a jazz history - timeline

7/16/2019 A Jazz History - Timeline

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/a-jazz-history-timeline-563388561004e 1/22

Date Developments in Jazz Historical Events

1619 The first Africans are sold into slavery in America.

1817 New Orleans city council establishes "Congo Square"as an official site for slave music and dance.

1865 Slavery is abolished in the US by the 13th

Amendment to the US Constitution.1892 Pianist Tommy Turpin writes Harlem Rag, the first

known ragtime composition.1895 Pianist Scott J oplin publishes his first two rags.

Cornetist Buddy Bolden forms his band.Cinema is born.

1896 Racial segregation is upheld by the Supreme Court.Radio technology is introduced.

1897 The first piano rags appear in print. Ragtime grows inpopularity.

1898 The US goes to war with Spain.

1899 Scott J oplin's Maple Leaf Rag is published and sellsover 100,000 copies.

1900 A cutting contest (a colloquial term for music

competition) for ragtime pianists is held at New York's Tammany Hall. Louis Armstrong is born.

1901 Charles Booth's performance of J . Bodewalt Lange'sCreole Blues is recorded for the new Victor label.

This is the first acoustic recording of ragtime to bemade commercially available. The AmericanFederation of Musicians (the musicians union) votesto suppress ragtime.

US President William McKinley is assassinated.Painter Pablo Picasso's first exhibit is held in Paris.

Theodore Roosevelt becomes president.

1902 The J ohn Philip Sousa Band records the ragtimepiece, Trombone Sneeze, written by Arthur Pryor.Lincoln Park is opened in New Orleans, as a centerfor ragtime and early jazz performances. Scott J oplinpublishes The Entertainer: a Ragtime Two-Step,

which would become a popular hit nearly 70 yearslater. Pianist J elly Roll Morton claims to haveinvented jazz in this year.

1903 Pianist and composer Eubie Blake publishes his firstpiano rags.

The Wright brothers make their first successful flight.

1904 Cornetist Buddy Bolden begins to develop areputation in New Orleans for playing music thatfuses elements of blues and ragtime.

1905 A black newspaper in Indianapolis releases astatement in reaction to racist songs popular duringthis period: "Composers should not set music to a setof words that are a direct insult to the colored race."

Scientist Albert Einstein presents his special theory ofrelativity. Pizza is introduced at Lombardi's in New

York.

1906 J elly Roll Morton composes King Porter Stomp.

1907 Cornetist Buddy Bolden is committed to a mentalinstitution without having ever recorded any music.Scott J oplin moves to New York.

The first wireless broadcast of classical music isproduced in New York.

1908 Alcohol is banned in North Carolina and Georgia.

1909 The US Marine band records J oplin's Maple Leaf Rag.

Alcohol is banned in Tennessee. Robert Pearyreaches the North Pole. William Howard Taft becomepresident.




1910 The Original Dixieland J ass Band performs inLondon. Will Marion Cook tours Europe with hisSouthern Syncopated Orchestra which includes

clarinetist Sidney Bechet. After the tour Bechet staysin Europe. New Orleans trombonist Kid Ory moves toLos Angeles and forms a band, bringing jazz to newears.

The NAACP is founded. Mark Twain dies. MarieCurie isolates radium.

1911 Pianist Scott J oplin publishes his opera Treeemoisha.Irving Berlin records Alexander's Ragtime Band,which becomes a hit but is scorned by ragtimepurists.

Raold Amundsen reaches the South Pole. Civil Waroccurs in Mexico.

1912 The Titanic sinks.

1913 The word "jazz" first appears in print. J ames ReeseEurope records ragtime arrangements in New Yorkwith the first black ensemble to be recorded.

60-floor Woolworth Building is completed, making itthe largest building in the world. Woodrow Wilsonbecomes president.

1914 Pianist W.C. Handy writes St. Louis Blues. World War I begins in Europe. The Panama Canal

opens to commercial traffic.1915 Trumpeter King Oliver forms a band in New Orleans

with clarinetist Sidney Bechet.Albert Einstein presents his general theory of relativity

1916 Revolution occurs in Russia.

1917 Scott J oplin dies. The classic era of ragtime ends. The Original Dixieland J ass Band (an all white group)makes the first jazz recording, Livery Stable Blues,and also becomes the first jazz group to appear onfilm in the movie, The Good for Nothing. The USNavy closes New Orleans's Storyville red-light district.

J azz musicians begin to leave the city for the North.

The US enters World War I.

1918 Trumpeter King Oliver leaves New Orleans forChicago. Tenor saxophonist Coleman Hawkins tours

with blues singer Mamie Smith and begins to developa unique style of playing.

World War I ends. A flu epidemic kills an estimated20 million people worldwide. Singer, actor, and civil

rights activist Paul Robeson graduates first in his clasfrom Rutgers University.

1919 The Original Dixieland J ass Band performs inLondon. Will Marion Cook tours Europe with hisSouthern Syncopated Orchestra which includesclarinetist Sidney Bechet. After the tour Bechet staysin Europe. New Orleans trombonist Kid Ory moves toLos Angeles and forms a band, bringing jazz to newears.

Race riots break out in Chicago. The first airplanecrosses the Atlantic Ocean, piloted by J ohn Alcock &Arthur Whitten Brown. Mexican rebel leader EmilioZapata is ambushed and murdered by governmentforces. Physicist Ernest Rutherford discovers a wayto split the atom.

1920 Blues singer Mamie Smith records Crazy Blues,making it the first blues recording by a black singer.Pianist and composer Duke Ellington forms a danceband in Washington DC with drummer Sonny Greer.

Charlie Parker is born.

Prohibition is instated in the US. The 19thAmendment is passed in the US, guaranteeingwoman the right to vote.

1921 The town of Zion, Illinois bans jazz performances,labeling them "sinful." Pianist J ames P. J ohnsonrecords The Harlem Strut and Carolina Shout, theearliest stride piano recordings, in New York.

A crisis occurs surrounding German war reparations.Adolf Hitler is elected leader of the Nazi Party. Russiais refused entry to the League of Nations. The firstMiss America contest is held. Warren G. Hardinbecomes president.




1924 Duke Ellington makes his first recordings as leader of the Washingtonians. George Gershwin debutsRhapsody in Blue along with Paul Whiteman's band.

Cornetist Bix Beiderbecke and his band, theWolverines, make their first recordings.

Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, leader of the CommunistRevolution, dies. Stalin becomes dictator of Russia.

The Fascist Party wins the Italian elections.

1925 Blues singer Bessie Smith and trumpeter LouisArmstrong record the classic version of W.C. Handy'sSt. Louis Blues for Columbia Records. LouisArmstrong makes his first recordings with his group,the Hot Five. J ames P. J ohnson records Charleston,which becomes a huge hit and gives rise to a danceof the same name. Electrical recordings areintroduced. The Original Dixieland J ass Banddisbands. Pianist Fats Waller gives lessons to pianistCount Basie.

