“See, I wanted to become a great drummer, but just in the sense of having musicians want to play with me — not to be better than Buddy Rich or to compete with someone. I will not compete that way; I’ll compete through my band. If musicians have a preference and they say, ‘I want to play with Bu,’ that just knocks me out. And I’ll ask, ‘Is there anything I can do to make you sound better? What do you want me to do behind you when you play?’ My head never got so big that that wasn’t my goal — to play with people.”

Source: Art Blakey, by Chip Stern, Modern Drummer, September 1984