Jazz History
History Of Jazz Timeline: 1967
Aretha Franklin records I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You (Atlantic), which features the hit single "Respect," by Otis Redding.
In the final stages of developing liver cancer, Coltrane records three records which see public release: Stellar Regions, Expression, and Interstellar Space. The latter two would have to wait several years before release. The Olatunji Concert (recorded live) would be discovered later. His other recorded material from 1967 remains in the private collection of Alice Coltrane.
John Coltrane dies of liver cancer on July 17 at the age of 40. Ornette Coleman and Albert Ayler perform at his funeral, and a church will be created in his name in San Francisco.
Composer Billy Strayhorn dies on March 31. Shortly thereafter, Duke Ellington records the tribute And His Mother Called Him Bill (RCA).
Vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson records Oblique (Blue Note) with Herbie Hancock on piano, Albert Stinson on bass and Joe Chambers on drums.
Miles Davis records Nefertiti with Wayne Shorter on tenor sax.
Miles Davis records Sorcerer. The album cover features a picture of his second wife, actress Cicely Tyson. Nefertiti, with his '60s quintet, follows shortly thereafter.
The Beatles record the tremendously influential Sargent Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album. This album is not only influential on the Rock front. It will influence all types of music including Jazz.
Guitarist Jimi Hendrix releases his debut, Are You Experienced? (Track, UK; Reprise, US), with bassist Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell.
Albert Ayler records the live In Greenwich Village (Impulse!) in December 1966 and February 1967.
Bop pianist Elmo Hope dies on May 19.
New Orleans clarinetist Edmond Hall dies on February 11.
Boogie woogie piano player Pete Johnson dies on March 23.
Clarinetist Buster Bailey dies on April 12.
History Of Jazz Timeline: 1968
Miles Davis records Filles de Kilimanjaro (Columbia) with Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Ron Carter, Dave Holland, and Tony Williams. His new third wife, singer Betty Mabry, appears on the cover.
Warner Brothers releases Irish rocker Van Morrison's Astral Weeks.
Vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson and saxophonist/flutist Harold Land play together on Total Eclipse (Blue Note) with Chick Corea on piano, Reggie Johnson on bass and Joe Chambers on drums.
Anthony Braxton records For Alto (Delmark), a 2-LP collection of solo saxophone improvisations.
President Richard Nixon hosts an event in honor of Duke Ellington's 70th birthday, awarding the artist the Congressional Medal of Freedom (the highest honor that can be awarded to a civilian) at the White House.
Trumpeter and flugelhorn player Art Farmer moves to Vienna.
History Of Jazz Timeline: 1969
Miles Davis records In a Silent Way and Bitches Brew, starting the fusion revolution. Bitches Brew sells a half million copies its first year.
Drummer Tony Williams forms an early fusion band called Lifetime with guitarist John McLaughlin and organist Larry Young, recording Emergency! (Polydor).
Frank Zappa records his second solo album, Hot Rats, with Jean-Luc Ponty on violin (among others).
ECM (Editions of Contemporary Music) Records is established in Munich by Manfred Eicher. The label's first release, recorded in late 1969, is the Mal Waldron Trio's Free at Last with pianist Mal Waldron, bassist Isla Eckinger, and drummer Clarence Becton.
Tenor saxophonist Coleman Hawkins dies of liver cancer on May 19.
History Of Jazz Timeline: 1970
Dreams, a fusion group featuring Billy Cobham plus Randy and Mike Brecker, releases its self-titled debut on Columbia.
Saxophonist Wayne Shorter, pianist Joe Zawinul, bassist Miroslav Vitous, drummer Alphonse Mouzon and percussionist Airto Moreira form the fusion supergroup Weather Report.
Free jazz saxophone player Albert Ayler dies on November 5.
Pianist Chick Corea, reedist/percussionist Anthony Braxton, bassist Dave Holland and drummer Barry Altschul form the free jazz group Circle. They record Early Circle and Circulus (Blue Note). The rhythm section of the group also records Song of Singing (Blue Note) under Corea's name.