Italian leader Benito Mussolini commences hisdictatorship. The first electrical recording of classicalmusic is made in the US. The Ku Klux Klan marchesin Washington DC. Tennessee teacher J ohn ThomasScopes is convicted for teaching Darwin's theories of evolution to high school students. American laborleader A. Philip Randolph organizes the Brotherhoodof Sleeping Car Porters to help bring American blacksinto the mainstream of the American labor movement.Frisbee is played for the first time by a group of students using empty Frisbie Baking Company pie

plates.1926 Trumpeter Louis Armstrong has a huge hit and

pioneers scat singing with his first recorded originalcomposition,Heebie Jeebies, featuring his Hot Five.Pianist J elly Roll Morton's group the Red HotPeppers records in Chicago. Bandleader FletcherHenderson's group records with saxophonistColeman Hawkins.

The first television is introduced. Painter ClaudeMonet dies. The Harlem Globetrotters basketballteam is organized by Abe Saperstein in Chicago.

1927 Louis Armstrong makes his first recordings with hisHot Seven, which was the Hot Five plus drums andtuba. J ean Goldkette's Orchestra is dissolved.Cornetist Bix Beiderbecke joins Paul Whiteman'sband. Pianist and bandleader Duke Ellington begins

his residency at the Cotton Club in Harlem,increasing the band from six to eleven members.

The US and Britain use military force in China.Charles Lindbergh makes the first solo flight acrossthe Atlantic Ocean. Columbia Broadcast System(CBS) is inaugurated. The first "talkie" film isreleased, The Jazz Singer, starring Al J olson.

1928 Clarinetist Benny Goodman makes his firstrecordings.

J apanese troops enter China.

1929 Pianist Fats Waller participates in a mixed-racerecording session in which he is forced to play behinda screen to separate him from the white musicians.

The filmSt. Louis Blues about the life of pianist W.C.Handy is released, featuring blues singer BessieSmith, Handy as musical director, and pianist J amesP. J ohnson's band.

Yugoslavia is formed under King Alexander. The WaStreet stock market crashes. The St. Valentine's DayMassacre occurs in Chicago. The first AcademyAwards are held in Hollywood. Herbert Hooverbecomes president.




1930 Trumpeter Louis Armstrong records Body and Soul.In a recording session with Armstrong, percussionistLionel Hampton plays his first vibraphone solo anddecides to make that his main instrument.

Bandleader Paul Whiteman and his orchestra star inthe movie The King of J azz. Bandleader CabCalloway becomes a regular at the Cotton Club.

The planet Pluto is discovered. The jet engine isinvented.

1931 Cornetist Bix Beiderbecke dies of pneumonia at age38. Cornetist Buddy Bolden dies. Pianist Lil Hardinseparates from her husband Louis Armstrong andforms an all-female band. RCA demonstrates thefirst 33 1/3 rpm long-playing disc.

The Empire State building is opened in New York.Spain becomes a Republic. J apan invadesManchuria. There is massive worldwideunemployment.

1932 Duke Ellington records It Don't Mean a Thing (If it Ain't' Got That Swing,the first jazz composition to useswing in the title.

J ohn Cockcroft splits the atom in Cambridge, UK. J apan forms a Manchurian Republic and later attacksShanghai. Radio City Music Hall opens in New YorkAviator Charles Lindbergh's son is kidnapped.

1933 With the rise of the Nazi party in Germany, Berlin

radio station Funkstunde bans jazz broadcasts.Pianist Art Tatum records his first piano solo, Tiger Rag, which is thought by many to be a duet. DukeEllington and his orchestra begin their first tour of Europe. Singer Bessie Smith makes her lastrecordings. Singer Billie Holiday makes her firstrecording.

Adolph Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany,

followed by the creation of the Dachau concentrationcamp, political arrests, and the appropriation of

J ewish finances by the government. PresidentFranklin Roosevelt initiates economic recovery in theUS. Mahatma Ghandi is imprisoned. Prohibitionends in the US. The first photographs of the LochNess monster are published in Britain's Daily Mail.Franklin D. Roosevelt becomes president.

1934 Fletcher Henderson's band folds due to financialdifficulties and Henderson sells some of hisarrangements to clarinetist Benny Goodman, whoperforms with his band at Billy Rose's Music Hall inNew York. The journal Down Beat: the

Contemporary Music Magazine is launched inChicago. The Quintette du Hot Club de France,featuring guitarist Django Reinhardt and violinistStephane Grappelli, gives its first public performanceat the Ecole Normale de Musique in Paris. J immieLunceford's band replaces Cab Calloway’s at theCotton Club in Harlem. Clarinetist J immy Dorsey andtrombonist Tommy Dorsey form the Dorsey BrothersOrchestra. Duke Ellington and Billie Holiday appearin the filmSymphony in Black.

Outlaws Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow are shotdead. Italian troops invade Albania. The Nazi coupfails in Austria. Adolf Hitler begins his dictatorship inGermany. Blues singer Leadbelly is released fromprison in Louisiana after writing a song to the

governor asking for a pardon. The first cheeseburgeis served in Louisville, Kentucky.

1935 Pianist and bandleader Bennie Moten dies. PianistCount Basie forms the Barons of Rhythm withmembers of Moten's band. Vocalist Ella Fitzgeraldmakes her first recordings. Clarinetist Benny

Goodman records Fletcher Henderson'sarrangement of J elly Roll Morton'sKing Porter Stomp. Goodman begins recording with a raciallyintegrated trio that includes pianist Teddy Wilson anddrummer Gene Krupa. Billie Holiday makes severalrecordings with pianist Teddy Wilson, including Whata Little Moonlight Can Do. George Gershwin's three-act opera Porgy and Bess opens at the Alvin Theaterin New York.

Italy invades Ethiopia. The first paperback books arepublished. The electric guitar is invented.




1938 Benny Goodman's band hosts a sold out concert atCarnegie Hall which features a jazz history elementand a jam session with members of Duke Ellington’s

and Count Basie's bands. After the Goodmanconcert, Count Basie's band and Chick Webb's bandhave an informal competition at the Savoy Ballroom.Cornetist King Oliver dies after years in povertyworking as a pool-room janitor. Goodman's bandrecords Bach Goes to Town: Prelude and Fugue inSwing, which combines elements of classical musicand swing.

Germany annexes Austria and Sudetenland.Shopping carts are introduced for the first time inOklahoma. Actor Orson Welles broadcastsWar of

the Worlds, a radio science-fiction drama about aMartian invasion, and causes a nationwide panic.

1939 A new band led by trombonist Glenn Miller gainsnotoriety through regular radio broadcasts. BillieHoliday records Strange Fruit, with controversiallyrics regarding lynchings which causes it to bebanned from several radio stations. Chick Webb dies

and Ella Fitzgerald takes over his band. Glenn Millerrecords the hugely successful In The Mood. BennyGoodman hires guitarist Charlie Christian. Lester

Young records Lester Leaps In with Count Basie.Coleman Hawkins records Body and Soul, setting anew standard for improvisational sophistication onthe saxophone. Artie Shaw retires. Singer MaRainey dies. Blue Note records is founded.

World War II breaks out in Europe. Germanyoccupies Bohemia, Moravia, Slovakia, and Lithuaniaand invades Poland. Military conscription isintroduced in Britain. Hitler and Mussolini agree to a"Pact of Steel." The Spanish Civil War ends.

