A Jazz History - Timeline

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Developments in Jazz

Historical EventsThe first Africans are sold into slavery in America.

1619 1817 New Orleans city council establishes "Congo Square" as an official site for slave music and dance. 1865 1892 Pianist Tommy Turpin writes Harlem Rag, the first known ragtime composition. 1895 Pianist Scott Joplin publishes his first two rags. Cornetist Buddy Bolden forms his band. 1896 1897 The first piano rags appear in print. Ragtime grows in popularity. 1898 1899 Scott Joplin's Maple Leaf Rag is published and sells over 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's Creole Blues is recorded for the new Victor label. This is the first acoustic recording of ragtime to be made commercially available. The American Federation of Musicians (the musicians union) votes to suppress ragtime. 1902 The John Philip Sousa Band records the ragtime piece, Trombone Sneeze, written by Arthur Pryor. Lincoln Park is opened in New Orleans, as a center for ragtime and early jazz performances. Scott Joplin publishes The Entertainer: a Ragtime Two-Step, which would become a popular hit nearly 70 years later. Pianist Jelly Roll Morton claims to have invented jazz in this year. 1903 Pianist and composer Eubie Blake publishes his first piano rags. 1904 Cornetist Buddy Bolden begins to develop a reputation in New Orleans for playing music that fuses elements of blues and ragtime. 1905 A black newspaper in Indianapolis releases a statement in reaction to racist songs popular during this period: "Composers should not set music to a set of words that are a direct insult to the colored race." 1906 Jelly Roll Morton composes King Porter Stomp. 1907 Cornetist Buddy Bolden is committed to a mental institution without having ever recorded any music. Scott Joplin moves to New York. 1908 1909 The US Marine band records Joplin's Maple Leaf Rag.

Slavery is abolished in the US by the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution.

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

The US goes to war with Spain.

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

The Wright brothers make their first successful flight.

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

The first wireless broadcast of classical music is produced in New York. Alcohol is banned in North Carolina and Georgia. Alcohol is banned in Tennessee. Robert Peary reaches the North Pole. William Howard Taft becomes president.

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Historical EventsThe NAACP is founded. Mark Twain dies. Marie Curie isolates radium.

1910 The Original Dixieland Jass Band performs in London. Will Marion Cook tours Europe with his Southern Syncopated Orchestra which includes clarinetist Sidney Bechet. After the tour Bechet stays in Europe. New Orleans trombonist Kid Ory moves to Los Angeles and forms a band, bringing jazz to new ears. 1911 Pianist Scott Joplin publishes his opera Treeemoisha. Irving Berlin records Alexander's Ragtime Band, which becomes a hit but is scorned by ragtime purists. 1912 1913 The word "jazz" first appears in print. James Reese Europe records ragtime arrangements in New York with the first black ensemble to be recorded. 1914 Pianist W.C. Handy writes St. Louis Blues. 1915 Trumpeter King Oliver forms a band in New Orleans with clarinetist Sidney Bechet. 1916 1917 Scott Joplin dies. The classic era of ragtime ends. The Original Dixieland Jass Band (an all white group) makes the first jazz recording, Livery Stable Blues, and also becomes the first jazz group to appear on film in the movie, The Good for Nothing. The US Navy closes New Orleans's Storyville red-light district. Jazz musicians begin to leave the city for the North. 1918 Trumpeter King Oliver leaves New Orleans for Chicago. Tenor saxophonist Coleman Hawkins tours with blues singer Mamie Smith and begins to develop a unique style of playing. 1919 The Original Dixieland Jass Band performs in London. Will Marion Cook tours Europe with his Southern Syncopated Orchestra which includes clarinetist Sidney Bechet. After the tour Bechet stays in Europe. New Orleans trombonist Kid Ory moves to Los Angeles and forms a band, bringing jazz to new ears. 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 dance band in Washington DC with drummer Sonny Greer. Charlie Parker is born. 1921 The town of Zion, Illinois bans jazz performances, labeling them "sinful." Pianist James P. Johnson records The Harlem Strut and Carolina Shout, the earliest stride piano recordings, in New York.

Raold Amundsen reaches the South Pole. Civil War occurs in Mexico.

The Titanic sinks. 60-floor Woolworth Building is completed, making it the largest building in the world. Woodrow Wilson becomes president. World War I begins in Europe. The Panama Canal opens to commercial traffic. Albert Einstein presents his general theory of relativity. Revolution occurs in Russia. The US enters World War I.

World War I ends. A flu epidemic kills an estimated 20 million people worldwide. Singer, actor, and civil rights activist Paul Robeson graduates first in his class from Rutgers University. Race riots break out in Chicago. The first airplane crosses the Atlantic Ocean, piloted by John Alcock & Arthur Whitten Brown. Mexican rebel leader Emilio Zapata is ambushed and murdered by government forces. Physicist Ernest Rutherford discovers a way to split the atom. Prohibition is instated in the US. The 19th Amendment is passed in the US, guaranteeing woman the right to vote.

A crisis occurs surrounding German war reparations. Adolf Hitler is elected leader of the Nazi Party. Russia is refused entry to the League of Nations. The first Miss America contest is held. Warren G. Hardin becomes president.

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Historical EventsVladimir Ilyich Lenin, leader of the Communist Revolution, dies. Stalin becomes dictator of Russia. The Fascist Party wins the Italian elections.

1924 Duke Ellington makes his first recordings as leader of the Washingtonians. George Gershwin debuts Rhapsody in Blue along with Paul Whiteman's band. Cornetist Bix Beiderbecke and his band, the Wolverines, make their first recordings. 1925 Blues singer Bessie Smith and trumpeter Louis Armstrong record the classic version of W.C. Handy's St. Louis Blues for Columbia Records. Louis Armstrong makes his first recordings with his group, the Hot Five. James P. Johnson records Charleston, which becomes a huge hit and gives rise to a dance of the same name. Electrical recordings are introduced. The Original Dixieland Jass Band disbands. Pianist Fats Waller gives lessons to pianist Count Basie.

1926 Trumpeter Louis Armstrong has a huge hit and pioneers scat singing with his first recorded original composition, Heebie Jeebies, featuring his Hot Five. Pianist Jelly Roll Morton's group the Red Hot Peppers records in Chicago. Bandleader Fletcher Henderson's group records with saxophonist Coleman Hawkins. 1927 Louis Armstrong makes his first recordings with his Hot Seven, which was the Hot Five plus drums and tuba. Jean Goldkette's Orchestra is dissolved. Cornetist Bix Beiderbecke joins Paul Whiteman's band. Pianist and bandleader Duke Ellington begins his residency at the Cotton Club in Harlem, increasing the band from six to eleven members. 1928 Clarinetist Benny Goodman makes his first recordings. 1929 Pianist Fats Waller participates in a mixed-race recording session in which he is forced to play behind a screen to separate him from the white musicians. The film St. Louis Blues about the life of pianist W.C. Handy is released, featuring blues singer Bessie Smith, Handy as musical director, and pianist James P. Johnson's band.

