History of Jazz in Timeline
Jazz, originating in late 19th/early 20th century African-American communities of New Orleans, blends blues, ragtime, European harmony, and African rhythms. Recognized as a major musical form since the 1920s Jazz Age, it features swing, blue notes, complex chords, call-and-response, polyrhythms, and improvisation, representing a fusion of diverse musical traditions.
1904: Jelly Roll Morton Tours With Vaudeville Shows
In 1904, Jelly Roll Morton began touring with vaudeville shows to southern cities, Chicago, and New York City.
1905: "Jelly Roll Blues" Composition
In 1905, Jelly Roll Morton composed "Jelly Roll Blues", which was later published in 1915.
1906: Buddy Bolden's Playing Period Ends
Cornetist Buddy Bolden played in New Orleans from 1895 to 1906. His band is credited with creating the big four pattern.
1909: Joplin's 'Solace' Composition
In 1909, Joplin's composition 'Solace' was created, which is considered to be in the habanera genre.
1912: Four-String Banjo and Saxophone Emerge
Around 1912, musicians began to improvise the melody line with the introduction of the four-string banjo and saxophone.
1912: Clef Club Orchestra Benefit Concert
In 1912, James Reese Europe's symphonic Clef Club orchestra in New York City played a benefit concert at Carnegie Hall.
1912: Jazz Ball Terminology
In 1912, the earliest written record of the word 'jazz' appeared in the Los Angeles Times, where a baseball pitcher used the term 'jazz ball' to describe a pitch with a wobble.
1912: "Memphis Blues" Sheet Music Publication
In 1912, the publication of W.C. Handy's "Memphis Blues" sheet music introduced the 12-bar blues to the world.
1914: Creole Band's International Concert
In 1914, the Creole Band with Freddie Keppard performed the first jazz concert outside the United States, at the Pantages Playhouse Theatre in Winnipeg, Canada.
1915: "Jelly Roll Blues" Publication
In 1915, Jelly Roll Morton's "Jelly Roll Blues" became the first jazz arrangement in print.
1915: Jazz in Chicago Daily Tribune
In 1915, the word 'jazz' was documented in a musical context in the Chicago Daily Tribune.
November 14, 1916: Jazz Bands in New Orleans
On November 14, 1916, the Times-Picayune featured an article about 'jas bands', marking its first documented use in a musical context in New Orleans.
1917: Storyville Shutdown
In 1917, Storyville was shut down by the U.S. government.
1917: Original Dixieland Jass Band Recordings
In 1917, the Original Dixieland Jass Band made the music's first recordings, and their 'Livery Stable Blues' became the earliest released jazz record.
February 1918: James Reese Europe's 'Hellfighters' Tour Europe
In February 1918, James Reese Europe's "Hellfighters" infantry band took ragtime to Europe, then on their return recorded Dixieland standards including "Darktown Strutters' Ball".
1918: Paul Whiteman Gains Popularity
In 1918, Paul Whiteman and his orchestra became popular in San Francisco.
1919: Ragtime Influence Declines
Around 1919, ragtime's influence waned in Ohio and the Midwest.
1919: Original Dixieland Jazz Band Tours Britain
In 1919, British jazz began with a tour by the Original Dixieland Jazz Band.
1919: Kid Ory's Band Plays in San Francisco and Los Angeles
In 1919, Kid Ory's Original Creole Jazz Band began playing in San Francisco and Los Angeles.
1920: Start of Prohibition in the United States
In 1920, Prohibition in the United States banned the sale of alcoholic drinks, leading to the rise of speakeasies as popular venues for jazz.
1922: Kid Ory's Band Makes Recordings
In 1922, Kid Ory's Original Creole Jazz Band became the first black jazz band of New Orleans origin to make recordings.
1924: Bix Beiderbecke Forms The Wolverines
In 1924, Bix Beiderbecke formed The Wolverines.
1924: Louis Armstrong Joins Fletcher Henderson's Band
In 1924, Louis Armstrong joined the Fletcher Henderson dance band as a featured soloist, marking a shift towards arrangements and soloists in jazz, and Guy Lombardo formed his Royal Canadians Orchestra.
1924: Whiteman Commissions Rhapsody in Blue
In 1924, Paul Whiteman commissioned George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, which was premiered by his orchestra, and Jazz began to be recognized as a notable musical form.
1926: Fred Elizalde Broadcasts on the BBC
In 1926, Fred Elizalde and His Cambridge Undergraduates began broadcasting on the BBC.