Duke Ellington records New Orleans Suite (Atlantic).
History Of Jazz Timeline: 1971
Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong dies in New York City on July 6.
In September, Thelonious Monk and a band including Art Blakey on drums and Dizzy Gillespie on trumpet begins "The Giants of Jazz" world tour in New Zealand. They would record at several venues in Europe. Shortly after the tour's conclusion, Thelonious Monk records three Black Lion sessions (The London Collection, Vol. 1-3) solo and with drummer Art Blakey and bassist Al McKibbon.
The fusion group Weather Report records its eponymous first LP for Columbia. The group consists at this time of Joe Zawinul on keyboards, Wayne Shorter on soprano saxophone, Miroslav Vitous on bass, Alphonse Mouzon on drums and Airto Moreira on percussion.
British electric guitarist John McLaughlin forms the Mahavishnu Orchestra, a fusion group whose first LP, The Inner Mounting Flame (Columbia), includes McLaughlin on guitar, Jan Hammer on piano, Rick Laird on bass, Jerry Goodman on violin and Billy Cobham on drums.
Pianist Chick Corea records Piano Improvisations Vols 1 and 2 (ECM), two records of solo improvisation consisting mostly of Corea tunes.
Henry Threadgill (flute and reeds), Fred Hopkins (bass) and Steve McCall (drums) form Air and record an eponymous record on Embryo.
History Of Jazz Timeline: 1972
Hard bop trumpeter Lee Morgan is shot dead at 33 by his common-law wife, Helen More, at Slug's, a New York City jazz club, on February 19.
Thelonious Monk shuts himself up in the home of Baroness Nica de Koenigswarter. He will remain there until he dies in 1982. Recall that Charlie Parker died in 1955 in Baroness Nica de Koenigswarter's apartment. Not the same place, but nonetheless an interesting fact.
Weather Report finishes recording I Sing the Body Electric (Columbia).
Pianist Chick Corea and Return to Forever record an eponymous debut on ECM, followed by a second album, Light as a Feather (Polydor), with Joe Farrell on flute and tenor sax, Stanley Clarke on bass, Airto Moreira on percussion, and Flora Purim on vocals and percussion.
Gospel great Mahalia Jackson dies on January 27.
History Of Jazz Timeline: 1973
Pianist Herbie Hancock records the classic jazz/funk album Head Hunters (Columbia), which includes "Chameleon" and "Watermelon Man."
Drummer Billy Cobham records Spectrum (Atlantic) with Tony Bolin on guitar, Jan Hammer on keyboards, Lee Sklar on bass, Joe Farrell on flute and sax, Jimmy Owens on flugelhorn, John Tropea on guitar, Ron Carter on bass, and Ray Barretto on congas.
Swing and bop saxophonist Ben Webster dies on September 20.
Gospel singer Sister Rosetta Tharpe dies in Philadelphia on October 9.
Stride piano pioneer Willie "The Lion" Smith dies on April 18.
The United States is almost completely out of Vietnam.
History Of Jazz Timeline: 1974
Fusion band Weather Report finishes recording its fourth album, Mysterious Traveler (Columbia).
Saxophonist Wayne Shorter records the samba-influenced Native Dancer (Columbia) with acoustic/electric pianist Herbie Hancock, singer Milton Nascimento, and percussionist Airto Moreira, among others.
Nineteen year old guitarist Pat Metheny from Kansas City becomes the youngest teacher ever at Boston's prestigious Berklee College of Music.
Vibraphone player Gary Burton hires Berklee colleague Pat Metheny, whom he met the year before at the Wichita Jazz Festival, to join his newly expanded quintet. The group, which includes Burton, Metheny, guitarist Mick Goodrick, bassist Steve Swallow, and drummer Bob Moses, records the album Ring (ECM).
