Art Blakey: Photo © Carol Friedman

“Art’s tough-love leadership style gave each band member the chance to find and prove himself, as Wayne [Shorter] remembered: ‘Blakey told us that every time we go on the stand, we should remember this one thing: We should always remember that God has given us another chance to come out and clean up the mess we have made the night before.'”

Source: Footprints: The Life and Work of Wayne Shorter, by Michelle Mercer TArcher/Penguin 2004.