So Art Blakey went to Brazil to learn African drumming?Following the big band’s breakup, Blakey journeyed to Africa, initially as a spiritual pursuit. Raised in a strict Seventh Day Adventist family, the traveler sought new inspirations. Embracing Islam, he returned to New York with an adapted name, Abdullah Ibn Buhaina. Fellow musicians affectionately called him “Bu.” West African influences emerged in his drumming, as implied in his surging, reactionary polyrhythms. More specific applications were heard in multi-drummer experiments, most notably on Drum Suite (1957) and also on Orgy in Rhythm Volumes 1 and 2 (1957) and the lesser-known The African Beat (1962).
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