1927: Duke Ellington Opens at the Cotton Club
In 1927, Duke Ellington opened at the Cotton Club in Harlem.
1928: Earl Hines Opens in The Grand Terrace Cafe
In 1928, Earl Hines opened in The Grand Terrace Cafe in Chicago.
1933: End of Prohibition in the United States
In 1933, Prohibition in the United States ended.
1934: Quintette du Hot Club de France Begins
In 1934, the Quintette du Hot Club de France began, marking the full swing of the French jazz style. This style combined African-American jazz with symphonic styles, drawing inspiration from Paul Whiteman. Django Reinhardt also popularized gypsy jazz in 1934, blending American swing, French "musette", and Eastern European folk music.
1937: The International Sweethearts of Rhythm Founded
In 1937, The International Sweethearts of Rhythm, a popular all-female band, was founded.
1938: Benny Goodman's Concert in Carnegie Hall
In 1938, Benny Goodman's jazz concert in Carnegie Hall marked the first jazz performance in the venue, deemed 'the single most important jazz or popular music concert in history'.
1938: Morton's Library of Congress Recordings
In 1938, Jelly Roll Morton made a series of recordings for the Library of Congress demonstrating the difference between ragtime and jazz styles.
1942: World War II Impacts Jazz
In 1942, World War II significantly impacted the jazz scene. Conscription reduced the number of available musicians, shellac shortages limited record production, rubber shortages hindered touring, and a musicians' union recording ban restricted music distribution.
1942: Charlie Parker's Harmonic Development
In early 1942, while performing "Cherokee" at Clark Monroe's Uptown House in New York, Charlie Parker experienced a moment that led to the harmonic development in bebop. Parker found that by using the higher intervals of a chord as a melody line and backing them with appropriately related changes, he could play what he had been hearing.
1943: Tanga: First Jazz Piece Based in Clave
In 1943, "Tanga", composed by Mario Bauza and recorded by Machito and his Afro-Cubans in New York City, became the first original jazz piece overtly based in clave. "Tanga" started as a spontaneous descarga with jazz solos superimposed.
1943: Earl Hines Band Plays Modern Harmonies
In 1943, Gunther Schuller heard Earl Hines' band, which included Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. The band was playing flatted fifth chords, modern harmonies, substitutions, and Dizzy Gillespie runs, which Schuller later recognized as the beginning of modern jazz or 'bop'.
1944: Commercial Recording Ban Limits Music Distribution
The commercial recording ban imposed by the musician's union in 1944 limited the distribution of music due to the war efforts.
1945: The International Sweethearts of Rhythm tour Europe
In 1945, The International Sweethearts of Rhythm toured Europe with the USO, becoming the first all-female integrated band to do so.
1947: Manteca: First Jazz Standard Rhythmically Based on Clave
In 1947, Dizzy Gillespie and Chano Pozo's collaboration resulted in "Manteca", the first jazz standard rhythmically based on clave. Pozo composed the layered guajeos of the A section and the introduction, while Gillespie wrote the bridge, giving "Manteca" a typical jazz harmonic structure.
1953: Hard Bop Development
In 1953, Hard bop, an extension of bebop music that incorporates influences from blues, rhythm and blues, and gospel, started developing in response to the vogue for cool jazz in the early 1950s and paralleled the rise of rhythm and blues.
1954: Hard Bop Coalesces
In 1954, Hard bop, an extension of bebop music that incorporates influences from blues, rhythm and blues, and gospel, coalesced.
1954: Miles Davis Introduces Hard Bop at Newport Jazz Festival
In 1954, Miles Davis's performance of "Walkin'" at the first Newport Jazz Festival introduced hard bop to the jazz world.
1955: Hard Bop Becomes Prevalent
In 1955, Hard bop became prevalent within jazz.
1957: Mary Lou Williams converted to Catholicism
In 1957, Mary Lou Williams converted to Catholicism.
1957: Release of A Blowin' Session
In 1957, the album A Blowin' Session was released and is considered to have been one of the high points of the hard bop era. Coltrane, Johnny Griffin, Mobley, and Morgan all participated on the album.
1959: Kind of Blue Introduces Modal Jazz
In 1959, Miles Davis introduced modal jazz to the broader jazz world with "Kind of Blue", which would become the best selling jazz album of all time. The album was composed as a series of modal sketches in which the musicians were given scales that defined the parameters of their improvisation and style.
