Yesterday was a rather auspicious day in music: Hall and Oates‘ Daryl Hall turned 75 and it was the legendary drummer and composer Art Blakey‘s 102nd birthday.
If you were to do a six degree of separation of jazz, you’d discover that Blakey was the connection to literally every style and sub-genre of jazz: He played with Billy Eckstine, Horace Silver, Wynton Marsalis, Chick Correa, Ellis Marsalis, Jr., Wayne Shorter, Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie and a lengthy list of others.
His work as a bandleader is some of the more forward-thinking and exciting work of its day. So to that end, happy birthday, Art! Happy birthday, wherever you are!
