Archie Alleyne

Archibald Alexander "Archie" Alleyne (January 7, 1933 – June 8, 2015) was a Canadian jazz drummer, and advocate for Black musicians and Black rights. Best known as a drummer for influential jazz musicians such as Billie Holiday, Lester Young, Stan Getz, Coleman Hawkins and Ben Webster, he was also prominent as a recording artist on his own and with Canadian jazz musicians such as Oliver Jones, Cy McLean and Brian Browne. He is also known for fighting against systemic racism and discrimination throughout his career and breaking colour barriers throughout the 1940s having appeared in previously "whites only" music clubs in Toronto such as the Town Tavern in the 1940s. Realizing he did not want to follow his father's footsteps, Alleyne set out to follow his passion of music and his first engagement was as a drummer at a church on the corner of Bathurst and College.

Following a serious car accident in 1967, Alleyne stepped away from music for a number of years, he returned to music in the early 1980s with Oliver Jones' band. Kollage’s original lineup included Jeff King (saxophone), Chris Butcher (trombone), Alex Brown (trumpet), Stacie McGregor (piano), Artie Roth (bass) and Archie Alleyne (drums). and co-authored Colour Me Jazz: The Archie Alleyne Story, an autobiography which was published a few months after his death.

Awards

2011, Member of the Order of Canada 2011, Toronto Musicians’ Association Lifetime Achievement Award 2015, Black Business and Professional Association's Harry Jerome Awards, Lifetime Achievement Award