Guitarist John Abercrombie records Timeless (ECM) with Jan Hammer on keyboards and Jack DeJohnette on drums.
John Coltrane's Interstellar Space (Impulse!), a series of duets recorded in 1967 with drummer Rashied Ali, is finally released.
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington dies on May 24.
Hard bop tenor saxophone player Tina Brooks dies on August 13.
Jazz-rock trumpeter Bill Chase, leader of the group Chase, dies on August 9.
History Of Jazz Timeline: 1975
Miles Davis retires. He will not even play his horn for about four years. He will, however, return to playing in 1980.
The Thelonious Monk Quartet plays the Newport in New York Jazz Festival. The Quartet, which includes Thelonious Jr., Larry Gales and Paul Jeffrey, appears at the Lincoln Center.
Pianist Keith Jarrett's K
Billy Cobham records A Funky Thide of Sings (Atlantic) with John Scofield and the Brecker Brothers, among others.
Gateway (ECM) is recorded by the Gateway trio, featuring John Abercrombie, Dave Holland, and Jack DeJohnette.
Guitarist Pat Metheny records his first album Bright Size Life (ECM) with bassist Jaco Pastorius and drummer Bob Moses.
Sax player Art Pepper returns to jazz after 15 years with Living Legend (OJC) and brings with him an interest in classic bop.
Pianist Andrew Hill moves to San Francisco, California.
Tenor saxophonist and bass clarinetist David Murray arrives in New York City and will shortly form the World Saxophone Quartet with Hamiet Bluiett, Oliver Lake, and Julius Hemphill.
Quirky pop jazz vocalist Michael Franks records his first major label release, The Art of Tea (Warner), with Joe Sample, Michael Brecker, David Sanborn and Larry Carlton.
History Of Jazz Timeline: 1976
Thelonious Monk's quartet appears at Carnegie Hall with guest trumpeter Lonnie Hillyer in March, four months before his final public appearance at the Newport Jazz Festival in July.
Bassist Jaco Pastorius joins the group Weather Report, which records Black Market (Columbia).
Saxophonist Dexter Gordon records the influential hard bop album Biting the Apple (Steeplechase) shortly before returning to the United States to great acclaim and making the double-LP Homecoming: Live at the Village Vanguard (Columbia).
Improvising guitarist George Benson records Breezin' (Warner), which goes to #1 on the pop charts.
Trumpeter Bobby Hackett dies on June 7.
History Of Jazz Timeline: 1977
Herbie Hancock records the quintet V.S.O.P. with Freddie Hubbard and Miles Davis alumni Wayne Shorter, Ron Carter, and Tony Williams.
Fusion group Weather Report records Heavy Weather (Columbia).
Free Jazz drummer Sunny Murray states (Jazz Magazine, June) that "the music (Free Jazz) didn't stop a decade ago."
Flugelhorn player Chuck Mangione records Feels So Good (A&M), which sells millions of copies. The short format is heard on commercial radio stations from coast to coast.
Pianist Errol Garner dies of a heart attack on January 7.
Rock and roll icon Elvis Presley dies on August 16.
The disco music dance craze is going full tilt.
Herbie Hancock uses a vocoder (voice synthesizer) on the popular hit "I Thought It Was You" from Sunlight (Columbia).
The World Saxophone Quartet records its intense first album, Point of No Return (Moers).
History Of Jazz Timeline: 1978
President Jimmy Carter hosts the First Annual White House Jazz Festival in honor of Charles Mingus. Many prominent jazz musicians come to the event, including Roy Eldridge, Max Roach, Dizzy Gillespie, and Cecil Taylor.
Bill Evans forms his last trio with bassist Marc Johnson and drummer Joe LaBarbera.
Kenny Garrett begins performing with the Mercer Ellington-led Duke Ellington Orchestra.
Guitarist Pat Metheny records Pat Metheny Group (ECM) with Lyle Mays on piano, Mark Egan on bass and Danny Gottlieb on drums.