Italian leader Benito Mussolini commences his dictatorship. The first electrical recording of classical music is made in the US. The Ku Klux Klan marches in Washington DC. Tennessee teacher John Thomas Scopes is convicted for teaching Darwin's theories of evolution to high school students. American labor leader A. Philip Randolph organizes the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters to help bring American blacks into 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. The first television is introduced. Painter Claude Monet dies. The Harlem Globetrotters basketball team is organized by Abe Saperstein in Chicago.

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

Japanese troops enter China. Yugoslavia is formed under King Alexander. The Wall Street stock market crashes. The St. Valentine's Day Massacre occurs in Chicago. The first Academy Awards are held in Hollywood. Herbert Hoover becomes president.

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Historical EventsThe planet Pluto is discovered. The jet engine is invented.

1930 Trumpeter Louis Armstrong records Body and Soul. In a recording session with Armstrong, percussionist Lionel Hampton plays his first vibraphone solo and decides to make that his main instrument. Bandleader Paul Whiteman and his orchestra star in the movie The King of Jazz. Bandleader Cab Calloway becomes a regular at the Cotton Club. 1931 Cornetist Bix Beiderbecke dies of pneumonia at age 38. Cornetist Buddy Bolden dies. Pianist Lil Hardin separates from her husband Louis Armstrong and forms an all-female band. RCA demonstrates the first 33 1/3 rpm long-playing disc. 1932 Duke Ellington records It Don't Mean a Thing (If it Ain't' Got That Swing,the first jazz composition to use swing in the title. 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. Duke Ellington and his orchestra begin their first tour of Europe. Singer Bessie Smith makes her last recordings. Singer Billie Holiday makes her first recording. 1934 Fletcher Henderson's band folds due to financial difficulties and Henderson sells some of his arrangements to clarinetist Benny Goodman, who performs with his band at Billy Rose's Music Hall in New York. The journal Down Beat: the Contemporary Music Magazine is launched in Chicago. The Quintette du Hot Club de France, featuring guitarist Django Reinhardt and violinist Stephane Grappelli, gives its first public performance at the Ecole Normale de Musique in Paris. Jimmie Lunceford's band replaces Cab Calloways at the Cotton Club in Harlem. Clarinetist Jimmy Dorsey and trombonist Tommy Dorsey form the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra. Duke Ellington and Billie Holiday appear in the film Symphony in Black. 1935 Pianist and bandleader Bennie Moten dies. Pianist Count Basie forms the Barons of Rhythm with members of Moten's band. Vocalist Ella Fitzgerald makes her first recordings. Clarinetist Benny Goodman records Fletcher Henderson's arrangement of Jelly Roll Morton's King Porter Stomp. Goodman begins recording with a racially integrated trio that includes pianist Teddy Wilson and drummer Gene Krupa. Billie Holiday makes several recordings with pianist Teddy Wilson, including What a Little Moonlight Can Do. George Gershwin's threeact opera Porgy and Bess opens at the Alvin Theater in New York.

The Empire State building is opened in New York. Spain becomes a Republic. Japan invades Manchuria. There is massive worldwide unemployment. John Cockcroft splits the atom in Cambridge, UK. Japan forms a Manchurian Republic and later attacks Shanghai. Radio City Music Hall opens in New York. Aviator Charles Lindbergh's son is kidnapped. Adolph Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany, followed by the creation of the Dachau concentration camp, political arrests, and the appropriation of Jewish finances by the government. President Franklin Roosevelt initiates economic recovery in the US. Mahatma Ghandi is imprisoned. Prohibition ends in the US. The first photographs of the Loch Ness monster are published in Britain's Daily Mail. Franklin D. Roosevelt becomes president. Outlaws Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow are shot dead. Italian troops invade Albania. The Nazi coup fails in Austria. Adolf Hitler begins his dictatorship in Germany. Blues singer Leadbelly is released from prison in Louisiana after writing a song to the governor asking for a pardon. The first cheeseburger is served in Louisville, Kentucky.

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

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Historical EventsGermany annexes Austria and Sudetenland. Shopping carts are introduced for the first time in Oklahoma. Actor Orson Welles broadcasts War of the Worlds, a radio science-fiction drama about a Martian invasion, and causes a nationwide panic.

1938 Benny Goodman's band hosts a sold out concert at Carnegie Hall which features a jazz history element and a jam session with members of Duke Ellingtons and Count Basie's bands. After the Goodman concert, Count Basie's band and Chick Webb's band have an informal competition at the Savoy Ballroom. Cornetist King Oliver dies after years in poverty working as a pool-room janitor. Goodman's band records Bach Goes to Town: Prelude and Fugue in Swing, which combines elements of classical music and swing. 1939 A new band led by trombonist Glenn Miller gains notoriety through regular radio broadcasts. Billie Holiday records Strange Fruit, with controversial lyrics regarding lynchings which causes it to be banned from several radio stations. Chick Webb dies and Ella Fitzgerald takes over his band. Glenn Miller records the hugely successful In The Mood. Benny Goodman hires guitarist Charlie Christian. Lester Young records Lester Leaps In with Count Basie. Coleman Hawkins records Body and Soul, setting a new standard for improvisational sophistication on the saxophone. Artie Shaw retires. Singer Ma Rainey dies. Blue Note records is founded. 1940 Composer and bandleader Duke Ellington hires saxophonist Ben Webster and records Ko-Ko, Concerto for Cootie, and Cottontail. Trumpeter Cootie Williams leaves Ellington's band and is replaced by trumpeter and violinist Ray Nance. Vibraphonist Lionel Hampton's big band records Flying Home. Nat King Cole's trio records the timely piece, Gone with the Draft. Minton's Playhouse in New York becomes a hot spot for jazz, where musicians such as pianist Thelonious Monk, trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, and drummer Kenny Clarke are featured. The American Society of Composer, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) issues a broadcast ban of ASCAP works, resulting in the growth of rival organization Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI).

World War II breaks out in Europe. Germany occupies Bohemia, Moravia, Slovakia, and Lithuania and invades Poland. Military conscription is introduced in Britain. Hitler and Mussolini agree to a "Pact of Steel." The Spanish Civil War ends.