1940 Composer and bandleader Duke Ellington hiressaxophonist Ben Webster and records Ko-Ko,Concerto for Cootie, and Cottontail. TrumpeterCootie Williams leaves Ellington's band and isreplaced by trumpeter and violinist Ray Nance.Vibraphonist Lionel Hampton's big band recordsFlying Home. Nat King Cole's trio records the timelypiece, Gone with the Draft. Minton's Playhouse inNew York becomes a hot spot for jazz, wheremusicians such as pianist Thelonious Monk,trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, and drummer KennyClarke are featured. The American Society of Composer, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) issuesa broadcast ban of ASCAP works, resulting in thegrowth of rival organization Broadcast MusicIncorporated (BMI).

The Soviet Union attacks Finland. Germany invadesNorway and Denmark. Winston Churchill becomesPrime Minister of Britain. Holland and Belgium fall toGermany. Italy declares war on Britain and France.Germany occupies Paris. African Americans andPuerto Ricans begin moving to northern cities.




1941 Duke Ellington's band records composer BillyStrayhorn's Take the 'A' Train, which becomes theband's signature tune. Trumpeter Roy Eldridge joins

drummer Gene Krupa's orchestra as featured soloist.Clarinetist Sidney Bechet plays five differentinstruments on The Sheik of Araby and Blues of Bechet, using some of the earliest overdubbingtechniques. Saxophonist Charlie Parker makes hisfirst recordings with J ay McShann and beginsparticipating in the famous Minton's Playhouse jamsessions where bebop is created. ASCAP'sbroadcasting boycott ends. J elly Roll Morton dies.

Germany invades Yugoslavia, Russia and sendtroops to North Africa. The British army goes toLibya and Ethiopia. J apan bombs Pearl Harbor,

Hawaii. The US and Britain declare war on J apan. The US declares war on Germany and Italy.




1940 Composer and bandleader Duke Ellington hiressaxophonist Ben Webster and records Ko-Ko,Concerto for Cootie, and Cottontail. TrumpeterCootie Williams leaves Ellington's band and is

replaced by trumpeter and violinist Ray Nance.Vibraphonist Lionel Hampton's big band recordsFlying Home. Nat King Cole's trio records the timelypiece, Gone with the Draft. Minton's Playhouse inNew York becomes a hot spot for jazz, wheremusicians such as pianist Thelonious Monk,trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, and drummer KennyClarke are featured. The American Society of Composer, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) issuesa broadcast ban of ASCAP works, resulting in thegrowth of rival organization Broadcast MusicIncorporated (BMI).

The Soviet Union attacks Finland. Germany invadesNorway and Denmark. Winston Churchill becomesPrime Minister of Britain. Holland and Belgium fall toGermany. Italy declares war on Britain and France.

Germany occupies Paris. African Americans andPuerto Ricans begin moving to northern cities.

1941 Duke Ellington's band records composer Billy

Strayhorn's Take the 'A' Train, which becomes theband's signature tune. Trumpeter Roy Eldridge joinsdrummer Gene Krupa's orchestra as featured soloist.Clarinetist Sidney Bechet plays five differentinstruments on The Sheik of Araby and Blues of Bechet, using some of the earliest overdubbingtechniques. Saxophonist Charlie Parker makes hisfirst recordings with J ay McShann’s band and beginsparticipating in the famous Minton's Playhouse jamsessions where bebop is created. ASCAP'sbroadcasting boycott ends. J elly Roll Morton dies.

Germany invades Yugoslavia, Russia, and sends

troops to North Africa. The British army goes toLibya and Ethiopia. J apan bombs Pearl Harbor,Hawaii. The US and Britain declare war on J apan.

The US declares war on Germany and Italy.

1942 Pianist Fats Waller appears at Carnegie Hall.Composer Leonard Bernstein performs in Boston as

a jazz pianist. The American Federation of Musicians bans its members from participating instudio recordings for record companies that fail topay royalties to performers. Trombonist Glenn Millerdissolves his band and enlists in the Air Force wherehe forms a new band. Eighteen-year-old singerSarah Vaughan wins a talent competition at Harlem'sApollo Theater. Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie

join pianist Earl Hines band. Eddie Condon'sintegrated band appears on CBS television.Billboard magazine publishes the first black recordchart under the title "Harlem Hit Parade."

The US bombs Germany. Germany attacksStalingrad, USSR. J apan wages campaigns in East

Indies, Malaya, and Burma.

1943 Duke Ellington's Orchestra performs Black, Brown,and Beige and New World A’Comin' at Carnegie Hall.Pianist Art Tatum establishes a trio with guitarist TinyGrimes and bassist Slam Stewart. Glenn Millerpublishes a text-book for arranging music.

Britain captures Tripoli. Germany surrenders atStalingrad and Tunisia. Italian leader BenitoMussolini resigns after the Allied invasion of Sicily.

The Allies land on mainland Italy. Italy turns againstGermany. The jitterbug dance becomes popular inthe US.




1944 Producer Norman Granz initiates the series, "J azz atthe Philharmonic" in Los Angeles. Trumpeter CootieWilliams makes the first recording of pianist

Thelonious Monk's 'Round About Midnight. Monkmakes his first recordings with the Coleman HawkinsQuartet. Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie leaveBilly Eckstine's band. Trumpeter Miles Davis arrivesin New York to study at J uilliard School of Music andbegins playing with Parker and Gillespie. Lester

Young is drafted into the army, is voted most popularsaxophonist by Down Beat magazine, and appears inthe filmJammin' the Blues. The AmericanFederation of Musicians lifts the recording ban.Glenn Miller disappears in an Air Force flight fromLondon to Paris.

The siege of Leningrad ends. The Allies land onNormandy beaches on what becomes "D-Day." Anunsuccessful assassination attempt is made on

Adolph Hitler. Paris and Brussels are liberated. TheUS Army crosses the German border. The UnitedNegro College Fund is established.

1945 Dizzy Gillespie records Be-Bop. Charlie Parker hires

Miles Davis to replace Dizzy Gillespie at the ThreeDeuces on 52nd Street, leading Davis to quit school.Parker records Now's The Time, his first session as aleader, with Dizzy Gillespie on piano, Miles Davis ontrumpet, and Max Roach on drums. Parker andGillespie play in Los Angeles, helping to establish aninterest in bebop. Pianist Mary Lou Williams givesthe first performance of her Zodiac Suite at New

York's Town Hall.

Warsaw and Budapest fall to the USSR. Cologne

falls to the Allies. President Franklin Roosevelt dies.Italian leader Benito Mussolini is lynched. AdolphHitler commits suicide. Berlin is captured by Russiantroops. German forces surrender. The US dropsatomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. J apansurrenders. Composer Anton Webern is accidentallyshot to death by US military policeman in Austria.Composer Bela Bartok dies. The United Nations isfounded. Ebony Magazine is founded. Harry S.

Truman becomes president.1946 Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie perform at "J azz

at the Philharmonic" in Los Angeles. Parkerperforms with Miles Davis in Little Tokyo, Los

Angeles. Davis records Ornithology and Night inTunisia with Parker in Los Angeles and then rejoinsBilly Eckstine's band. Guitarist Django Reinhardtand violinist Stephane Grappelli are reunited aftertheir wartime separation. Dizzy Gillespie forms a bigband that includes pianist J ohn Lewis and drummerKenny Clarke. Billie Holiday performs at Town Hall inNew York.

