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1944 in jazz
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1944
Drifting on a reed coleman hawkins.jpg
Coleman Hawkins/Thelonious Monk - drifting on a reed 1944
1943
1945
1944 jazz
This is a timeline documenting events of jazz in the year 1944.
thumb|260px|Lester Young wearing pork pie hat.
Events
1944 – The Metropolitan Opera House in New York City hosts a jazz concert for the first time. The performers are Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman, Lionel Hampton, Artie Shaw, Roy Eldridge and Jack Teagarden.
Album releases
Coleman Hawkins - Rainbow Mist (1944)
Standards
List of 1940s jazz standards
Deaths
February
16 – Bob Zurke, American jazz pianist, arranger, composer and bandleader (born 1912).
April
19 – Jimmie Noone, American clarinetist (born 1895).
March
22 – Yank Porter, American pianist and composer (born 1895).
July
24 – O'Neill Spencer, American drummer and singer (born 1909).
October
22 – Clarence Profit, American pianist and composer (born 1912).
December
8 – Rod Cless, American clarinetist and saxophonist (born 1907).
15 – Glenn Miller, American big-band musician, arranger, composer and bandleader (born 1904).
19 – Miklós Vig, Hungarian singer, actor and comedian (born 1898).
Unknown date
Tommy Stevenson, American trumpet player (born 1914).
Births
thumb|Gianluigi Trovesi in 2006.
thumb|Steve Reid at Circulo de Bellas Artes 2008.
thumb|Joachim Kühn in 2016.
thumb|Billy Cobham
thumb|Barbara Thompson with Colosseum in 2010.
thumb|Naná Vasconcelos in 2008.
January
5 – Louis Stewart, Irish guitarist (died 2016).
6 – Don Sickler, American trumpeter.
8 – Bobby Battle, American drummer.
9 – Roy Hellvin, Norwegian pianist, composer, and music arranger.
10
Frank Sinatra Jr., American singer an orchestra leader (died 2016).
Gianluigi Trovesi, Italian saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer.
12 – Cynthia Robinson, American trumpeter and vocalist, Sly and the Family Stone (died 2015).
20 – Chuck Domanico, American bassist (died 2002).
23 – Randy Jones, British-born American drummer (died 2016).
24 – Bob Degen, American pianist.
29
Salena Jones, American singer.
Steve Reid, American drummer (died 2010).
30 – Roger Humphries, American drummer.
February
1 – Ari Brown, American tenor saxophonist and pianist.
5 – Bill Mays, American pianist.
6 – Kosuke Mine, Japanese saxophonist.
8 – Candy Johnson, American singer and dancer (died 2012).
10 – Rufus Reid, American bassist, educator, and composer.
11 – Martin Drew, English drummer (died 2010).
15 – Henry Threadgill, American composer, saxophonist, and flautist.
17 – Karl Jenkins, Welsh musician and composer.
19 – Ron Mathewson, Scottish upright bassist and bass guitarist.
20 – Lew Soloff, American trumpeter, composer, and actor (died 2015).
22 – Mark Charig, British trumpeter and cornetist.
24 – Oddbjørn Blindheim, Norwegian pianist.
March
6 – Kiri Te Kanawa, New Zealand soprano.
10 – David Friedman, American percussionist.
13 – Warren Tartaglia, American musician and poet (died 1965).
15
Jazz Summers, British music manager (lung cancer), Scissor Sisters, The Verve, and Snow Patrol (died 2015).http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/showbiz/news/a663615/former-scissor-sisters-the-verve-and-lisa-stansfield-manager-jazz-summers-dies-aged-71.html#~pls7t4xfXrSTen Music industry manager Jazz Summers dies DigitalSpy.co.uk 2015-08-15 2018-02-05
Joachim Kühn, German pianist.
Ralph MacDonald, Trinbagonian-American percussionist (died 2011).
22 – Saheb Sarbib, American upright bassist and bandleader.
26 – Diana Ross, American singer and actress.
April
5 – Evan Parker, British saxophonist.
7
Carol Grimes, British singer/songwriter poet and musician.
Pat LaBarbera, American saxophonist, clarinetist, and flautist.
16 – Sebastião Tapajós, Brazilian guitarist and composer.
19 – Bernie Worrell, American keyboardist and composer, Parliament-Funkadelic (died 2016).
20 – Iris Williams, Welsh singer (died 2025)https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2025/07/16/iris-williams-singer-he-was-beautiful-1979-hit-obituary/ Iris Williams, Welsh singer best known for her 1979 hit He Was Beautiful 16 July 2025 Telegraph 21 July 2025
21 – Peter Kowald, German free jazz musician (died 2002).
22 – Howard Wyeth, American drummer and pianist (died 1996).
May
16 – Billy Cobham, Panamanian-American drummer, composer, and bandleader.