The Soviet Union attacks Finland. Germany invades Norway and Denmark. Winston Churchill becomes Prime Minister of Britain. Holland and Belgium fall to Germany. Italy declares war on Britain and France. Germany occupies Paris. African Americans and Puerto Ricans begin moving to northern cities.

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Historical EventsGermany invades Yugoslavia, Russia and send troops to North Africa. The British army goes to Libya and Ethiopia. Japan bombs Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The US and Britain declare war on Japan. The US declares war on Germany and Italy.

1941 Duke Ellington's band records composer Billy Strayhorn's Take the 'A' Train, which becomes the band's signature tune. Trumpeter Roy Eldridge joins drummer Gene Krupa's orchestra as featured soloist. Clarinetist Sidney Bechet plays five different instruments on The Sheik of Araby and Blues of Bechet, using some of the earliest overdubbing techniques. Saxophonist Charlie Parker makes his first recordings with Jay McShann and begins participating in the famous Minton's Playhouse jam sessions where bebop is created. ASCAP's broadcasting boycott ends. Jelly Roll Morton dies.

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Historical EventsThe Soviet Union attacks Finland. Germany invades Norway and Denmark. Winston Churchill becomes Prime Minister of Britain. Holland and Belgium fall to Germany. Italy declares war on Britain and France. Germany occupies Paris. African Americans and Puerto Ricans begin moving to northern cities.

1940 Composer and bandleader Duke Ellington hires saxophonist Ben Webster and records Ko-Ko, Concerto for Cootie, and Cottontail. Trumpeter Cootie Williams leaves Ellington's band and is replaced by trumpeter and violinist Ray Nance. Vibraphonist Lionel Hampton's big band records Flying Home. Nat King Cole's trio records the timely piece, Gone with the Draft. Minton's Playhouse in New York becomes a hot spot for jazz, where musicians such as pianist Thelonious Monk, trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, and drummer Kenny Clarke are featured. The American Society of Composer, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) issues a broadcast ban of ASCAP works, resulting in the growth of rival organization Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI). 1941 Duke Ellington's band records composer Billy Strayhorn's Take the 'A' Train, which becomes the band's signature tune. Trumpeter Roy Eldridge joins drummer Gene Krupa's orchestra as featured soloist. Clarinetist Sidney Bechet plays five different instruments on The Sheik of Araby and Blues of Bechet, using some of the earliest overdubbing techniques. Saxophonist Charlie Parker makes his first recordings with Jay McShanns band and begins participating in the famous Minton's Playhouse jam sessions where bebop is created. ASCAP's broadcasting boycott ends. Jelly Roll Morton dies. 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 in studio recordings for record companies that fail to pay royalties to performers. Trombonist Glenn Miller dissolves his band and enlists in the Air Force where he forms a new band. Eighteen-year-old singer Sarah Vaughan wins a talent competition at Harlem's Apollo Theater. Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie join pianist Earl Hines band. Eddie Condon's integrated band appears on CBS television. Billboard magazine publishes the first black record chart under the title "Harlem Hit Parade." 1943 Duke Ellington's Orchestra performs Black, Brown, and Beige and New World AComin' at Carnegie Hall. Pianist Art Tatum establishes a trio with guitarist Tiny Grimes and bassist Slam Stewart. Glenn Miller publishes a text-book for arranging music.

Germany invades Yugoslavia, Russia, and sends troops to North Africa. The British army goes to Libya and Ethiopia. Japan bombs Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The US and Britain declare war on Japan. The US declares war on Germany and Italy.

The US bombs Germany. Germany attacks Stalingrad, USSR. Japan wages campaigns in East Indies, Malaya, and Burma.

Britain captures Tripoli. Germany surrenders at Stalingrad and Tunisia. Italian leader Benito Mussolini resigns after the Allied invasion of Sicily. The Allies land on mainland Italy. Italy turns against Germany. The jitterbug dance becomes popular in the US.

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Historical EventsThe siege of Leningrad ends. The Allies land on Normandy beaches on what becomes "D-Day." An unsuccessful assassination attempt is made on Adolph Hitler. Paris and Brussels are liberated. The US Army crosses the German border. The United Negro College Fund is established.

1944 Producer Norman Granz initiates the series, "Jazz at the Philharmonic" in Los Angeles. Trumpeter Cootie Williams makes the first recording of pianist Thelonious Monk's 'Round About Midnight. Monk makes his first recordings with the Coleman Hawkins Quartet. Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie leave Billy Eckstine's band. Trumpeter Miles Davis arrives in New York to study at Juilliard School of Music and begins playing with Parker and Gillespie. Lester Young is drafted into the army, is voted most popular saxophonist by Down Beat magazine, and appears in the film Jammin' the Blues. The American Federation of Musicians lifts the recording ban. Glenn Miller disappears in an Air Force flight from London to Paris. 1945 Dizzy Gillespie records Be-Bop. Charlie Parker hires Miles Davis to replace Dizzy Gillespie at the Three Deuces on 52nd Street, leading Davis to quit school. Parker records Now's The Time, his first session as a leader, with Dizzy Gillespie on piano, Miles Davis on trumpet, and Max Roach on drums. Parker and Gillespie play in Los Angeles, helping to establish an interest in bebop. Pianist Mary Lou Williams gives the first performance of her Zodiac Suite at New York's Town Hall. 1946 Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie perform at "Jazz at the Philharmonic" in Los Angeles. Parker performs with Miles Davis in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles. Davis records Ornithology and Night in Tunisia with Parker in Los Angeles and then rejoins Billy Eckstine's band. Guitarist Django Reinhardt and violinist Stephane Grappelli are reunited after their wartime separation. Dizzy Gillespie forms a big band that includes pianist John Lewis and drummer Kenny Clarke. Billie Holiday performs at Town Hall in New York.

Warsaw and Budapest fall to the USSR. Cologne falls to the Allies. President Franklin Roosevelt dies. Italian leader Benito Mussolini is lynched. Adolph Hitler commits suicide. Berlin is captured by Russian troops. German forces surrender. The US drops atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan surrenders. Composer Anton Webern is accidentally shot to death by US military policeman in Austria. Composer Bela Bartok dies. The United Nations is founded. Ebony Magazine is founded. Harry S. Truman becomes president. Hungary becomes a republic. President Juan Peron assumes power in Argentina. Italy becomes a republic. Mao Tse-Tung revives the Chinese Civil War. The bikini is introduced.