Hungary becomes a republic. President Juan Peronassumes power in Argentina. Italy becomes arepublic. Mao Tse-Tung revives the Chinese Civil

War. The bikini is introduced.




1947 Louis Armstrong appears at Carnegie Hall with BillieHoliday. Miles Davis continues to perform withCharlie Parker at the Three Deuces and makes a

series of recordings with Parker. Davis makes hisfirst recordings as a leader, featuring Parker, pianist

J ohn Lewis, and drummer Max Roach. Parkerrecords numerous tracks for the Dial and Savoylabels. Billie Holiday is convicted for possession of heroin. Ella Fitzgerald and Dizzy Gillespie appear ata sold out concert at Carnegie Hall, where Gillespieperforms Cubana Be/Cubana Bop. Gillespie recordsManteca bringing attention to his Afro-Cuban jazz.

Thelonious Monk records several compositions.Drummer Art Blakey forms group. The Atlantic labelis founded. Louis Armstrong and Billie Holidayappear in the filmNew Orleans. Chano Pozo

introduces Afro-Cuban jazz in New York.

Crisis occurs in Palestine. India and Pakistan gainindependence from Britain. Communists assumepower in Hungary. J ackie Robinson becomes the

first African American in major league baseball. Thesound barrier is broken in the US. The CentralIntelligence Agency is created by President Harry

Truman. The House Un-American ActivitiesCommittee begins investigating communism inHollywood, leading to the blacklisting of tenfilmmakers. The first microwave oven is introduced.

1948 Dizzy Gillespie brings bebop to Europe, performing atthe Nice J azz Festival in France along with LouisArmstrong and others. Gillespie's Cuban drummer,Chano Pozo, is shot dead in Harlem. Billie Holidayperforms twice at Carnegie Hall, both times breakingbox-office records. Columbia Records introduces thefirst long-playing vinyl discs. Miles Davis forms anonet which appears for two weeks at the RoyalRoost as a replacement for pianist Count Basie'sband. Saxophonist Ben Webster rejoins DukeEllington's band.

Mahatma Ghandi is assassinated in New Delhi.Communists gain control of Czechoslovakia. Britainabandons Palestine. Israel is founded. The USSRisolates Berlin. Writer George Orwell's 1984 ispublished. South Africa establishes the apartheidsystem. In the US, a judge rules that it is illegal forhomeowners to refuse to sell to black buyers.

1949 Miles Davis and composer/arranger Gil Evans record

Birth of the Cool. The first Festival International de J azz is held in Paris, featuring Charlie Parker, DizzyGillespie, Sidney Bechet, Miles Davis, Kenny Clark,and others. Pianist Lennie Tristano records earlyexamples of free jazz improvisation. Norman Granzpairs Canadian pianist Oscar Peterson with bassistRay Brown at a "J azz at the Philharmonic" concert atCarnegie Hall. Pianist Dave Brubeck records in SanFrancisco with his piano trio. The club Birdland,named after Charlie "Bird" Parker, opens onBroadway. Parker appears at Carnegie Hall. StanKenton performs progressive jazz at Carnegie Hallwith a 25-piece orchestra.

The Republic of Erie is established. The West

German Federal Republic is established. The firstpassenger jet aircraft makes a flight. The People'sRepublic of China is founded by Chairman Mao Tse-

Tung. The East German Democratic Republic isestablished. Civil War ends in Greece. Vietnamachieves independence from France.




1950 Pianist Oscar Peterson makes his first recordings.Vocalist Sarah Vaughan records in NY with trumpeterMiles Davis. Saxophonist Charlie Parker and pianist

Thelonious Monk record together. Monk is arrested

for possession of drugs and banned from performingin NY nightclubs for six years. Pianist Errol Garnercomposes Misty. Pianist Ahmad J amal forms his firstpiano trio. Pianist Count Basie and trumpeter DizzyGillespie both disband their big bands due to financialconstraints.

Writer George Orwell (1984) dies. The Soviet Uniondeclares its nuclear weaponry. The Korean Warbegins. China invades Tibet.

1951 The Miles Davis All Stars record their first long-playing album for Prestige. Pianist Dave Brubeckforms his first quartet with saxophonist PaulDesmond. Pianist J ohn Lewis forms the Milt J acksonQuartet with vibraphonist Milt J ackson, bassist RayBrown, and drummer Kenny Clarke.

United Nations troops take Seoul. Writer J .D.Salinger publishes The Catcher in the Rye. NATO isformed.

1952 Charlie Parker records sessions with strings and

Latin repertoire for Mercury. Bassist Charles Mingusand drummer Max Roach form the Debut label.Carnegie Hall presents a concert devoted toCalifornia jazz featuring trumpeter Chet Baker andsaxophonists Gerry Mulligan and Paul Desmond.Milt J ackson and J ohn Lewis rename their group theModern J azz Quartet. Bandleader FletcherHenderson dies. Duke Ellington's 25th Anniversaryis celebrated with two concerts at Carnegie Hallfeaturing Billie Holiday, saxophonist Stan Getz,Charlie Parker, and Dizzy Gillespie. Gerry Mulligan'spiano-less quartet records My Funny Valentine.

Writer Samuel Beckett's publishes Waiting for Godot.

The Immigration and Naturalization Act is passed,removing the last racial and ethnic barriers tonaturalization.

1953 Dave Brubeck's quartet records Jazz at Oberlin

during a highly acclaimed college tour. BennyGoodman's band goes on tour with LouisArmstrong's All Stars eventually leading to a fight thatends with Goodman having a nervous breakdown.

Trombonist Bob Brookmeyer replaces Chet Baker inGerry Mulligan's quartet.

Soviet leader Josef Stalin dies. Composer Serge

Prokofiev dies. Queen Elizabeth II is coronated inLondon. The Korean War ends. DwightD.Eisenhower becomes president.




1954 Miles Davis records Walkin' and Miles Davis and theModern Jazz Giants, the latter featuring TheloniousMonk and Milt J ackson. The highly popular Chet

Baker Quartet records My Funny Valentine and ButNot For Me. The Dave Brubeck Quartet records JazzGoes To College. Brubeck appears on the cover of

Time magazine. Drummer Shelly Manne recordsWest Coast Sound. The first American jazz festivalis organized in Newport, Rhode Island by GeorgeWein. Charlie Parker attempts suicide and is lateradmitted to Bellevue Hospital. Bassist CharlesMingus makes his first recordings with the JazzComposers Workshop. The filmThe Glenn Miller Story is released, starring J immy Stewart andfeaturing Louis Armstrong and others. Drummer MaxRoach forms a hard bop quintet with trumpeter

Clifford Brown. Drummer Art Blakey forms the J azzMessengers.

The US tests the hydrogen bomb on Bikini Atoll.American composer Charles Ives dies. Bill Haleyand the Comets introduce the hit song Shake, Rattle

and Roll. The Vietnam War begins. The SupremeCourt rules that racial segregation in public schools inunconstitutional. The first nuclear power is producedin the Soviet Union.

