Evelyn Blakey

Vocalist Evelyn Blakey (1935–2007) was a fixture in the musical communities of New York. Though under-represented on records, she was a magnet for innumerable international circles of music-making: Jazz listeners where she toured around the world, and also New York based Jazz players from Israel, Japan, and the Caribbean. Evelyn was also the eldest child of iconic drummer Art Blakey; she was an essential ambassador and cheerleader for her father’s legacy, and for nearly 20 years helped to direct the energies of the family legacy.

Like her father’s Evelyn’s story began in Pittsburgh. She moved to New York City in 1948, and graduated from __ High school in Brooklyn. By the middle 1960s she had decided that music would be her professional ambition.  After touring briefly with the Jazz Messengers Evelyn followed her father’s advice to engage with the music inside of her—which was only partly about Jazz. Ms. Blakey’s archive of memorabilia and recordings underscores the unity of gospel, soul, Latin, funk and Jazz ingredients in the blend.

The Evelyn Blakey collection comprises photographs, programs, flyers, press releases, announcements, correspondence relating to Ms. Blakey’s performing career; and documentation of vital statistics for the Blakey family and her wider circle of collaborators and friends. It also holds recordings of her performances, rehearsals, the small handful of studio sessions, and input from her associates and contemporaries as well.