Guitarist John Scofield records Rough House (Enja) with pianist Hal Galper, bassist Stafford James and drummer Adam Nussbaum.
Toshiko Akiyoshi's jazz orchestra places first in Downbeat magazine's readers' poll. This is a first time accomplishment for a Japanese woman.
Woody Shaw is rated top jazz trumpeter in a Downbeat magazine poll. His record Rosewood (Columbia) is the number one jazz album in the same poll.
The World Saxophone Quartet records Steppin' with the World Saxophone Quartet (Black Saint), the group's second album.
History Of Jazz Timeline: 1979
Charles Mingus dies on January 5 at the age of 56 in Mexico. That same day, 56 whales beach themselves on the shores of Mexico.
Trumpet virtuoso Wynton Marsalis comes to New York and a hard bop revival will soon be underway.
A jam session at the Brecker brothers' club will produce the group Steps Ahead.
Gil Scott Heron is experimenting with a new form of music which involves spoken poetry set to music, similar to what will later be known as hip hop and rap.
Vocalese singer Eddie Jefferson dies on May 9 in Detroit, Michigan.
The first Sony Walkman (model TPS-L2) hits the market. Two years later the word "Walkman" enters the dictionary, and the product changes listening habits forever.
Max Roach and Anthony Braxton record One in Two, Two in One (Hat Hut), their second duo album.
History Of Jazz Timeline: 1980
Novus releases Tributaries, recorded in 1978-79 by guitarists Larry Coryell, Joe Beck, and John Scofield.
Miles Davis begins to get back into jazz by playing his horn after four years of abstinence.
Trumpeter Wynton Marsalis appears with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers on his first commercial recording, Live at Montreux and Northsea, at age 18. Wynton's saxophonist brother Branford, trombonist Robin Eubanks, and guitarist Kevin Eubanks also appear with the group.
Fusion group Weather Report records Night Passage (Columbia).
Drummer and keyboard player Jack DeJohnette's Special Edition fuses world music, free jazz, bop and funk on Tin Can Alley (ECM).
Popular Buffalo fusion group Spyro Gyra records Catching the Sun (MCA).
Scat singer Babs Gonzales dies on January 23.
Pianist Bill Evans dies on September 15.
History Of Jazz Timeline: 1981
Trumpeter Miles Davis returns to jazz after a six year retirement. He is the featured artist at the Kool Jazz Festival.
24 year old guitarist Emily Remler records her debut album Firefly (Concord) with Hank Jones on piano, Bob Maize on bass and Jake Hanna on drums.
Guitarist John Scofield records Shinola (Enja) live in Munich in December with Steve Swallow on bass and Adam Nussbaum on drums.
Pianist Toshiko Akiyoshi records From Toshiko with Love (BMG/RCA).
History Of Jazz Timeline: 1982
Vocalese singer King Pleasure dies on March 21.
Pianist Thelonious Monk dies on Feburary 17.
Saxophonist Art Pepper dies on June 15.
The Kool Jazz Festival features Wynton and Branford Marsalis along with Bobby McFerrin.
Saxophonist Michael Brecker states (in an interview with Jazz Hot, Sept-Oct) that his models were guitar players like Jimi Hendrix, not sax players.
History Of Jazz Timeline: 1983
The CD is introduced to the general public. This new digital technology will eventually spawn a huge nostalgia market for all types of music, including jazz. One reason for this is that, even though CD's appear to be expensive, they are virtually indestructible compared to vinyl.
Wynton Marsalis records Think of One (CBS) with Branford Marsalis on saxes, Kenny Kirkland on piano, Phil Bowler on bass and Jeff Tain Watts on drums. This album will win a 1984 Grammy.
Saxophonist and composer Gigi Gryce dies on March 17.
Miles Davis records Decoy with John Scofield on guitar and Branford Marsalis on saxophone, among others.
