious Monk and Charlie Parker, Blakey developed his powerfully driving style, which combined the complexity of bebop with the heavy grooves of R&B. By the early ‘50s, he'd put together his own band, The Jazz Messengers, and was pioneering the upcoming hard bop movement with his intricate but swinging sound. Blakey would record over 50 albums over the course of the next 16 years.