1955 Charlie Parker dies. Miles Davis makes his firstrecordings with a new quintet featuring saxophonist

J ohn Coltrane, pianist Red Garland, bassist PaulChambers, and drummer Philly J oe Jones. ArtBlakey's J azz Messengers record live in NY.Saxophonist Julian "Cannonball" Adderley performsin NY for the first time. Pianist Lennie Tristanoexperiments with overdubbing.

Scientist Albert Einstein dies. The Warsaw Pact isagreed upon. Disneyland opens in Los Angeles.

J onas Salk perfects the polio vaccine. Chuck Berry'sMaybelline becomes a hit. Kentucky Fried Chickengoes on sale in the US.

1956 Bassist Charlie Mingus records PithecanthropusErectus, breaking new ground in collectiveimprovisation. Saxophonist Sonny Rollins records

Saxophone Colossus. Trumpeter Clifford Brown diesin a car accident. Art Blakey records the albumHardBop. Pianist Horace Silver leaves the J azzMessengers. Duke Ellington's popularity isresparked by an appearance at the Newport J azzFestival and by a cover story in Time Magazine.Miles Davis records Relaxin', Cookin', and Steamin'and then tours Europe. Art Tatum dies. NBClaunches the Nat King Cole Show. Trumpeter LeeMorgan makes his first recordings.

Actress Marilyn Monroe marries playwright ArthurMiller. The USSR crushes the Hungarian rebellion.Singer Elvis Presley releases Heartbreak Hotel.




1957 The Modern Jazz Quartet provides the score for thefilmSait-on jamais, and tours Europe performing themusic. Miles Davis and arranger Gil Evans record

Miles Ahead. Davis records the soundtrack for theFrench filmL'Ascenseur pour l'echafaud andperforms the music in Paris with bassist PierreMichelot and drummer Kenny Clarke. TheloniousMonk records with the J azz Messengers. Clarinetist

J immy Dorsey dies. Bassist Charles Mingus records Tijuana Moods, using elements of Latin music.Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story opens inWashington DC. Saxophonist J ohn Coltrane recordsthe albumBlue Trane. Louis Armstrong causescontroversy by speaking out against PresidentDwight Eisenhower. Billie Holiday performsFine andMellow in a live TV broadcast. The State Department

sends Benny Goodman on a tour to the Far East.Pianist and arranger Toshiko Akiyoshi wins a poll inDown Beat and receives an award from the BerkleeCollege of Music. Brandies University commissions

Third Stream works by Charles Mingus and others.

Composer Arturo Toscanini dies. Composer J eanSibelius dies. The USSR launches the first Sputniksatellite. Governor Faubus of Arkansas calls out the

National Guard to prevent desegregation. Dr. Seusschildren's book The Cat in the Hat becomes abestseller.

1958 Critic Barry Ulanov speaks out against sexism in jazzin an article in Down Beat. Sonny Rollins recordsFreedom Suite with Oscar Pettiford and Max Roach,using the liner notes to attack racism in America.Dave Brubeck performs in Denmark. Oscar Petersonperforms in Amsterdam. Bandleader W.C. Handydies. The filmSt. Louis Blues depicts Handy's lifeand features Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, and

blues singer Mahalia J ackson. Miles Davis recordsMilestones, featuring early modal jazz. Davis recordsOn Green Dolphin Street with pianist Bill Evans.Davis and Gil Evans record large-ensemblearrangements of composer George Gershwin's operaPorgy and Bess. Art Blakey's J azz Messengersrecord Moanin', a defining album for hard bop.Composer Antonio Carlos J obim launches the bossanova craze, recording J oao Gilberto's Chega deSaudade. Bill Evans records Everybody Digs BillEvans with the influential modal track Peace Piece.Blakey records Holiday for Skin with three jazzdrummers and seven Latin percussionists and toursEurope with the J azz Messengers.

The European Economic Community is established.Painter Pablo Picasso's mural The Fall of Icarus isunveiled. The Boeing 707 jet revolutionizes airtravel. The hovercraft is invented. The first stereorecord is issued. The skateboard is invented inCalifornia.




1959 Thelonious Monk appears at Town Hall. Miles Davisrecords Kind of Blue, which pioneers modal jazz andbecomes a classic. Saxophonist Lester Young dies.

J ohn Coltrane records Giant Steps. Clarinetist SidneyBechet dies. Los Angeles-based saxophonistOrnette Coleman records The Shape of Jazz toCome, a free jazz album. Coleman's group performsfree jazz at the Five Spot in New York. Billie Holidayis arrested for possession of drugs and dies soonafter. Duke Ellington composes the score for the film

Anatomy of a Murder. Dave Brubeck and his quartetrecord Time Out, which includes Paul Desmond's hitTake Five. Pianist Oscar Peterson forms a trio withbassist Ray Brown and drummer Ed Thigpen.

Fidel Castro assumes power in Cuba. Singer BuddyHolly dies. Hawaii and Alaska join the US. ArchitectFrank Lloyd Wright dies. Panama is invaded by

Cuban forces. China is barred from joining theUnited Nations. The first cassette tapes areintroduced in the US. Earth receives its first picturesof the dark side of the moon. The first Xeroxmachines are introduced. Two monkeys are sentinto space by NASA and return safely.




1960 Trumpeter Miles Davis records Sketches of Spain,which uses Flamenco music, and then tours Europe.

The Modern J azz Quartet records an album withorchestral accompaniment. Crowd disturbances

disrupt the Seventh Newport J azz Festival.Saxophonist J ohn Coltrane and trumpeter DonCherry collaborate on the album Avant-Garde,influenced by saxophonist Ornette Coleman.Coltrane records My Favorite Things with his newquartet. Drummer Max Roach records We Insist!:Freedom Now Suite. Pianist Cecil Taylor andsaxophonist Archie Shepp record The World of CecilTaylor. Bassist Charles Mingus andsaxophonist/clarinetist Eric Dolphy recordWhat Loveand Fables of Faubus, the latter written about thegovernor who opposed desegregation. DrummerShelly Manne opens the club "Shelly's Manne-Hole"

in Los Angeles. Ornette Coleman records Free Jazz.

Writer Albert Camus is killed in a car crash. The firstlaser beam is demonstrated. African-Americanstudents stage sit-ins in North Carolina.

1961 Drummer Art Blakey's J azz Messengers tour J apan.Miles Davis records live at San Francisco's BlackHawk. Davis and arranger Gil Evans appear atCarnegie Hall. Trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie appears atCarnegie Hall. Pianist Thelonious Monk toursEurope. Ornette Coleman's avant-garde quartetdisbands. Down Beat magazine prints severalarticles attacking Ornette Coleman's music and thecurrent (free jazz) music of J ohn Coltrane and EricDolphy. The Newport Jazz Festival relocates to New

York after rioting in its original location. SaxophonistOliver Nelson records Blues and the Abstract Truth.

Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin is the first man inspace. Writer Ernest Hemingway dies. The BerlinWall is completed. The birth-control pill is introducedWriter J oseph Heller's novelCatch-22 is published.Cuban exiles attempt to overthrow Cuban leaderFidel Castro in the Bay of Pigs invasion. J ohn F.Kennedy becomes president.