Art Farmer and Benny Golson revive the '60s Jazztet with Moment to Moment (Soul Note).
History Of Jazz Timeline: 1984
Trumpeter Wynton Marsalis wins a jazz Grammy for the bop album Think of One. Marsalis also wins a Grammy for classical music this same year. Later he would state that it is harder to play jazz than classical.
Miles Davis wins the Sonning Prize, an award from the Danish government which normally goes to a non-jazz composer. This would result in the 1989 release Aura, composed by Palle Mikkelborg.
John Scofield records Electric Outlet (Gramavision) with alto saxophonist David Sanborn, trombonist Ray Anderson, synth player Pete Levin, and drummer Steve Jordan
Nigerian-born Sade Anu debuts with Diamond Life, a hybrid of R&B passion, jazz finesse and pop accessibility that results in such hits as "Smooth Operator" and "Your Love is King." For more information about Sade, read Daniel Garrett's article Sade, a Smooth Operator, sings of No Ordinary Love, and Is That A Crime?.
History Of Jazz Timeline: 1985
Gil Evans is granted a honorary doctorate by the New England Conservatory on May 19.
Disagreements between Wayne Shorter and Joe Zawinul lead to the breakup of the enormously successful fusion group Weather Report.
Guitarist Pat Metheny collaborates with free sax player Ornette Coleman, bassist Charlie Haden and drummers Jack DeJohnette and Denardo Coleman on Song X (Geffen).
Guitarists Larry Coryell and Emily Remler collaborate on Together (Concord).
On Cobra, recorded in 1985-86, alto sax player John Zorn combines many styles of jazz in a novel "game piece" form of composition.
Kansas City blues shouter Big Joe Turner dies on November 24.
Boogie woogie piano player Lloyd Glenn dies on May 23.
History Of Jazz Timeline: 1986
Guitarist John Scofield records Still Warm (Gramavision) with Don Grolnick on keyboards, Darryl Jones on bass and Omar Hakim on drums. This album is produced by Steve Swallow.
Vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson, pianist Kenny Barron, bassist Buster Williams, and drummer Al Foster record In the Vanguard live at the Village Vanguard in December.
Trumpeter Randy Brecker records In the Idiom (Denon) with Joe Henderson on tenor, Ron Carter on bass, David Kikoski on piano, and Al Foster on drums.
Young British saxophonist Courtney Pine records Journey to the Urge Within (Antilles).
The French government creates the Orchestre National de Jazz (ONJ).
Miles Davis records Tutu (Warner Brothers).
Miles Davis is granted a honorary doctorate by the New England Conservatory.
History Of Jazz Timeline: 1987
Bassist Jaco Pastorius dies on September 21 from injuries suffered when he is severely beaten by a bar bouncer in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Miles Davis and Marcus Miller record the soundtrack for Siesta (Warner), dedicated to Gil Evans.
Pharoah Sanders records Africa (Timeless), drawing from his experience with John Coltrane.
Impulse! releases Michael Brecker's self-titled record with Pat Metheny on guitar, Charlie Haden on bass, Jack DeJohnette on drums, and Kenny Kirkland on keyboards.
Sax, flute and keyboard player Greg Osby (formerly of M-BASE) debuts as a leader with Greg Osby and Sound Theatre (JMT), featuring Michele Rosewoman on piano, Fusako Yoshida on koto, Kevin McNeal on guitar, Lonnie Plaxico on bass, and Paul Samuels and Terri Lyne Carrington on drums.
Guitarist Mike Stern records Time in Place (Atlantic) with Bob Berg and Michael Brecker on tenor sax, Don Grolnick on organ, Jim Beard on keyboards, Jeff Andrews on bass, Peter Erskine on drums, and Don Alias on percussion.
Woody Herman dies on October 29. Herman led big bands his entire life with sidemen including Stan Getz, Milt Jackson, Bill Harris, and Davey Tough.
CD's are becoming commonplace in record stores. Soon they will make vinyl records almost obsolete.
