In 1981, Branford Marsalis, Wynton's older brother, joined the Messengers replacing Bobby Watson on alto. James Williams was replaced by Donald Brown, a pianist who had worked in rhythm and blues bands. When Branford joined the Jazz Messengers he had little confidence in his own playing and didn't get on as well with Blakey as one might think. I asked him if Art would was ever hard on him, if he was late for a gig or had a bad night, for example:

"My personality did not mesh with Art's, so he was hard on me all the time. I was never late, I did not drink, and was not impressed with the jazz lifestyle. Art was used to playing with young people with either weaker or more impressionable personalities, and didn't appreciate my forwardness. I didn't play very well, so every night was a bad night for me."

He explained to me how he felt his time with the Messengers improved his playing: "Art Blakey had a memory for melody. As a result, he could sing solos [that] he heard Charlie Parker play when he played with him. So he could tell me specifically what he felt was wrong with my playing. Sometimes he had a solution, sometimes I had to figure it out myself. And the good fortune of being able to work it out on a nightly basis cannot be understated."

Through Branford, I learnt of Blakey's attempts to explain the role of the drummer by teaching them to keep time on the drums. Although this may seem trivial or humorous to some, the concept is really an excellent idea and something that non-drummers could learn greatly from, especially band-leaders.

It would be natural to think that there would have been some rivalry between Wynton and Branford, but Branford explained that if it were not for his brother he would have never moved to New York, or got a job in Art Blakey's band. "Resenting him would have been very human to some, but very illogical to me, given all of the good things he did for me." Nor did he feel pressurised by being in a band that had such an amazing history of players. "We loved them, and never thought of ourselves as being in competition with them. We were trying to extend what they had started . . ."

On Branford's last gig with the band, in New York, he fondly remembers Blakey introducing the group as "'the best damn band I've had since 1961.'" That was a great feeling, but was never on our minds."

Jean Toussaint

The group's tenor saxophonist, Jean Toussaint, left his studies at the Berklee School of Music, Boston, in 1982 to join the Messengers. He replaced Billy Pierce, who was his teacher at Berklee. ". . . when he [Pierce] was ready to leave the gig he invited me to audition and upon his recommendation I got in." Toussaint's four-and-a-half-year stay was one of the longest in this period. Toussaint's four-and-a-half-year stay was one of the longest in this period and it led to opportunities to work with leading musicians such as Gil Evans, McCoy Tyner and Wynton Marsalis. When he left the group in 1987, he moved to London, accepting a teaching post at the Guildhall School of Music, a position which he holds to this day. Toussaint is very appreciative of his time with the Messengers and was always respectful of the advice that Blakey had to offer. "If it didn't work out there was a long queue of others waiting to take our place." He felt that Blakey took the most positive approach to making his musicians sound better. However, this approach was not always verbal, direct or obvious, as one would imagine. "Being in the Jazz Messengers was like being at a school for band leaders because that's exactly what it trained you to do. Art taught us everything through the music with very little explaining."

Toussaint explained that he didn't really feel pressurised by the history and reputation of the band. Nor was he irritated by his comparison to previous Messengers. "I attempted to emulate, as opposed to imitate, their styles in order to keep up the very high standards that they set. At the early stage of my career I was proud to be compared to my favourite Messenger saxophonist Wayne Shorter."