1955 in jazz

This is a timeline documenting events of Jazz in the year 1955.

• 15 – The 2nd Newport Jazz Festival started in Newport, Rhode Island (July 15 – 17).^[1]
• 17
  • Miles Davis historic performance at the Newport Jazz Festival resulted in George Avakian signing him to Columbia Records. This led to the formation of his so-called “first great quintet,” featuring John Coltrane, Red Garland, Paul Chambers, and Philly Joe Jones (the "’Round About Midnight" sessions).^[2]

• Harry Edison
  • Buddy and Sweets (With Buddy Rich)
  • Pres and Sweets (With Lester Young)
• Erroll Garner: Concert by the Sea
• Ahmad Jamal: Chamber Music of the New Jazz
• Stan Kenton
  • Contemporary Concepts
  • Duet (With June Christy)
• Thelonious Monk: Thelonious Monk Plays Duke Ellington^[3]
• Frank Morgan: Frank Morgan
• Herbie Nichols: The Prophetic Herbie Nichols, Vol. 1 & 2
• Oscar Peterson
  • At Zardi's
  • In a Romantic Mood
• George Shearing: The Shearing Spell
• Horace Silver: Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers (recorded; released 1956)
• Frank Sinatra: In the Wee Small Hours
• Lennie Tristano: Lennie Tristano (released 1956)

March

• 12 – Charlie "Bird" Parker, American saxophonist and composer (born 1920).

April

• 23 – Henry Busse, German-born trumpeter (born 1894).
• 30 – Dave Peyton, American songwriter, pianist, and arranger (born 1889).

May

• 17 – Ernst van 't Hoff, Dutch pianist and bandleader (born 1908).
• 25 – Wardell Gray, American tenor saxophonists (born 1921).

June

• 28 – John Spikes, American jazz musician and entrepreneur (born 1881).

August

• 28 – Bob Gordon, American baritone saxophonist (born 1928).

October

• 21 – Dick Twardzik, American pianist (born 1931).

September

• Reuben Reeves, American jazz trumpeter and bandleader (born 1905).
• 25 – Shotaro Moriyasu, Japanese pianist (born 1924).

November

• 10 – Junior Raglin, American upright bassist (born 1917).
• 17 – James P. Johnson, American pianist and composer (born 1894).

December

• 3 – Cow Cow Davenport, American pianist, organist, and singer.

Unknown date

• Bessie Brown, American blues, jazz, and cabaret singer (born 1890)
• Eddie Pollack, American saxophonist (born 1899).
• Porter Grainger, American pianist (born 1891)

January

• 10 – Ole Henrik Giørtz, Norwegian pianist.
• 11 – Ed Schuller, American bassist and composer.
• 12 – Jane Ira Bloom, American soprano saxophonist and composer.
• 17 – Vladislav Sendecki, Polish pianist.
• 18 – Marilyn Mazur, Danish percussionist, drummer, composer, vocalist, pianist, dancer, and bandleader.
• 22 – Phillip Johnston, American composer and saxophonist.
• 26 – Gary Crosby, British upright bassist, music arranger, and educator.
• 27 – Pheeroan akLaff, American drummer.

February

• 12 – Bill Laswell, American bassist and producer.
• 13 – Akiko Yano, Japanese singer and composer.
• 19 – David Murray, American tenor saxophonist and bass clarinetist.
• 27 – Glenn Horiuchi, American pianist, composer, and shamisen player (died 2000).

March

• 1 – Enzo Avitabile, Italian saxophonist and singer-songwriter.
• 3 – Bheki Mseleku, South-African pianist, saxophonist, guitarist, and composer (died 2008).
• 4 – Boon Gould or Rowland Charles Gould, British guitarist, bassist, and saxophonist, Level 42.
• 23 – Gerry Hemingway, American composer and percussionist.
• 24 – Mark Hewins, British guitarist.
• 29 – Marina Sirtis, British actor and voice actor.

April

• 10 – Lesley Garrett, British singer, musician, presenter and singer-songwriter.
• 13
  • Preston Reed, American guitarist.
  • Simon Spang-Hanssen, Danish saxophonist.
• 14 – Laurent Cugny, French pianist, bandleader, composer, jazz critic, and musicologist.
• 15 – Jeff Golub, American guitarist (died 2015).
• 19 – Rune Klakegg, Norwegian pianist.

May

• 5
  • Alain Caron, French-Canadian bassist.
  • Brian Hughes, Canadian guitarist.
• 10 – Chris Tyle, American cornetist, trumpeter, and drummer.
• 19 – Geoff Stradling, American pianist, keyboardist, composer, and arranger.
• 22 – Chalmers Alford, American guitarist (died 2008).
• 23 – Dean Friedman, American singer-songwriter, keyboardist, and guitarist.
• 27 – Ben Clatworthy, English saxophonist, clarinetist and flautist.
• 28 – Janet Seidel, Australian singer and pianist (died 2017).
• 29
  • Mars Williams, American saxophonist.
  • Mike Porcaro, American bassist, Toto (died 2015).
• 30 – Topper Headon, English drummer, The Clash.
• 31
  • Marty Ehrlich, American saxophonist, clarinetist, and flautist.
  • Tommy Emmanuel, Australian guitarist, songwriter, and singer.