1962 Saxophonist Stan Getz and guitarist Charlie Byrdrecord Desafinado, which sparks renewed interest inbossa nova. Pianist Herbie Hancock records his firstalbum as a leader, Takin' Off. Trumpeter CootieWilliams rejoins Duke Ellington's band. Ellingtonrecords an album with Charles Mingus and drummerMax Roach and an album with J ohn Coltrane.Carnegie Hall hosts a bossa-nova concert. Guitarist

J oe Pass makes his first album. Cecil Taylor recordslive in Copenhagen.

Actress Marilyn Monroe dies. Writer WilliamFaulkner dies. The Cuban missile crisis occurs.Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts opens in New

York. The Beatles become a sensation with their firssingle Love Me Do.

1963 Charles Mingus records The Black Saint and TheSinner Lady, a landmark in extended structure andfree improvisation. Bill Evans records Conversationswith Myself, which uses overdubbing. Miles Davisperforms and records with his new group with HerbieHancock, saxophonist George Coleman, bassist RonCarter, and 17-year-old drummer Tony Williams.Count Basie tours J apan. Trumpeter Lee Morganrecords the best-selling The Sidewinder. AstrudGilberto's Girl from Ipanema becomes a huge hitfeaturing Stan Getz.

Civil rights leader Martin Luther King addresses arally in Washington DC. Twelve-year-old singerStevie Wonder releases his first album. President

J ohn F. Kennedy is assassinated. Lyndon B. J ohnson becomes president.




1964 The Miles Davis Quintet records the classic livealbumMy Funny Valentine, and soon aftersaxophonist Wayne Shorter replaces George

Coleman. Clarinetist and flutist Eric Dolphy recordsOut To Lunch, with trumpeter Freddie Hubbard and

Tony Williams. Pianist Horace Silver records Songfor My Father. J ohn Coltrane records A LoveSupreme, which sells hundreds of thousands of copies. Blind multi-instrumentalist Roland Kirkperforms at the Newport in Europe festival. Avant-garde tenor saxophonist Albert Ayler records thealbumGhosts.

South African political activist Nelson Mandela beginshis life sentence. Composer Cole Porter dies.Filmmaker Stanley Kubrick releases Dr. Strangelove.

The Beatles appear in A Hard Day's Night and tourthe US for the first time. The US Civil Rights Bill ispassed. France and Britain agree to construct aChannel Tunnel connecting the two countries. Thesoldier doll G.I. J oe is introduced.

1965 Miles Davis records ESP with his new quintet.Pianist Nat King Cole dies of cancer. HerbieHancock records Maiden Voyage, a classic modaltune, with the other members of Miles Davis' group

plus trumpeter Freddie Hubbard. Trumpeter Thad J ones and drummer Mel Lewis form a rehearsalorchestra that is to last for years. J ohn Coltranerecords Ascension, a free jazz experiment influencedby Ornette Coleman.

Writer T.S. Eliot dies. The US intensifies itsinvolvement in Vietnam. The first spacewalk occurs.

Thirty-four people are killed in Los Angeles race riots The filmThe Sound of Music receives an Oscar for

Best Picture. Political activist Malcolm X isassassinated.

1966 Duke Ellington receives the President's Gold Medalof Honor. Thad J ones and Mel Lewis debut with theirbig band at the Village Vanguard in New York. Cecil

Taylor records Unit Structures, which is anexperimental album that resembles contemporaryclassical music. The Miles Davis Quintet recordsMiles Smiles, a historic work that explores structuralfreedom.

Race riots break out in New York, Cleveland, andChicago. Cultural Revolution occurs in China. Star Trek appears on TV. Barbara J ordan becomes thefirst African American woman to win a seat in the

Texas Senate.

1967 J ohn Coltrane makes his last recordings and diessoon after of liver disease. The Miles Davis Quintetrecords Sorcerer and Nefertiti, featuring mostlycompositions by Wayne Shorter. The Dave BrubeckQuartet disbands. Bandleader Paul Whiteman dies.

The first Montreux J azz Festival is held inSwitzerland. Down Beat announces it will cover rockmusic as well as jazz. Trumpeter Lester Bowie formsthe Art Ensemble of Chicago, an important avant-garde jazz group. Herbie Hancock introduces electricpiano to popular jazz in Miles Davis' group.

The first heart-transplant operation is performed. The Six-Day War occurs in the Middle East. TheApollo space crew is killed in a launchpad fire.Singer Aretha Franklin has four top-ten hits.




1968 Vibraphonist Gary Burton appears at Carnegie Hall.Herbie Hancock records the albumSpeak Like aChild with trumpeter Thad J ones and bassist Ron

Carter. Hancock quits the Miles Davis Quartet.Guitarist Wes Montgomery, whose album A Day inthe Life is the best selling jazz album of the year,dies. Pianist Chick Corea and bassist Dave Holland

join Miles Davis' band. Avant-garde saxophonistAnthony Braxton, a member of the ChicagoAssociation for the Advancement of CreativeMusicians, records For Alto Saxophone and ThreeCompositions of New Jazz. Composer Carla Bley's

J azz Composers Orchestra Association forms theNew Music Distribution Service to disseminate itsrecordings.

Martin Luther King is assassinated. Students protestin Paris. The USSR invades Czechoslovakia.Presidential candidate Robert Kennedy is

assassinated. Massive antiwar protests are stagedin the US. Rock guitarist J imi Hendrix soars up thecharts with two albums. Filmmaker Stanley Kubrick's2001: A Space Odyssey is released.

1969 Composer Gunther Schuller completes his book

Early Jazz, the first critical study of the origins of themusic. Bassist Paul Chambers dies fromtuberculosis. Miles Davis records In a Silent Way.Later in the year, Davis records Bitches Brew, thefirst important fusion album. Tony Williams forms thegroup Lifetime with guitarist J ohn McLaughlin andorganist Larry Young. The Art Ensemble of Chicagorecords in Paris.

Neil Armstrong becomes the first man to land on the

moon. Colonel Muammar Gaddafi seizes power inLibya. Golda Meir becomes Premier of Israel. TheWoodstock pop music festival is held in New York.Writer Mario Puzo's The Godfather is published. Thelottery system is established for the US draft.Richard M. Nixon becomes president.




1971 Keyboardist J oe Zawinul's new fusion group,Weather Report, records in New York. Guitarist J ohnMcLaughlin's newly formed Mahavishnu Orchestra

records in New York. Pianist Thelonious Monkrecords in London. Sun Ra's Arkestra tours Egypt.Bassist Charles Mingus publishes his autobiography,Beneath The Underdog. Trumpeter Louis Armstrongdies.

Composer Igor Stravinsky dies. The US bombsNorth Vietnam. Filmmaker Stanley Kubrick's AClockwork Orange is banned in the UK.

1972 Weather Report records I Sing the Body Electric.Keyboardist Chick Corea records with his newlyformed fusion group Return to Forever. BassistCharles Mingus performs at the Philharmonic Hall inNew York. Hard bop trumpeter Lee Morgan is shotdead by his former mistress in New York. Pianist

Thelonious Monk goes into retirement. Free jazzsaxophonist Ornette Coleman's Skies of America is

performed by the London Symphony Orchestra. TheMahavishnu Orchestra records Birds of Fire andLove Devotion Surrender.