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Historical EventsCrisis occurs in Palestine. India and Pakistan gain independence from Britain. Communists assume power in Hungary. Jackie Robinson becomes the first African American in major league baseball. The sound barrier is broken in the US. The Central Intelligence Agency is created by President Harry Truman. The House Un-American Activities Committee begins investigating communism in Hollywood, leading to the blacklisting of ten filmmakers. The first microwave oven is introduced.

1947 Louis Armstrong appears at Carnegie Hall with Billie Holiday. Miles Davis continues to perform with Charlie Parker at the Three Deuces and makes a series of recordings with Parker. Davis makes his first recordings as a leader, featuring Parker, pianist John Lewis, and drummer Max Roach. Parker records numerous tracks for the Dial and Savoy labels. Billie Holiday is convicted for possession of heroin. Ella Fitzgerald and Dizzy Gillespie appear at a sold out concert at Carnegie Hall, where Gillespie performs Cubana Be/Cubana Bop. Gillespie records Manteca bringing attention to his Afro-Cuban jazz. Thelonious Monk records several compositions. Drummer Art Blakey forms group. The Atlantic label is founded. Louis Armstrong and Billie Holiday appear in the film New Orleans. Chano Pozo introduces Afro-Cuban jazz in New York. 1948 Dizzy Gillespie brings bebop to Europe, performing at the Nice Jazz Festival in France along with Louis Armstrong and others. Gillespie's Cuban drummer, Chano Pozo, is shot dead in Harlem. Billie Holiday performs twice at Carnegie Hall, both times breaking box-office records. Columbia Records introduces the first long-playing vinyl discs. Miles Davis forms a nonet which appears for two weeks at the Royal Roost as a replacement for pianist Count Basie's band. Saxophonist Ben Webster rejoins Duke Ellington's band. 1949 Miles Davis and composer/arranger Gil Evans record Birth of the Cool. The first Festival International de Jazz is held in Paris, featuring Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Sidney Bechet, Miles Davis, Kenny Clark, and others. Pianist Lennie Tristano records early examples of free jazz improvisation. Norman Granz pairs Canadian pianist Oscar Peterson with bassist Ray Brown at a "Jazz at the Philharmonic" concert at Carnegie Hall. Pianist Dave Brubeck records in San Francisco with his piano trio. The club Birdland, named after Charlie "Bird" Parker, opens on Broadway. Parker appears at Carnegie Hall. Stan Kenton performs progressive jazz at Carnegie Hall with a 25-piece orchestra.

Mahatma Ghandi is assassinated in New Delhi. Communists gain control of Czechoslovakia. Britain abandons Palestine. Israel is founded. The USSR isolates Berlin. Writer George Orwell's 1984 is published. South Africa establishes the apartheid system. In the US, a judge rules that it is illegal for homeowners to refuse to sell to black buyers.

The Republic of Erie is established. The West German Federal Republic is established. The first passenger jet aircraft makes a flight. The People's Republic of China is founded by Chairman Mao TseTung. The East German Democratic Republic is established. Civil War ends in Greece. Vietnam achieves independence from France.

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Historical EventsWriter George Orwell (1984) dies. The Soviet Union declares its nuclear weaponry. The Korean War begins. China invades Tibet.

1950 Pianist Oscar Peterson makes his first recordings. Vocalist Sarah Vaughan records in NY with trumpeter Miles Davis. Saxophonist Charlie Parker and pianist Thelonious Monk record together. Monk is arrested for possession of drugs and banned from performing in NY nightclubs for six years. Pianist Errol Garner composes Misty. Pianist Ahmad Jamal forms his first piano trio. Pianist Count Basie and trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie both disband their big bands due to financial constraints. 1951 The Miles Davis All Stars record their first longplaying album for Prestige. Pianist Dave Brubeck forms his first quartet with saxophonist Paul Desmond. Pianist John Lewis forms the Milt Jackson Quartet with vibraphonist Milt Jackson, bassist Ray Brown, and drummer Kenny Clarke. 1952 Charlie Parker records sessions with strings and Latin repertoire for Mercury. Bassist Charles Mingus and drummer Max Roach form the Debut label. Carnegie Hall presents a concert devoted to California jazz featuring trumpeter Chet Baker and saxophonists Gerry Mulligan and Paul Desmond. Milt Jackson and John Lewis rename their group the Modern Jazz Quartet. Bandleader Fletcher Henderson dies. Duke Ellington's 25th Anniversary is celebrated with two concerts at Carnegie Hall featuring Billie Holiday, saxophonist Stan Getz, Charlie Parker, and Dizzy Gillespie. Gerry Mulligan's piano-less quartet records My Funny Valentine. 1953 Dave Brubeck's quartet records Jazz at Oberlin during a highly acclaimed college tour. Benny Goodman's band goes on tour with Louis Armstrong's All Stars eventually leading to a fight that ends with Goodman having a nervous breakdown. Trombonist Bob Brookmeyer replaces Chet Baker in Gerry Mulligan's quartet.

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

Writer Samuel Beckett's publishes Waiting for Godot. The Immigration and Naturalization Act is passed, removing the last racial and ethnic barriers to naturalization.

Soviet leader Josef Stalin dies. Composer Serge Prokofiev dies. Queen Elizabeth II is coronated in London. The Korean War ends. Dwight D.Eisenhower becomes president.

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Historical EventsThe US tests the hydrogen bomb on Bikini Atoll. American composer Charles Ives dies. Bill Haley and the Comets introduce the hit song Shake, Rattle and Roll. The Vietnam War begins. The Supreme Court rules that racial segregation in public schools in unconstitutional. The first nuclear power is produced in the Soviet Union.

1954 Miles Davis records Walkin' and Miles Davis and the Modern Jazz Giants, the latter featuring Thelonious Monk and Milt Jackson. The highly popular Chet Baker Quartet records My Funny Valentine and But Not For Me. The Dave Brubeck Quartet records Jazz Goes To College. Brubeck appears on the cover of Time magazine. Drummer Shelly Manne records West Coast Sound. The first American jazz festival is organized in Newport, Rhode Island by George Wein. Charlie Parker attempts suicide and is later admitted to Bellevue Hospital. Bassist Charles Mingus makes his first recordings with the Jazz Composers Workshop. The film The Glenn Miller Story is released, starring Jimmy Stewart and featuring Louis Armstrong and others. Drummer Max Roach forms a hard bop quintet with trumpeter Clifford Brown. Drummer Art Blakey forms the Jazz Messengers. 1955 Charlie Parker dies. Miles Davis makes his first recordings with a new quintet featuring saxophonist John Coltrane, pianist Red Garland, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Philly Joe Jones. Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers record live in NY. Saxophonist Julian "Cannonball" Adderley performs in NY for the first time. Pianist Lennie Tristano experiments with overdubbing. 1956 Bassist Charlie Mingus records Pithecanthropus Erectus, breaking new ground in collective improvisation. Saxophonist Sonny Rollins records Saxophone Colossus. Trumpeter Clifford Brown dies in a car accident. Art Blakey records the album Hard Bop. Pianist Horace Silver leaves the Jazz Messengers. Duke Ellington's popularity is resparked by an appearance at the Newport Jazz Festival and by a cover story in Time Magazine. Miles Davis records Relaxin', Cookin', and Steamin' and then tours Europe. Art Tatum dies. NBC launches the Nat King Cole Show. Trumpeter Lee Morgan makes his first recordings.