22 – Richard Dunbar, American player of the French horn (died 2006).
30 – John Gross, American saxophone, flute and clarinet player.
June
4 – Jack Wilkins, American guitarist.
6 – Monty Alexander, Jamaican-American pianist.
7 – Erling Wicklund, Norwegian trombonist and music critique.
8 – Babik Reinhardt, French guitarist (died 2001).
10 – David Goloschekin, Russian violinist and multi-instrumentalist.
17 – Chris Spedding, English guitarist, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, composer, and record producer.
19 – Chico Buarque, Brazilian singer-songwriter, guitarist.
21 – Jon Hiseman, English drummer, recording engineer, and record producer (died 2018).
24
Chris Wood, English saxophonist and flautist, Traffic (died 1983).
Jeff Beck, English guitarist.
25
Bobby Naughton, American vibraphonist.
Dave Cliff, British guitarist.
26 – Arthur Doyle, American saxophonist, flutist, and vocalist (died 2014).
July
4
Butch Miles, American drummer.
Harvey Brooks, American bassist.
Jan Erik Kongshaug, Norwegian guitarist, sound engineer, and composer.
15 – Martha Brooks, Canadian writer and singer.
17 – Aage Teigen, Norwegian trombonist (died 2014).
19 – Didier Levallet, French upright bassist.
21 – Orange Kellin, Swedish clarinetist.
27 – Barbara Thompson, English saxophonist, and flautist.
August
2
Albert Stinson, American upright bassist (died 1969).
Naná Vasconcelos, Brazilian percussionist and vocalist (died 2016).
4 – Bobo Stenson, Swedish pianist.
5 – Phil Wachsmann, English violinist.
8 – John Renbourn, English guitarist and songwriter (died 2015).
18 – Oscar Brashear, American trumpeter.
20 – Terry Clarke, Canadian drummer.
25 – Pat Martino, American guitarist.
30 – John Surman English saxophone, bass clarinet, and pianist.
September
3 – Fred Hess, American tenor saxophonist (died 2018).
9 – George Mraz, Czech-American bassist and alto saxophonist.
18 – Michael Franks, American singer and songwriter.
21 – John Clark, American hornist and composer.
26 – Judy Chamberlain, American singer, bandleader and journalist.
October
4 – Eddie Gómez, Puerto Rican upright bassist.
26 – Kenneth Ascher, American pianist, composer, and arranger.
31 – Sherman Ferguson, American drummer (died 2006).
November
2 – Keith Emerson, English pianist and keyboardist (died 2016).
4 – Willem Breuker, Dutch saxophonist (died 2010).
8 – Charles Sullivan or Kamau Muata Adilifu, American trumpeter.
13 – Kenny "Blues Boss" Wayne, American pianist, singer and songwriter.
14 – George Cables, American pianist and composer.
December
12
Alex Acuña, Peruvian drummer and percussionist.
Michael Carvin, American drummer.
15 – Carlos Inzillo, Argentinian clarinetist, producer, and historian.
16 – John Abercrombie, American guitarist (died 2017).
17 – Vyacheslav Ganelin, Lithuanian–Israeli musician and composer.
19
Alvin Lee, English singer and guitarist (died 2013).https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/alvin-lee-of-ten-years-after-dead-at-68-20130306 Alvin Lee of Ten Years After Dead at 68 Rolling Stone 2013-03-06 2016-04-17
Steve Tyrell, American producer and vocalist.
24 – Woody Shaw, trumpeter, flugelhornist, and cornetist (died 1989).
31 – Bernie Senensky, Canadian pianist, organist, and composer.
Unknown date
Lars Edegran, American musician and bandleader.
Tom Parker, British pianist (died 2013).
Wally Shoup, American saxophonist and painter.
See also
1940s in jazz
List of years in jazz
1944 in music
References
Bibliography
The New Real Book, Volume I 1988 Sher Music 0-9614701-4-3 refTheNewRealBookVol1
The New Real Book, Volume II 1991 Sher Music 0-9614701-7-8 refTheNewRealBookVol2
The New Real Book, Volume III 1995 Sher Music 1-883217-30-X refTheNewRealBookVol3
The Real Book, Volume I 6th 2004 Hal Leonard 0-634-06038-4 refTheRealBookVol1
The Real Book, Volume II 2nd 2007 Hal Leonard 978-1-4234-2452-9 refTheRealBookVol2
The Real Book, Volume III 2nd 2006 Hal Leonard 0-634-06136-4 refTheRealBookVol3
The Real Jazz Book Warner Bros 978-91-85041-36-7 refTheRealJazzBook
The Real Vocal Book, Volume I 2006 Hal Leonard 0-634-06080-5 refTheRealVocalBookVol1
External links
History of Jazz Timeline: 1944 at All About Jazz
Jazz
Category:Jazz by year