1959: Afro Blue: First Jazz Standard with African Cross-Rhythm
In 1959, Mongo Santamaria first recorded his composition "Afro Blue", which became the first jazz standard built upon a typical African three-against-two (3:2) cross-rhythm or hemiola. The piece begins with the bass repeatedly playing 6 cross-beats per each measure of 8, or 6 cross-beats per 4 main beats—6:4 (two cells of 3:2).
1959: Vince Guaraldi Soloed Through Mambo
In 1959, pianist Vince Guaraldi soloed through the entire form over an authentic mambo on a live Cal Tjader recording of "A Night in Tunisia".
1959: The film Black Orpheus achieved popularity
In 1959, the film Black Orpheus achieved significant popularity in Latin America, leading to the spread of bossa nova to North America via American jazz musicians.
1960: John Coltrane's Giant Steps introduced harmonic complexity
In 1960, John Coltrane's "Giant Steps", containing 26 chords per 16 bars, was released. It could be played using only three pentatonic scales. The harmonic complexity of "Giant Steps" is on the level of the most advanced 20th-century art music.
1960: Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation Coined
In 1960, Ornette Coleman's album Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation coined the term free jazz. In 1960, Coltrane signed with Impulse! Records and turned it into "the house that Trane built", while championing many younger free jazz musicians, notably Archie Shepp.
November 1961: Coltrane's Gig at the Village Vanguard
In November 1961, Coltrane played a gig at the Village Vanguard, which resulted in the album Chasin' the 'Trane, which DownBeat magazine panned as "anti-jazz".
1962: Dizzy Gillespie's "Night in Tunisia" sampled by Gang Starr
In 1962, Dizzy Gillespie composed Night in Tunisia. This song would be sampled by Gang Starr in 1988 for the song "Words I Manifest"
1963: Coltrane Covers Afro Blue
In 1963, John Coltrane covered "Afro Blue", inverting the metric hierarchy and interpreting the tune as a 4 jazz waltz with duple cross-beats superimposed (2:3). Coltrane expanded the harmonic structure of "Afro Blue".
1963: Getz/Gilberto album led to a worldwide bossa nova boom
In 1963, the album Getz/Gilberto and other recordings by famous jazz performers led to a worldwide boom in bossa nova music, entrenching the style as a lasting influence in world music.
1964: October Revolution in Jazz
In 1964, Bill Dixon organized the 4-day "October Revolution in Jazz" in Manhattan, the first free jazz festival.
June 1965: Coltrane Records Ascension
In June 1965, Coltrane and 10 other musicians recorded "Ascension", a 40-minute-long piece without breaks that included solos by young avant-garde musicians. The piece was controversial primarily for its collective improvisation sections.
June 1965: Coltrane Quartet Plays Recorded
In June 1965, The John Coltrane Quartet Plays, Living Space and Transition were recorded. These recordings show Coltrane's playing becoming increasingly abstract and the quartet playing with increasing freedom.
July 1965: New Thing at Newport Recorded
In July 1965, New Thing at Newport was recorded. The recording show Coltrane's playing becoming increasingly abstract and the quartet playing with increasing freedom.
August 1965: Sun Ship Recorded
In August 1965, Sun Ship was recorded. The recording show Coltrane's playing becoming increasingly abstract and the quartet playing with increasing freedom.
September 1965: First Meditations Recorded
In September 1965, First Meditations was recorded. The recording show Coltrane's playing becoming increasingly abstract and the quartet playing with increasing freedom.
September 1965: Pharoah Sanders Joins Coltrane's Band
In September 1965, after recording with the quartet over the next few months, Coltrane invited Pharoah Sanders to join the band.
1965: Duke Ellington wrote A Concert of Sacred Music
In 1965, Duke Ellington wrote "A Concert of Sacred Music" after receiving contact from Grace Cathedral in San Francisco.
1965: Hard Bop Declines
In 1965, Hard bop went into decline due to the emergence of other styles such as jazz fusion, but remained highly influential on mainstream jazz.
1965: Joe Henderson played a pentatonic lick on Horace Silver's "African Queen"
In 1965, Joe Henderson played a minor pentatonic lick over blues changes on Horace Silver's "African Queen".
1965: Vince Guaraldi recorded Jazz Mass
In 1965, Vince Guaraldi recorded "Jazz Mass" for Fantasy Records.
1966: Joe Masters recorded Jazz Mass
In 1966, Joe Masters recorded "Jazz Mass" for Columbia Records, joining a jazz ensemble with soloists and choir using the English text of the Roman Catholic Mass.
1967: Jazz and rock began to combine
Around 1967, as rock became more creative and jazz musicians explored beyond hard bop, jazz and rock began to trade ideas and combine forces.