Scientist Albert Einstein dies. The Warsaw Pact is agreed upon. Disneyland opens in Los Angeles. Jonas Salk perfects the polio vaccine. Chuck Berry's Maybelline becomes a hit. Kentucky Fried Chicken goes on sale in the US.

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

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Historical EventsComposer Arturo Toscanini dies. Composer Jean Sibelius dies. The USSR launches the first Sputnik satellite. Governor Faubus of Arkansas calls out the National Guard to prevent desegregation. Dr. Seuss' children's book The Cat in the Hat becomes a bestseller.

1957 The Modern Jazz Quartet provides the score for the film Sait-on jamais, and tours Europe performing the music. Miles Davis and arranger Gil Evans record Miles Ahead. Davis records the soundtrack for the French film L'Ascenseur pour l'echafaud and performs the music in Paris with bassist Pierre Michelot and drummer Kenny Clarke. Thelonious Monk records with the Jazz Messengers. Clarinetist Jimmy Dorsey dies. Bassist Charles Mingus records Tijuana Moods, using elements of Latin music. Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story opens in Washington DC. Saxophonist John Coltrane records the album Blue Trane. Louis Armstrong causes controversy by speaking out against President Dwight Eisenhower. Billie Holiday performs Fine and Mellow 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 in Down Beat and receives an award from the Berklee College of Music. Brandies University commissions Third Stream works by Charles Mingus and others. 1958 Critic Barry Ulanov speaks out against sexism in jazz in an article in Down Beat. Sonny Rollins records Freedom Suite with Oscar Pettiford and Max Roach, using the liner notes to attack racism in America. Dave Brubeck performs in Denmark. Oscar Peterson performs in Amsterdam. Bandleader W.C. Handy dies. The film St. Louis Blues depicts Handy's life and features Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, and blues singer Mahalia Jackson. Miles Davis records Milestones, featuring early modal jazz. Davis records On Green Dolphin Street with pianist Bill Evans. Davis and Gil Evans record large-ensemble arrangements of composer George Gershwin's opera Porgy and Bess. Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers record Moanin', a defining album for hard bop. Composer Antonio Carlos Jobim launches the bossa nova craze, recording Joao Gilberto's Chega de Saudade. Bill Evans records Everybody Digs Bill Evans with the influential modal track Peace Piece. Blakey records Holiday for Skin with three jazz drummers and seven Latin percussionists and tours Europe with the Jazz Messengers.

The European Economic Community is established. Painter Pablo Picasso's mural The Fall of Icarus is unveiled. The Boeing 707 jet revolutionizes air travel. The hovercraft is invented. The first stereo record is issued. The skateboard is invented in California.

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Historical EventsFidel Castro assumes power in Cuba. Singer Buddy Holly dies. Hawaii and Alaska join the US. Architect Frank Lloyd Wright dies. Panama is invaded by Cuban forces. China is barred from joining the United Nations. The first cassette tapes are introduced in the US. Earth receives its first pictures of the dark side of the moon. The first Xerox machines are introduced. Two monkeys are sent into space by NASA and return safely.

1959 Thelonious Monk appears at Town Hall. Miles Davis records Kind of Blue, which pioneers modal jazz and becomes a classic. Saxophonist Lester Young dies. John Coltrane records Giant Steps. Clarinetist Sidney Bechet dies. Los Angeles-based saxophonist Ornette Coleman records The Shape of Jazz to Come, a free jazz album. Coleman's group performs free jazz at the Five Spot in New York. Billie Holiday is arrested for possession of drugs and dies soon after. Duke Ellington composes the score for the film Anatomy of a Murder. Dave Brubeck and his quartet record Time Out, which includes Paul Desmond's hit Take Five. Pianist Oscar Peterson forms a trio with bassist Ray Brown and drummer Ed Thigpen.

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Historical EventsWriter Albert Camus is killed in a car crash. The first laser beam is demonstrated. African-American students stage sit-ins in North Carolina.

1960 Trumpeter Miles Davis records Sketches of Spain, which uses Flamenco music, and then tours Europe. The Modern Jazz Quartet records an album with orchestral accompaniment. Crowd disturbances disrupt the Seventh Newport Jazz Festival. Saxophonist John Coltrane and trumpeter Don Cherry collaborate on the album Avant-Garde, influenced by saxophonist Ornette Coleman. Coltrane records My Favorite Things with his new quartet. Drummer Max Roach records We Insist!: Freedom Now Suite. Pianist Cecil Taylor and saxophonist Archie Shepp record The World of Cecil Taylor. Bassist Charles Mingus and saxophonist/clarinetist Eric Dolphy record What Love and Fables of Faubus, the latter written about the governor who opposed desegregation. Drummer Shelly Manne opens the club "Shelly's Manne-Hole" in Los Angeles. Ornette Coleman records Free Jazz. 1961 Drummer Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers tour Japan. Miles Davis records live at San Francisco's Black Hawk. Davis and arranger Gil Evans appear at Carnegie Hall. Trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie appears at Carnegie Hall. Pianist Thelonious Monk tours Europe. Ornette Coleman's avant-garde quartet disbands. Down Beat magazine prints several articles attacking Ornette Coleman's music and the current (free jazz) music of John Coltrane and Eric Dolphy. The Newport Jazz Festival relocates to New York after rioting in its original location. Saxophonist Oliver Nelson records Blues and the Abstract Truth. 1962 Saxophonist Stan Getz and guitarist Charlie Byrd record Desafinado, which sparks renewed interest in bossa nova. Pianist Herbie Hancock records his first album as a leader, Takin' Off. Trumpeter Cootie Williams rejoins Duke Ellington's band. Ellington records an album with Charles Mingus and drummer Max Roach and an album with John Coltrane. Carnegie Hall hosts a bossa-nova concert. Guitarist Joe Pass makes his first album. Cecil Taylor records live in Copenhagen. 1963 Charles Mingus records The Black Saint and The Sinner Lady, a landmark in extended structure and free improvisation. Bill Evans records Conversations with Myself, which uses overdubbing. Miles Davis performs and records with his new group with Herbie Hancock, saxophonist George Coleman, bassist Ron Carter, and 17-year-old drummer Tony Williams. Count Basie tours Japan. Trumpeter Lee Morgan records the best-selling The Sidewinder. Astrud Gilberto's Girl from Ipanema becomes a huge hit featuring Stan Getz.

Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin is the first man in space. Writer Ernest Hemingway dies. The Berlin Wall is completed. The birth-control pill is introduced. Writer Joseph Heller's novel Catch-22 is published. Cuban exiles attempt to overthrow Cuban leader Fidel Castro in the Bay of Pigs invasion. John F. Kennedy becomes president.

Actress Marilyn Monroe dies. Writer William Faulkner dies. The Cuban missile crisis occurs. Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts opens in New York. The Beatles become a sensation with their first single Love Me Do.

Civil rights leader Martin Luther King addresses a rally in Washington DC. Twelve-year-old singer Stevie Wonder releases his first album. President John F. Kennedy is assassinated. Lyndon B. Johnson becomes president.

Date


Historical EventsSouth African political activist Nelson Mandela begins his life sentence. Composer Cole Porter dies. Filmmaker Stanley Kubrick releases Dr. Strangelove. The Beatles appear in A Hard Day's Night and tour the US for the first time. The US Civil Rights Bill is passed. France and Britain agree to construct a Channel Tunnel connecting the two countries. The soldier doll G.I. Joe is introduced.

1964 The Miles Davis Quintet records the classic live album My Funny Valentine, and soon after saxophonist Wayne Shorter replaces George Coleman. Clarinetist and flutist Eric Dolphy records Out To Lunch, with trumpeter Freddie Hubbard and Tony Williams. Pianist Horace Silver records Song for My Father. John Coltrane records A Love Supreme, which sells hundreds of thousands of copies. Blind multi-instrumentalist Roland Kirk performs at the Newport in Europe festival. Avantgarde tenor saxophonist Albert Ayler records the album Ghosts. 1965 Miles Davis records ESP with his new quintet. Pianist Nat King Cole dies of cancer. Herbie Hancock records Maiden Voyage, a classic modal tune, with the other members of Miles Davis' group plus trumpeter Freddie Hubbard. Trumpeter Thad Jones and drummer Mel Lewis form a rehearsal orchestra that is to last for years. John Coltrane records Ascension, a free jazz experiment influenced by Ornette Coleman. 1966 Duke Ellington receives the President's Gold Medal of Honor. Thad Jones and Mel Lewis debut with their big band at the Village Vanguard in New York. Cecil Taylor records Unit Structures, which is an experimental album that resembles contemporary classical music. The Miles Davis Quintet records Miles Smiles, a historic work that explores structural freedom. 1967 John Coltrane makes his last recordings and dies soon after of liver disease. The Miles Davis Quintet records Sorcerer and Nefertiti, featuring mostly compositions by Wayne Shorter. The Dave Brubeck Quartet disbands. Bandleader Paul Whiteman dies. The first Montreux Jazz Festival is held in Switzerland. Down Beat announces it will cover rock music as well as jazz. Trumpeter Lester Bowie forms the Art Ensemble of Chicago, an important avantgarde jazz group. Herbie Hancock introduces electric piano to popular jazz in Miles Davis' group.

Writer T.S. Eliot dies. The US intensifies its involvement in Vietnam. The first spacewalk occurs. Thirty-four people are killed in Los Angeles race riots. The film The Sound of Music receives an Oscar for Best Picture. Political activist Malcolm X is assassinated.

Race riots break out in New York, Cleveland, and Chicago. Cultural Revolution occurs in China. Star Trek appears on TV. Barbara Jordan becomes the first African American woman to win a seat in the Texas Senate.

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

Date


Historical EventsMartin Luther King is assassinated. Students protest in Paris. The USSR invades Czechoslovakia. Presidential candidate Robert Kennedy is assassinated. Massive antiwar protests are staged in the US. Rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix soars up the charts with two albums. Filmmaker Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey is released.

1968 Vibraphonist Gary Burton appears at Carnegie Hall. Herbie Hancock records the album Speak Like a Child with trumpeter Thad Jones and bassist Ron Carter. Hancock quits the Miles Davis Quartet. Guitarist Wes Montgomery, whose album A Day in the Life is the best selling jazz album of the year, dies. Pianist Chick Corea and bassist Dave Holland join Miles Davis' band. Avant-garde saxophonist Anthony Braxton, a member of the Chicago Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, records For Alto Saxophone and Three Compositions of New Jazz. Composer Carla Bley's Jazz Composers Orchestra Association forms the New Music Distribution Service to disseminate its recordings. 1969 Composer Gunther Schuller completes his book Early Jazz, the first critical study of the origins of the music. Bassist Paul Chambers dies from tuberculosis. Miles Davis records In a Silent Way. Later in the year, Davis records Bitches Brew, the first important fusion album. Tony Williams forms the group Lifetime with guitarist John McLaughlin and organist Larry Young. The Art Ensemble of Chicago records in Paris.

Neil Armstrong becomes the first man to land on the moon. Colonel Muammar Gaddafi seizes power in Libya. Golda Meir becomes Premier of Israel. The Woodstock pop music festival is held in New York. Writer Mario Puzo's The Godfather is published. The lottery system is established for the US draft. Richard M. Nixon becomes president.

Date


Historical EventsComposer Igor Stravinsky dies. The US bombs North Vietnam. Filmmaker Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange is banned in the UK.

