The Resume

(October 11, 1919-October 16, 1990)
Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Jazz drummer
Played with Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie
Formed the Jazz Messengers (1954)
Recorded the albums ‘A Night at Birdland, Vols. 1-3’ (1954), ‘The Jazz Messengers’ (1956), ‘Hard Bop’ (1957), ‘Ritual’ (1957), ‘A Night in Tunisia’ (1957), ‘Holiday for Skins, Vols. 1 and 2’ (1959), ‘Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers’ (1960), ‘Impulse!!!! Art Blakey!!!! Jazz Messengers!!!!’ (1961), ‘The Freedom Rider’ (1962), ‘Caravan’ (1963), ‘A Jazz Message’ (1964), ‘Child’s Dance’ (1972), ‘In Walked Sonny’ (1975), ‘Gypsy Folk Tales’ (1977), ‘Album of the Year’ (1981), ‘New York Scene’ (1984) and ‘One for All’ (1990)
Won the Grammy for Best Jazz Instrumental Performance by a Group (1984) and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (2005)

Why he might be annoying:

He told many different stories about his early years, making it difficult to know the truth. (For example: Did he really switch from piano to drums when a gangster with a gun ordered him to surrender his position to Errol Garner?)
He changed his name to Abdullah Ibn Buhaina after converting to Islam.
Despite converting to Islam, he continued to drink heavily.
He abused heroin.

Why he might not be annoying:

He led the first American jazz band to tour Japan (1960).
He, Max Roach and Kenny Clarke were considered the founders of the hard bop style of drumming.
He served as a mentor to many young musicians who passed through the ranks of the Jazz Messengers, including Donald Byrd, Freddie Hubbard, Lee Morgan, Wayne Shorter, Chuck Mangione, and Wynton and Branford Marsalis.
In the 70s, when fusion was the ‘in’ jazz style, Miles Davis defended him against claims that his music was out of date: ‘If Art Blakey is old fashioned, I’m white.’
He was inducted into the Newport Jazz Festival Hall of Fame (1976), the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame (1981) and the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame (1991).

Credit: C. Fishel

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

• Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• Breeders [Have 5 or More Kids] (Ranked: 10)
• C. Fishel's Profiles [Series 68]
• Celebrities Born on the Same Date [October] (Ranked: 10111919)
• Drummers
• Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (Ranked: 2005)
• I Abused Heroin
• I Converted to Islam
• I Did Not Graduate High School [A-B]
• I Died in 1990 (Ranked: 71)
• I Have Lung Cancer
• I Married in 1983
• I Married Young
• I Named My Kid After Myself
• I Recorded ‘Autumn Leaves’
• I was Cremated
• I'm a Bastard
• Jazz Artists
• Look at My Drums
• Look at My Tongue
• My Band is Multi-Racial
• My Music was Lost in the 2008 Universal Studios Fire
• My Song was Inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame (Ranked: 1998)
• My Song was Inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame (Ranked: 2000)
• Olympia Concerts
• Overbites
• Profiles 42501-42750 (Ranked: 42722)
• Young Dads [I Had a Child Before Turning 21]

Year In Review:

In 2022, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
In 2021, Out of 6 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2020, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
In 2019, Out of 24 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2018, Out of 115 Votes: 57.39% Annoying