1967: Wayne Shorter's Footprints incorporated African cross-rhythm
In 1967, Wayne Shorter's "Footprints" became the first jazz standard composed by a non-Latino to use an overt African cross-rhythm. The bass switches to a 4 tresillo figure at 2:20 in the version recorded on Miles Smiles by Miles Davis.
1968: Duke Ellington wrote Second Sacred Concert
In 1968, Duke Ellington wrote his "Second Sacred Concert" in response to contacts from Grace Cathedral in San Francisco.
1968: Mary Lou Williams composed a mass to honor Martin Luther King Jr.
In 1968, Mary Lou Williams composed a jazz mass to honor the recently assassinated Martin Luther King Jr.
1968: Miles Davis listened to James Brown, Jimi Hendrix, and Sly and the Family Stone
In 1968, Miles Davis stated that he was listening to James Brown, Jimi Hendrix, and Sly and the Family Stone, and wanted to make his music more like rock.
1969: Davis fully embraced electric instruments with In a Silent Way
In 1969, Miles Davis fully embraced electric instruments in jazz with "In a Silent Way", considered his first fusion album. The album, composed of two side-long suites edited heavily by producer Teo Macero, proved influential to the development of ambient music.
1969: The Tony Williams Lifetime released Emergency!
In 1969, two contributors to "In a Silent Way" joined organist Larry Young to create one of the early acclaimed fusion albums: "Emergency!" by The Tony Williams Lifetime.
1970: Williams's Emergency! album
In 1970, albums such as Williams's Emergency! suggested the potential of evolving into something that might eventually define itself as a wholly independent genre quite apart from the sound and conventions of anything that had gone before.
1971: Weather Report released their self-titled debut album
In 1971, Weather Report's self-titled debut album caused a sensation in the jazz world due to the group's members and unorthodox approach to music. The album featured a softer sound, predominantly using acoustic bass and soprano saxophone, and was awarded Album of the Year by DownBeat.
1972: Miles Davis began foray into jazz-funk with On the Corner
In 1972, Miles Davis began his foray into jazz-funk with the album "On the Corner", aiming to reconnect with the young black audience. The album featured rock and funk influences along with Indian and Cuban textures.
1973: Duke Ellington wrote Third Sacred Concert
In 1973, Duke Ellington wrote his "Third Sacred Concert" in response to contacts from Grace Cathedral in San Francisco.
1974: Gonzalez Brothers Join Eddie Palmieri's Group
During 1974, Jerry and Andy Gonzalez were members of one of Eddie Palmieri's experimental salsa groups. Palmieri stretched the form in new ways and incorporated parallel fourths.
1975: Mary Lou Williams' third mass was performed in St Patrick's Cathedral
In 1975, Mary Lou Williams' third mass was performed once in St Patrick's Cathedral in New York City, after being commissioned by a pontifical commission.
1975: Davis's Agharta album
In 1975, albums such as Davis's Agharta suggested the potential of evolving into something that might eventually define itself as a wholly independent genre quite apart from the sound and conventions of anything that had gone before.
1976: Gonzalez Brothers Join Eddie Palmieri's Group
During 1976, Jerry and Andy Gonzalez were members of one of Eddie Palmieri's experimental salsa groups. Palmieri stretched the form in new ways and incorporated parallel fourths.
1976: Irakere's "Chékere-son" introduced a new style of Cuban jazz
In 1976, Irakere's "Chékere-son" introduced a new style of "Cubanized" bebop-flavored horn lines that departed from the more angular guajeo-based lines typical of Cuban popular music and Latin jazz. The song fused clave and bebop horn lines, forever changing Cuban jazz by influencing the harmonic and rhythmic complexity in Cuban jazz and timba.
1980: Common Practice in Jazz Arrangements
By 1980, it had become common practice to use jazz arrangements that had a Latin A section and a swung B section with all choruses swung during solos, in jazz standard repertoire.
1983: Keith Jarrett established his 'Standards Trio'
In 1983, Keith Jarrett established his 'Standards Trio', which primarily performed and recorded jazz standards, although also occasionally exploring collective improvisation.
1986: John Zorn Releases Spy vs. Spy and Last Exit Debut Album
In 1986, John Zorn released the album Spy vs. Spy, incorporating punk rock influences into free jazz. In the same year, Last Exit, featuring Sonny Sharrock, Peter Brötzmann, Bill Laswell, and Ronald Shannon Jackson, released their first album, blending thrash and free jazz, marking the origins of jazzcore.