1971 Keyboardist Joe Zawinul's new fusion group, Weather Report, records in New York. Guitarist John McLaughlin's newly formed Mahavishnu Orchestra records in New York. Pianist Thelonious Monk records in London. Sun Ra's Arkestra tours Egypt. Bassist Charles Mingus publishes his autobiography, Beneath The Underdog. Trumpeter Louis Armstrong dies. 1972 Weather Report records I Sing the Body Electric. Keyboardist Chick Corea records with his newly formed fusion group Return to Forever. Bassist Charles Mingus performs at the Philharmonic Hall in New York. Hard bop trumpeter Lee Morgan is shot dead by his former mistress in New York. Pianist Thelonious Monk goes into retirement. Free jazz saxophonist Ornette Coleman's Skies of America is performed by the London Symphony Orchestra. The Mahavishnu Orchestra records Birds of Fire and Love Devotion Surrender. 1975 Saxophonist Michael Brecker and his brother, trumpeter Randy, record together. Return to Forever records No Mystery. Miles Davis performs in Japan, New York, and at the Newport Festival before going into retirement. Guitarist Pat Metheny records his first album, Bright Sized Life, with electric bassist Jaco Pastorius. Pianist Bill Evans records the album Alone. Fourteen-year-old trumpet virtuoso Wynton Marsalis performs with the New Orleans Symphony Orchestra. 1976 Pianist Dave Brubeck's quartet reunites for an anniversary concert. Pianist Thelonious Monk performs for the last time at the Newport Jazz Festival. Pianist Herbie Hancock records live at Newport with his group, VSOP. Guitarist John McLaughlin disbands the Mahavishnu Orchestra. Weather Report, now with electric bass virtuoso Jaco Pastorius, records its best selling albums Black Market and Heavy Weather. 1977 Pianist Errol Garner dies. Alto saxophonist Paul Desmond dies. The World Saxophone Quartet is founded. Drummer Kenny Clarke returns to the US. Multi-instrumentalist Roland Kirk dies. Pop jazz group Spyro Gyra records its first album. 1978 President Jimmy Carter hosts a jazz concert at the White House in honor of bassist and composer Charles Mingus. The Cuban band, Irakere, promotes Afro-Cuban music in Europe and the US. Pianist Chick Corea records with vibraphonist Gary Burton. Keyboardist Bob James composes a popular fusion theme for the TV series Taxi. The Pat Metheny Group is formed. 1979 Bassist Charles Mingus dies in Mexico. Sue Mingus

British troops kill 13 people in Northern Ireland. The UK joins the European Economic Community. The SALT agreement limits US and USSR nuclear weapons. Eleven Israelis are murdered by Arab terrorists in Munich at the Olympics. The US makes its final bombing of North Vietnam. President Richard Nixon visits Communist China and the USSR. Reggae star Bob Marley is signed to Island Records and brings Jamaican music and culture into the mainstream. The first Polaroid cameras go on sale. The Khmer Rouge takes control of Cambodia. North Vietnam invades South Vietnam. Filmmaker Steven Spielberg's Jaws is released.

The Viking space probe transmits pictures from Mars. Writer Alex Haley's Roots is published. The US celebrates the bicentennial of its independence with 4th of July festivities. Punk rock becomes popular in Britain.

The US space shuttle makes a test flight. Singer Elvis Presley dies. Filmmaker George Lucas' Star Wars is released. Jimmy Carter becomes president.

Revolution occurs in Afghanistan. The hit film musical Grease is released. The first video arcade game "Space Invaders" is a hug hit worldwide. Television reporter Max Robinson is the first African American to anchor network news.

Margaret Thatcher becomes Britain's first female

forms the Mingus Dynasty in honor of her late husband. Drummer Jack DeJohnette collaborates with saxophonist David Murray on Special Edition. Pianist Keith Jarrett and saxophonist Jan Garbarek record live. Bandleader Stan Kenton dies in Los Angeles. Dizzy Gillespie publishes his book, To Be or Not To Bop. Pianist Bill Evans makes his final recordings.

Prime Minister. Filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola's movie Apocalypse Now is released. Nuclear disaster occurs at Three Mile Island. The first Sony Walkman is introduced.

Date


Historical EventsFormer Beatle John Lennon is murdered in New York City. 10,000 Cuban refugees come to the US. Mt. St. Helen's volcano erupts. The Iranian hostage crisis begins.

1980 Saxophonist Grover Washington, Jr., records his Grammy Award winning album, Winelight, that includes the hit song Just the Two of Us. Trumpeter Miles Davis comes out of retirement and records the funk and rock-influenced The Man with the Horn. Eighteen-year-old trumpeter Wynton Marsalis records at Montreux with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. Pianist Bill Evans dies in New York. 1981 Pianist Mary Lou Williams dies. Miles Davis makes his first live performance since retirement at Avery Fisher Hall in New York. Saxophonist David Sanborn records the album Voyeur, featuring the Grammywinning song All I Need is You, composed by bassist Marcus Miller. Saxophonist Branford and trumpeter Wynton Marsalis joins Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers.

1982 Pianist Thelonious Monk dies. Saxophonist Sonny Stitt dies. Bassist Jaco Pastorius leaves Weather Report. Trumpeter Wynton Marsalis and vocalist Bobby McFerrin are featured at the Kool Jazz Festival.

1983 Pianist Keith Jarrett make his first recordings of standards with drummer Jack DeJohnette and bassist Gary Peacock. Pianist Eubie Blake dies. Pianist Earl Hines dies. Trumpeter Wynton Marsalis makes history by winning a jazz and classical Grammy Award in the same year. Keyboardist Herbie Hancock's synthesized dance hit, Rockit, reaches number one in the pop charts. Pianist Scott Joplin appears on a US postage stamp. 1984 Bandleader and keyboardist Sun Ra performs in Athens and is voted into the Down Beat Hall of Fame. Pianist Count Basie dies in Hollywood. Drummer Shelly Manne dies. Miles Davis records You're Under Arrest, before leaving Columbia Records and signing a seven figure deal with Warner Bros.

The US completes its first successful space shuttle mission. Race riots occur in Brixton, London. Prince Charles marries Lady Diana Spencer. President Anwar Sadat of Egypt is assassinated. Poland declares martial law to quash trade union "solidarity." Former actor Ronald Reagan becomes president. Assassination attempts are made on President Reagan and Pope John Paul II. Sandra Day O'Connor becomes the first female Supreme Court Justice. The Iranian hostage crises ends. The AIDS epidemic begins. Argentina invades the Falkland Islands. British forces reclaim the Falklands forcing the surrender of Argentine troops. Filmmaker Richard Attenborough receives eight Academy Awards for the film Ghandi. Filmmaker Steven Spielberg receives three Academy Awards for E.T. The Message is one of the earliest rap hits. Writer Tennessee Williams dies. The US invades Granada. The first compact discs are marketed. The Cabbage Patch dolls become a commercial success. The School Prayer Amendment is rejected by the Supreme Court.

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

Date


Historical EventsSinger and promoter Bob Geldof's charity concert "Live Aid" reaches a global audience. The sunken cruise ship The Titanic is located.