British troops kill 13 people in Northern Ireland. TheUK joins the European Economic Community. TheSALT agreement limits US and USSR nuclearweapons. Eleven Israelis are murdered by Arabterrorists in Munich at the Olympics. The US makesits final bombing of North Vietnam. PresidentRichard Nixon visits Communist China and theUSSR. Reggae star Bob Marley is signed to Island

Records and brings J amaican music and culture intothe mainstream. The first Polaroid cameras go onsale.

1975 Saxophonist Michael Brecker and his brother,trumpeter Randy, record together. Return to Foreverrecords No Mystery. Miles Davis performs in J apan,New York, and at the Newport Festival before goinginto retirement. Guitarist Pat Metheny records hisfirst album, Bright Sized Life, with electric bassist

J aco Pastorius. Pianist Bill Evans records the album Alone. Fourteen-year-old trumpet virtuoso WyntonMarsalis performs with the New Orleans SymphonyOrchestra.

The Khmer Rouge takes control of Cambodia. NorthVietnam invades South Vietnam. Filmmaker StevenSpielberg's Jaws is released.

1976 Pianist Dave Brubeck's quartet reunites for ananniversary concert. Pianist Thelonious Monkperforms for the last time at the Newport J azzFestival. Pianist Herbie Hancock records live atNewport with his group, VSOP. Guitarist JohnMcLaughlin disbands the Mahavishnu Orchestra.Weather Report, now with electric bass virtuoso J acoPastorius, records its best selling albums BlackMarket and Heavy Weather.

The Viking space probe transmits pictures from MarsWriter Alex Haley's Roots is published. The UScelebrates the bicentennial of its independence with4th of J uly festivities. Punk rock becomes popular inBritain.

1977 Pianist Errol Garner dies. Alto saxophonist PaulDesmond dies. The World Saxophone Quartet isfounded. Drummer Kenny Clarke returns to the US.Multi-instrumentalist Roland Kirk dies. Pop jazz

group Spyro Gyra records its first album.

The US space shuttle makes a test flight. SingerElvis Presley dies. Filmmaker George Lucas'Star Wars is released. J immy Carter becomes president.

1978 President J immy Carter hosts a jazz concert at theWhite House in honor of bassist and composerCharles Mingus. The Cuban band, Irakere, promotesAfro-Cuban music in Europe and the US. PianistChick Corea records with vibraphonist Gary Burton.Keyboardist Bob J ames composes a popular fusiontheme for the TV series Taxi. The Pat MethenyGroup is formed.

Revolution occurs in Afghanistan. The hit filmmusical Grease is released. The first video arcadegame "Space Invaders" is a hug hit worldwide.

Television reporter Max Robinson is the first AfricanAmerican to anchor network news.

1979 Bassist Charles Mingus dies in Mexico. Sue Mingus Margaret Thatcher becomes Britain's first female



forms the Mingus Dynasty in honor of her latehusband. Drummer J ack DeJ ohnette collaborateswith saxophonist David Murray on Special Edition.Pianist Keith J arrett and saxophonist J an Garbarekrecord live. Bandleader Stan Kenton dies in LosAngeles. Dizzy Gillespie publishes his book, To Beor Not To Bop. Pianist Bill Evans makes his finalrecordings.

Prime Minister. Filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola'smovie Apocalypse Now is released. Nuclear disasteroccurs at Three Mile Island. The first Sony Walkmanis introduced.




1980 Saxophonist Grover Washington, J r., records hisGrammy Award winning album, Winelight, thatincludes the hit song Just the Two of Us. Trumpeter

Miles Davis comes out of retirement and records thefunk and rock-influenced The Man with the Horn.Eighteen-year-old trumpeter Wynton Marsalisrecords at Montreux with Art Blakey's J azzMessengers. Pianist Bill Evans dies in New York.

Former Beatle J ohn Lennon is murdered in New YorkCity. 10,000 Cuban refugees come to the US. Mt.St. Helen's volcano erupts. The Iranian hostage

crisis begins.

1981 Pianist Mary Lou Williams dies. Miles Davis makeshis first live performance since retirement at AveryFisher Hall in New York. Saxophonist David Sanbornrecords the albumVoyeur, featuring the Grammy-winning song All I Need is You, composed by bassistMarcus Miller. Saxophonist Branford and trumpeterWynton Marsalis joins Art Blakey's J azz Messengers.

The US completes its first successful space shuttlemission. Race riots occur in Brixton, London. PrinceCharles marries Lady Diana Spencer. PresidentAnwar Sadat of Egypt is assassinated. Polanddeclares martial law to quash trade union "solidarity."Former actor Ronald Reagan becomes president.Assassination attempts are made on PresidentReagan and Pope J ohn Paul II. Sandra Day

O'Connor becomes the first female Supreme Court J ustice. The Iranian hostage crises ends. The AIDSepidemic begins.

1982 Pianist Thelonious Monk dies. Saxophonist SonnyStitt dies. Bassist J aco Pastorius leaves WeatherReport. Trumpeter Wynton Marsalis and vocalistBobby McFerrin are featured at the Kool J azzFestival.

Argentina invades the Falkland Islands. Britishforces reclaim the Falklands forcing the surrender of Argentine troops. Filmmaker Richard Attenboroughreceives eight Academy Awards for the filmGhandi.Filmmaker Steven Spielberg receives three AcademyAwards for E.T. The Message is one of the earliestrap hits.

1983 Pianist Keith J arrett make his first recordings of standards with drummer J ack DeJ ohnette andbassist Gary Peacock. Pianist Eubie Blake dies.

Pianist Earl Hines dies. Trumpeter Wynton Marsalismakes history by winning a jazz and classicalGrammy Award in the same year. KeyboardistHerbie Hancock's synthesized dance hit, Rockit,reaches number one in the pop charts. Pianist Scott

J oplin appears on a US postage stamp.

Writer Tennessee Williams dies. The US invadesGranada. The first compact discs are marketed. TheCabbage Patch dolls become a commercial success.

The School Prayer Amendment is rejected by theSupreme Court.

1984 Bandleader and keyboardist Sun Ra performs inAthens and is voted into the Down Beat Hall of Fame. Pianist Count Basie dies in Hollywood.Drummer Shelly Manne dies. Miles Davis recordsYou're Under Arrest, before leaving ColumbiaRecords and signing a seven figure deal with WarnerBros.

The first black franchise is granted in South Africa.Indian Prime Minister Indira Ghandi is assassinated.Ronald Reagan is elected to his second term asPresident. Apple Computers launches the firstMacintosh.




1985 Drummer Kenny Clarke dies. Miles Davis records Aura in Denmark. Trumpeter Thad Jones takes overthe Count Basie band. Blue Note is relaunched with

a concert at Town Hall with drummer Art Blakey,bassist Ron Carter, pianist Herbie Hancock,trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, and others. DrummerPhilly J oe Jones dies. Trumpeter Cootie Williamsdies. Pianist Chick Corea captures a new audiencewith his Elektrik Band with electric bassist J ohnPatitucci and drummer Dave Weckl. BranfordMarsalis tours with pop artist Sting.

Singer and promoter Bob Geldof's charity concert"Live Aid" reaches a global audience. The sunkencruise ship The Titanic is located.

