 Blakey then led a big band in Boston for a short time before going to St. Louis to join Billy Eckstein's band, with whom he played from 1944 to 1947, alongside such musicians as Miles Davis, Dexter Gordon, Dizzy Gillespie, and Charlie Parker. In 1948, Blakey traveled to Africa where he learned about polyrhythmic drumming and Islamic culture, taking the Muslim name Abdullah Bohaina.