later Abdullah Ibn Buhaina
born Oct. 11, 1919, Pittsburgh, Pa., U.S.
died Oct. 16, 1990, New York, N.Y.
U.S. jazz drummer and bandleader.
He worked with Billy Eckstine 's forward-looking ensemble (1944–47). Blakey's prodigious technique and thunderous attack assured his role as one of the principal drum stylists in modern jazz. With Horace Silver , Blakey formed the Jazz Messengers in 1954, and the group, with its aggressive blues-inflected approach, became the archetypal hard-bop unit (see {{link=bebop">bebop ).