June

• 4 – Johnny Alegre, Filipino guitarist and composer, Johnny Alegre Affinity.
• 5
  • Erica Lindsay, American saxophonist and composer.
  • Hugh Marsh, Canadian violinist.
• 7 – Jon Balke, Norwegian pianist and composer, Magnetic North Orchestra.
• 12 – Enver Izmaylov, Ukrainian-Tatar guitarist.
• 26
  • Joey Baron, American drummer.
  • Mick Jones, British guitarist and a vocalist, The Clash.
• 27 – Santi Debriano, Panamanian upright bassist.
• 29 – Jean Derome, French-Canadian saxophonist, flautist, and composer.

July

• 5 – Eric Watson, American pianist and composer.
• 6 – Rick Braun, American trumpet player and multi-instrumentalist.
• 7 – John Campbell, American pianist.
• 9 – Jan Kåre Hystad, Norwegian saxophonist, Bergen Big Band.
• 10 – Mihály Dresch, Hungarian saxophonist.
• 15 – Pål Thowsen, Norwegian drummer.
• 16
  • Annie Whitehead, English trombonist.
  • Wolfgang Reisinger, Austrian percussionist.
• 17 – Mark Feldman, American violinist.
• 21 – Jukka Linkola, Finnish pianist and composer.
• 22 – Joshua Breakstone, American guitarist.
• 28 – Gerald Veasley, American bass guitarist.
• 31 – Paul Sullivan, American pianist and composer.

August

• 3 – Hamid Drake, American drummer and percussionist.
• 7 – Jerry Tachoir, American vibraphone and marimba performer.
• 10 – Peter Sprague, American guitarist, record producer, and audio engineer.
• 13 – Mulgrew Miller, American pianist, composer, and educator (died 2013).
• 17 – Grażyna Auguścik, Polish singer, composer, and arranger.
• 18 – Shelly Berg, American pianist.
• 19 – Dean Brown, American guitarist.
• 22 – Jeff Hirshfield, American drummer.
• 23 – Avery Sharpe, American upright bassist.
• 27 – Laura Fygi, Dutch singer.
• 30 – Helge Schneider, German pianist and multi-instrumentalist.

September

• 1
  • Andrzej Łukasik, Polish upright bassist.
  • Wayne Horvitz, American composer, keyboardist and record producer.
• 9 – Ivan Smirnov, Russian guitarist (died 2018).
• 11
  • Hiram Bullock, American guitarist (died 2008).
  • Jaribu Shahid, American bassist.
• 12 – Adam Rudolph, American composer and percussionist.
• 13 – Joe Morris, American guitarist, bassist, and composer.
• 14 – Oliver Weindling, British jazz promoter and founder of the Babel Label.^[4]
• 25 – Steve Byrd, English guitarist, Gillan and Kim Wilde (heart attack) (died 2016).^[5]
• 28 – Kenny Kirkland, American pianist/keyboardist (died 1998).
• 29 – Enzo Pietropaoli, Italian bassist.
• 30 – Scott Fields, American guitarist, composer, and band leader.

October

• 1
  • Curtis Lundy, American upright bassist.
  • Morten Gunnar Larsen, Norwegian pianist.
• 12 – Jane Siberry, Canadian singer-songwriter.
• 18 – Vitold Rek, Polish upright bassist, composer and educator.
• 21 – Fred Hersch, American pianist.
• 24 – Jay Anderson, American upright bassist
• 25 – Robin Eubanks, American trombonist.

November

• 7 – Kitty Margolis, American singer.
• 8 – Patricia Barber, American singer, pianist, songwriter and bandleader.
• 15 – Georgina Born, British cellist, academic, and anthropologist, Henry Cow.
• 19 – Chris Cain, American guitarist.
• 29 – Adam Nussbaum, American drummer.

December

• 4 – Cassandra Wilson, American vocalist and songwriter.
• 7 – Chuck Loeb, American guitarist, Steps Ahead and Fourplay (died 2017).
• 8 – Nathan East, American bassist and vocalist.
• 10 – Billie Davies, American drummer and composer.
• 14 – Dan Barrett, American arranger, cornetist and trombonist.
• 23 – Grace Knight, English-Australian vocalist, saxophonist, and songwriter.

Unknown date

• Annemarie Roelofs, Dutch trombone player and violinist, Henry Cow.
• Eduardo Niebla, Spanish guitarist.
• Kenny Klein, American fiddler and author.
• Kyle Jones, American bass guitarist, archivist, and politician.
• Nat Reeves, American bassist.

• 1950s in jazz
• List of years in jazz
• 1955 in music

• History Of Jazz Timeline: 1955 at All About Jazz