History Of Jazz Timeline: 1988
Canadian arranger Gil Evans dies on March 20 at age 75.
Trumpet and flugelhorn master Art Farmer records Blame It On My Youth (Contemporary) with pianist James Williams, bassist Rufus Reid, saxophonist Clifford Jordan, and drummer Victor Lewis.
Guitarist Emily Remler releases East to Wes (Concord), a tribute to Wes Montgomery with Hank Jones on piano. This would be her last release before dying in 1990 at age 32.
Greg Osby records Mindgames (JMT) with Geri Allen and Edward Simon on keyboards, Kevin McNeal on guitar, Lonnie Plaxico on bass and Paul Samuels on drums.
Anthony Braxton records the vinyl-only solo saxophone LP London (Solo) 1988 (Impetus).
Don Cherry records Art Deco (A&M) with James Clay on tenor sax, Charlie Haden on bass and Billy Higgins on drums.
Trumpeter Chet Baker dies in Amsterdam on May 13 after falling out of a hotel window.
Saxophonist Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson dies on July 2.
History Of Jazz Timeline: 1989
Columbia finally releases Miles Davis's Aura, originally recorded in 1985 with a big band consisting primarily of Danes. Aura was composed by Palle Mikkelborg as a tribute to Davis, in honor of the trumpeter winning the 1984 Leonie Sonning Music Prize.
Miles Davis's Miles: The Autobiography, written with the help of Quincy Troupe, is released.
Saxophonist, flutist and percussionist Anthony Braxton sees several releases, including Seven Compositions (Trio) (HatArt) with Adelhard Roidinger on bass and Tony Oxley on drums; a tribute to Warne Marsh called Eight (+3) Tristano Compositions (HatArt); and the large group Eugene (1989) (Black Saint).
The British label Acid Jazz is recording groups with names like the Brand New Heavies who play Jazz with a driving dance beat.
Courtney Pine records The Vision's Tale on Antilles with Ellis Marsalis on piano, Delbert Felix on bass and Jeff Watts on drums.
Intuition releases N.Y.C. by fusion band Steps Ahead, led by Mike Mainieri.
Claude Barthelemy becomes director of the French Orchestre National de Jazz (ONJ).
Trumpeter Woody Shaw dies on May 10.
Warner releases Quincy Jones' Back on the Block with a number of big names in American music, including Ray Charles, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, and Ella Fitzgerald.
A&M releases Dizzy Gillespie and Max Roach's Max & Dizzy: Paris 1989.
History Of Jazz Timeline: 1990
Guitarist John Scofield blends bop, swing and Hendrix-like guitar playing on Time On My Hands (Blue Note) with Joe Lovano on tenor sax, Charlie Haden on bass and Jack DeJohnette on drums.
Antilles releases British reed player Courtney Pine's Within the Realms of Our Dreams with Kenny Kirkland on piano, Charnett Moffett on bass and Jeff Watts on drums.
British Acid Jazz band The Brand New Heavies break through with their self-entitled release. N'Dea Davenport adds vocal support to the pop-oriented tunes.
Gunther Schuller reconstructs and records Charles Mingus' Epitaph for jazz orchestra.
Novus releases Steve Coleman's Rhythm People.
Nonesuch releases John Zorn's Naked City.
Bop singer Sarah Vaughan dies in N.Y. Vaughan was one of the finest bop singers and remained one of the most sought after for most of her life.
Piano player Joe Turner (not Big Joe) dies.
Tenor saxophonist David Murray records The Special Quartet with pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Fred Hopkins, and drummer Elvin Jones.
Trumpeter Tom Harrell records Form with Joe Lovano, Dave Liebman and John Abercrombie.
Alto saxophonist Gary Bartz records West 42nd Street.
The Art Ensemble of Chicago records Thelonious Sphere Monk with Cecil Taylor.
Renee Rosnes records For The Moment with Steve Wilson and Joe Henderson.