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Archie Alleyne

1933–2015

Canada

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Biography

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.

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Wikipedia contributors — original record ↗

Black heritage reference ↗

Biography text · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source checked 2026-10-13

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