September 23, 1987: Jazz defined as a national American treasure in the House
On September 23, 1987, the United States House of Representatives passed a bill to define jazz as a unique form of American music, designating it as a rare and valuable national American treasure.
November 4, 1987: Jazz defined as a national American treasure in the Senate
On November 4, 1987, the United States Senate passed a bill to define jazz as a unique form of American music, designating it as a rare and valuable national American treasure.
1988: Gang Starr released "Words I Manifest" and Stetsasonic released "Talkin' All That Jazz"
In 1988, Gang Starr released "Words I Manifest", which sampled Dizzy Gillespie's "Night in Tunisia", and Stetsasonic released "Talkin' All That Jazz", which sampled Lonnie Liston Smith, marking early developments in Jazz rap.
1989: Gang Starr released No More Mr. Nice Guy and Native Tongues Posse released debut Straight Out the Jungle
In 1989, Gang Starr's debut LP No More Mr. Nice Guy sampled Charlie Parker and Ramsey Lewis. The Jungle Brothers also released their debut Straight Out the Jungle
1990: Gang Starr's Jazz Thing and A Tribe Called Quest's People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm
In 1990, Gang Starr's "Jazz Thing" sampled Charlie Parker and Ramsey Lewis. A Tribe Called Quest also released the album People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm
1991: A Tribe Called Quest released The Low End Theory
In 1991, A Tribe Called Quest released The Low End Theory, adding to the jazzy releases from the Native Tongues Posse.
1992: Miles Davis's Doo-Bop Released Posthumously
In 1992, Miles Davis's final album, Doo-Bop, was released posthumously. The album was based on hip-hop beats and featured collaborations with producer Easy Mo Bee, representing an early fusion of jazz and hip-hop.
1992: Pete Rock & CL Smooth incorporated jazz influences on Mecca and the Soul Brother
In 1992, the rap duo Pete Rock & CL Smooth incorporated jazz influences on their debut Mecca and the Soul Brother.
1993: Guru's Jazzmatazz series began
In 1993, Rapper Guru's Jazzmatazz series began, incorporating jazz musicians during the studio recordings.
1994: Herbie Hancock Releases Dis Is da Drum
In 1994, Herbie Hancock, a former bandmate of Miles Davis, released the album Dis Is da Drum, which absorbed hip-hop influences into his jazz sound.
1998: Lalo Schiffrin released Jazz Mass in Concert
In 1998, Lalo Schiffrin released "Jazz Mass in Concert" on Aleph Records.
2000: Latin Tunes in Jazz
In 2000, Mark Gridley's Jazz Styles: History and Analysis referred to a bossa nova bass line as a "Latin bass figure", demonstrating the basic understanding many jazz musicians had of Cuban and Brazilian music at the time.
2001: Ken Burns's documentary Jazz premiered on PBS
In 2001, Ken Burns's documentary Jazz premiered on PBS, featuring Wynton Marsalis and other experts reviewing the history of American jazz.
2013: Angelo Versace examined the development of sacred jazz in his dissertation
In 2013, Angelo Versace examined the development of sacred jazz in the 1950s in his doctoral dissertation, noting the combination of black gospel music and jazz to produce "sacred jazz".
2013: Versace identified Ike Sturm and Deanna Witkowski as contemporary sacred jazz exemplars
In 2013, Versace put forth bassist Ike Sturm and New York composer Deanna Witkowski as contemporary exemplars of sacred and liturgical jazz.
2015: Kendrick Lamar Releases To Pimp a Butterfly and Kamasi Washington Releases The Epic
In 2015, Kendrick Lamar released his third studio album, To Pimp a Butterfly, featuring contemporary jazz artists like Thundercat. Also in 2015, saxophonist Kamasi Washington released his debut, The Epic. These releases sparked a small resurgence in jazz.
2015: James Taylor composed The Rochester Mass
In 2015, jazz organist James Taylor composed "The Rochester Mass" (Cherry Red Records).
2016: Wynton Marsalis released Abyssinian Mass
In 2016, Wynton Marsalis released "Abyssinian Mass" on Blueengine Records, as a recent example of sacred and liturgical music.
2018: Will Todd recorded Jazz Missa Brevis
In 2018, classical composer Will Todd recorded his "Jazz Missa Brevis" with a jazz ensemble, soloists and the St Martin's Voices on Signum Records, also released as "Mass in Blue".
March 2020: Emmet Cohen Broadcasts Live Performances
Starting in March 2020, Emmet Cohen began broadcasting a series of live jazz performances from New York, gaining popularity through social media.
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