Home > Jazz Messengers

The Jazz Messengers were a jazz ensemble founded by Art Blakey and Horace Silver in 1955. Blakey had already used the name for an album he recorded with Silver, Kenny Dorham, Doug Watkins, and Hank Mobley – Dorham and Mobley were the other two members of the permanent group. The name may have religious significance, since Blakey was a Muslim.

In 1956 Silver left and Blakey became the sole leader of the group. Over the years the band included Jackie McLean, Freddie Hubbard, Wayne Shorter, Cedar Walton, Lee Morgan, Benny Golson, Bobby Timmons , Jymie MerrittJymie Merritt (born in 1926 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is a classically trained American bass player who has worked in jazz, rhythm and blues, and blues. He has worked with Bull Moose Jackson, B. King, Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, John Coltrane, Wynton MarsalisWynton Marsalis (born October 18, 1961) is a well known African American trumpeter and composer in the jazz and classical music fields. The best known and arguably most important jazz musician of the modern era, Wynton Marsalis has made his reputation wit, Gary BartzGary Bartz (born in 1940) is an American alto and soprano saxophonist. Since graduating from the The Juilliard School he has worked with Charles Mingus, Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, Miles Davis, McCoy Tyner, Max Roach, Miles Davis, and Jackie McLea, and Keith JarrettKeith Jarrett (born May 8, 1945) is considered among the most important living jazz piano players. He was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania, USA into an ethnically mixed family as the oldest of five boys. He started taking piano lessons at the age of three, among many other well known musicians. It is now widely regarded as an important training ground for many of the best young hard bopHard bop is an extension of bebop (bop) music which incorporates influences from rhythm and blues, gospel music, and blues, especially in the saxophone and piano playing. Its tempo is often slower than bop's, and its bass playing more varied; it is in par players of the 1950sCenturies: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s Years: 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 Events and trends Technology United States tests the first fusion bomb., 1960sCenturies: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s Years: 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 Events and trends The 1960s was a turbulent decade of change around, and 1970sMillennia: 1st millennium 2nd millennium 3rd millennium Centuries: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s Years: 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 Events and trends.