1985 Drummer Kenny Clarke dies. Miles Davis records Aura in Denmark. Trumpeter Thad Jones takes over the 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. Drummer Philly Joe Jones dies. Trumpeter Cootie Williams dies. Pianist Chick Corea captures a new audience with his Elektrik Band with electric bassist John Patitucci and drummer Dave Weckl. Branford Marsalis tours with pop artist Sting. 1986 Clarinetist Benny Goodman dies. Wynton Marsalis records Standard Time, establishing his reputation as a traditionalist. Jazz-pop musician Kenny G has a hit with Songbird. The film Round Midnight is released, starring saxophonist Dexter Gordon as a character loosely based on pianist Bud Powell. Pianist Herbie Hancock wins an Academy Award for his original score for the film Round Midnight. 1987 Electric bassist Jaco Pastorius dies, beat up by a bouncer in a South Florida bar. Free jazz saxophonist Ornette Coleman reunites his original quartet. Saxophonist Michael Brecker releases his first solo album. A big band is formed to celebrate trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie's seventieth birthday. Major record labels begin massive reissues of classic jazz recordings on CD, reflecting the renewed interest in bebop and hard bop. 1988 Arranger Gil Evans dies in Mexico. Trumpeter Chet Baker dies in mysterious circumstances in Amsterdam. Pianist Keith Jarrett is nominated for a Grammy for his recording of music by composer J.S. Bach. Actor Clint Eastwood directs Bird, a biographical film of the life of Charlie Parker. 1989 Trumpeter Roy Eldridge dies. Trumpeter Woody Shaw dies. Nineteen-year-old trumpeter Roy Hargrove records Diamond in the Rough. John Zorn records the post-modern album Naked City. Trumpeter and producer Quincy Jones records Back on the Block with a wide variety of genres from bop to rap. Miles Davis records Amandla.

The US space shuttle Challenger explodes on launch. The US bombs Libya from a British air base. Filmmaker Oliver Stone's Platoon receives an Academy Award. The Iran-Contra Scandal becomes public. The Supreme Court upholds affirmativeaction hiring quotas.

Artist Andy Warhol dies. The stock market crashes. Ex-Nazi deputy Rudolf Hess commits suicide in a Berlin prison. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev sign the first treaty to reduce nuclear arms. Pop vocalist Whitney Houston becomes the first female artist to have an album go straight to number one in the Billboard charts.

A jumbo jet explodes over Lockerbie, Scotland. American TV evangelist Jim Bakker is forced to resign after admitting to an affair. The antidepressant drug Prozac is launched.

Artist Salvador Dali dies. The Berlin Wall is opened. Protesters are massacred at Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China. Writer Salman Rushdie is sentenced to death in Iran for writing his novel The Satanic Verses. The US invades Panama. The Exxon Valdez oil spill occurs. George H. Bush becomes president.

Date


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

1990 Drummer Mel Lewis dies. Vocalist Sarah Vaughan dies. Saxophonist Dexter Gordon dies. Composer Leonard Bernstein dies. Drummer Art Blakey dies. Trumpeter Miles Davis publishes his controversial autobiography Miles: The Autobiography (coauthored by Quincy Troupe). 1991 Saxophonist Stan Getz dies. Miles Davis appears at the Montreux Jazz Festival with Quincy Jones, performing early work with arranger Gil Evans. Davis dies in California. Saxophonist Joshua Redman signs with Warner Bros. records. 1992 Miles Davis' final album, Doo-Bop, which features rap, is released. Saxophonist Branford Marsalis becomes the bandleader on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," with a group that includes pianist Kenny Kirkland, bassist Bob Hurst, and drummer Jeff 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 and trumpeter Wallace Roney tour in a tribute to Miles Davis. 1993 Bandleader Sun Ra dies. Saxophonist Joe Henderson receives critical acclaim for his Miles Davis tribute album So Near, So Far (Musings for Miles). Pianist Chick Corea's Elektrik Band is refused permission to perform in Germany because of Corea's membership in the controversial Church of Scientology. Saxophonist Jan Garbarek has commercial success with his album Officium. Saxophonist Joshua Redman records two albums and establishes himself as the top star in the young lion jazz scene. 1994 Guitarist Joe Pass dies. Trumpeter Red Rodney dies. A Tribute to Miles, featuring the Miles Davis tribute band, wins a Grammy Award. 1995 Trumpeter Roy Hargrove ousts Trumpeter Wynton Marsalis in the Down Beat critic polls. Film director Robert Altman's film, Kansas City, is released, featuring a reenactment of a 1930's jam session with pianist Geri Allen, saxophonist Joshua Redman, bassist Christian McBride, saxophonist James Carter, and others. The Impulse record label is revived after 21 years. Drummer Tony Williams dies. 1996 Kenny Garrett releases Pursuance: The Music of John Coltrane, with Pat Metheny. 1997 Wayne Shorter wins a Grammy Award for his electric jazz album High Life. Saxophonist Joshua Redman, bassist Christian McBride, and drummer Brian Blade tour as a trio. A $27 million jazz museum opens in Kansas City.

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

Race riots break out in Los Angeles. Author Terry McMillan publishes the hit novel Waiting to Exhale. Mae Jemison becomes the first African American woman astronaut. Carol Moseley-Braun becomes the first African American woman elected to the US Senate.

South African Prime Minister F.W. de Klerk and political activist Nelson Mandela win Nobel Peace Prize. Poet Maya Angelou delivers a poem for the inauguration of President Clinton. Writer Toni Morrison wins the Nobel Prize for literature. Bill Clinton becomes president.

South Africa has its first multi-racial election.

Former football star O.J. Simpson is on trial for murder. Civil unrest occurs in former Chechnya. Oklahoma City Federal building is bombed. Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan organizes the Million Man March in Washington, DC.

A bomb is set off at the Olympic games in Atlanta. Group suicide occurs among religious cult Heaven's Gate members in California. Former Princess of Wales Lady Diana dies in a car accident.

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Historical DevelopmentsPresident Clinton is impeached.

1998 Guitarist Pat Metheny and bassist Charlie Haden win Grammy Awards for their duet album Beyond the Missouri Sky. Guitarist Kevin Eubanks replaces Branford Marsalis as the bandleader on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno." 1999 Trumpeter Art Farmer dies. Vibraphonist Milt Jackson dies. Singer Joe Williams dies. Trumpeter Lester Bowie dies. Trumpeter Dave Douglas rises in popularity. Bassist Dave Holland tours with a group featuring 2000 saxophonist Chris Potter.

President Clinton is acquitted on impeachment charges after a Senate trial. Fifteen high school students are shot dead by two students at Columbine High School in Colorado. Violence erupts in Israel. The US Presidential election results are delayed due to confusion about votes in Florida.

A Jazz History - Timeline

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