1986 Clarinetist Benny Goodman dies. Wynton Marsalisrecords Standard Time, establishing his reputation asa traditionalist. J azz-pop musician Kenny G has a hitwith Songbird. The film ‘Round Midnight is released,starring saxophonist Dexter Gordon as a character

loosely based on pianist Bud Powell. Pianist HerbieHancock wins an Academy Award for his originalscore for the film ‘Round Midnight.

The US space shuttle Challenger explodes onlaunch. The US bombs Libya from a British air base.Filmmaker Oliver Stone's Platoon receives anAcademy Award. The Iran-Contra Scandal becomespublic. The Supreme Court upholds affirmative-

action hiring quotas.

1987 Electric bassist J aco Pastorius dies, beat up by abouncer in a South Florida bar. Free jazzsaxophonist Ornette Coleman reunites his originalquartet. Saxophonist Michael Brecker releases hisfirst solo album. A big band is formed to celebratetrumpeter Dizzy Gillespie's seventieth birthday.Major record labels begin massive reissues of classic

jazz recordings on CD, reflecting the renewedinterest in bebop and hard bop.

Artist Andy Warhol dies. The stock market crashes.Ex-Nazi deputy Rudolf Hess commits suicide in aBerlin prison. President Ronald Reagan and Sovietleader Mikhail Gorbachev sign the first treaty toreduce nuclear arms. Pop vocalist Whitney Houstonbecomes the first female artist to have an album gostraight to number one in the Billboard charts.

1988 Arranger Gil Evans dies in Mexico. Trumpeter Chet

Baker dies in mysterious circumstances inAmsterdam. Pianist Keith Jarrett is nominated for aGrammy for his recording of music by composer J .S.Bach. Actor Clint Eastwood directs Bird, abiographical film of the life of Charlie Parker.

A jumbo jet explodes over Lockerbie, Scotland.

American TV evangelist J im Bakker is forced toresign after admitting to an affair. The antidepressandrug Prozac is launched.

1989 Trumpeter Roy Eldridge dies. Trumpeter WoodyShaw dies. Nineteen-year-old trumpeter RoyHargrove records Diamond in the Rough. J ohn Zornrecords the post-modern albumNaked City.

Trumpeter and producer Quincy J ones records Backon the Block with a wide variety of genres from bopto rap. Miles Davis records Amandla.

Artist Salvador Dali dies. The Berlin Wall is opened.Protesters are massacred at Tiananmen Square inBeijing, China. Writer Salman Rushdie is sentencedto death in Iran for writing his novel The SatanicVerses. The US invades Panama. The ExxonValdez oil spill occurs. George H. Bush becomespresident.



Date Developments in Jazz Historical Developments

1990 Drummer Mel Lewis dies. Vocalist Sarah Vaughandies. Saxophonist Dexter Gordon dies. ComposerLeonard Bernstein dies. Drummer Art Blakey dies.

Trumpeter Miles Davis publishes his controversial

autobiography Miles: The Autobiography (co-authored by Quincy Troupe).

The Gulf War begins. The Warsaw Pact collapses. The Soviet Union falls.

1991 Saxophonist Stan Getz dies. Miles Davis appears atthe Montreux J azz Festival with Quincy Jones,performing early work with arranger Gil Evans. Davisdies in California. Saxophonist J oshua Redmansigns with Warner Bros. records.

Children's book writer Dr. Seuss dies. The Tailhookscandal occurs. The Gulf War ends.

1992 Miles Davis' final album, Doo-Bop, which featuresrap, is released. Saxophonist Branford Marsalisbecomes the bandleader on "The Tonight Show with

J ay Leno," with a group that includes pianist KennyKirkland, bassist Bob Hurst, and drummer J eff Watts.Hip hop group US3 has a hit with a song that

samples Herbie Hancock's Cantaloupe Island.Pianist Herbie Hancock, saxophonist Wayne Shorter,bassist Ron Carter, drummer Tony Williams andtrumpeter Wallace Roney tour in a tribute to MilesDavis.

Race riots break out in Los Angeles. Author TerryMcMillan publishes the hit novel Waiting to Exhale.Mae J emison becomes the first African Americanwoman astronaut. Carol Moseley-Braun becomesthe first African American woman elected to the USSenate.

1993 Bandleader Sun Ra dies. Saxophonist J oeHenderson receives critical acclaim for his MilesDavis tribute album So Near, So Far (Musings for Miles). Pianist Chick Corea's Elektrik Band isrefused permission to perform in Germany becauseof Corea's membership in the controversial Church of Scientology. Saxophonist J an Garbarek hascommercial success with his album Officium.

Saxophonist Joshua Redman records two albumsand establishes himself as the top star in the “younglion” jazz scene.

South African Prime Minister F.W. de Klerk andpolitical activist Nelson Mandela win Nobel PeacePrize. Poet Maya Angelou delivers a poem for theinauguration of President Clinton. Writer ToniMorrison wins the Nobel Prize for literature. BillClinton becomes president.

1994 Guitarist J oe Pass dies. Trumpeter Red Rodneydies. A Tribute to Miles, featuring the Miles Davistribute band, wins a Grammy Award.

South Africa has its first multi-racial election.

1995 Trumpeter Roy Hargrove ousts Trumpeter WyntonMarsalis in the Down Beat critic polls. Film directorRobert Altman's film, Kansas City, is released,featuring a reenactment of a 1930's jam session withpianist Geri Allen, saxophonist J oshua Redman,bassist Christian McBride, saxophonist J amesCarter, and others. The Impulse record label isrevived after 21 years. Drummer Tony Williams dies.

Former football star O.J . Simpson is on trial formurder. Civil unrest occurs in former Chechnya.Oklahoma City Federal building is bombed. Nation oIslam leader Louis Farrakhan organizes the MillionMan March in Washington, DC.

1996 Kenny Garrett releases Pursuance: The Music of John Coltrane, with Pat Metheny.

A bomb is set off at the Olympic games in Atlanta.

1997 Wayne Shorter wins a Grammy Award for his electric jazz albumHigh Life. Saxophonist J oshua Redman,bassist Christian McBride, and drummer Brian Bladetour as a trio. A $27 million jazz museum opens inKansas City.

Group suicide occurs among religious cult Heaven'sGate members in California. Former Princess of Wales Lady Diana dies in a car accident.



Date Developments in Jazz Historical Developments

1998 Guitarist Pat Metheny and bassist Charlie Haden winGrammy Awards for their duet albumBeyond theMissouri Sky. Guitarist Kevin Eubanks replacesBranford Marsalis as the bandleader on "The TonightShow with J ay Leno."

President Clinton is impeached.

1999 Trumpeter Art Farmer dies. Vibraphonist Milt J ackson dies. Singer J oe Williams dies. TrumpeterLester Bowie dies.

President Clinton is acquitted on impeachmentcharges after a Senate trial. Fifteen high schoolstudents are shot dead by two students at ColumbineHigh School in Colorado.

2000

Trumpeter Dave Douglas rises in popularity. BassistDave Holland tours with a group featuringsaxophonist Chris Potter.

Violence erupts in Israel. The US Presidentialelection results are delayed due to confusion aboutvotes in Florida.

a jazz history - timeline

Documents