Arthur Blakey (Abdullah Ibn Buhaina) (
1919 -
1990) was an
American jazz drummer. In the
1940s he was a member of
Mary Lou Williams',
Fletcher Henderson's, and
Billy Eckstine's bands. He converted to
Islam during a long visit to West
Africa in the late 1940s and briefly took the name Abdullah Ibn Buhaina. In
1955 he founded the
Jazz Messengers, a
hard bop group which trained many of the most important young musicians of the day. He continued performing into the late
1980s.