1955 in jazz

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

Events

July

15 – The 2nd Newport Jazz Festival started in Newport, Rhode Island.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.

Album releases

Harry Edison
*Buddy and Sweets
*Pres and Sweets
Erroll Garner: Concert by the Sea
Ahmad Jamal: Chamber Music of the New Jazz
Stan Kenton
*Contemporary Concepts
*Duet
Thelonious Monk: Thelonious Monk Plays Duke Ellington
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
Frank Sinatra: In the Wee Small Hours
Lennie Tristano: ''Lennie Tristano''

Deaths

; March12 – Charlie "Bird" Parker, American saxophonist and composer.
; April23 – Henry Busse, German-born trumpeter.30 – Dave Peyton, American songwriter, pianist, and arranger.
; May17 – Ernst van 't Hoff, Dutch pianist and bandleader.25 – Wardell Gray, American tenor saxophonists.
; June28 – John Spikes, American jazz musician and entrepreneur.
; August28 – Bob Gordon, American baritone saxophonist.
; October21 – Dick Twardzik, American pianist.
; September

Reuben Reeves, American jazz trumpeter and bandleader.25 – Shotaro Moriyasu, Japanese pianist.

; November10 – Junior Raglin, American upright bassist.12 – Bessie Brown, American classic female blues, jazz, and cabaret singer. 17 – James P. Johnson, American pianist and composer.
; December3 – Cow Cow Davenport, American pianist, organist, and singer.
; Unknown date

Eddie Pollack, American saxophonist.
Porter Grainger, American pianist

Births

; January10 – 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.
; February12 – 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.
; March1 – Enzo Avitabile, Italian saxophonist and singer-songwriter.3 – Bheki Mseleku, South-African pianist, saxophonist, guitarist, and composer.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.
; April10 – 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.19 – Rune Klakegg, Norwegian pianist.

; May5

* 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.23 – Dean Friedman, American singer-songwriter, keyboardist, and guitarist.27 – Ben Clatworthy, English saxophonist, clarinetist and flautist.28 – Janet Seidel, Australian singer and pianist.29
* Mars Williams, American saxophonist.
* Mike Porcaro, American bassist, Toto.30 – Topper Headon, English drummer, The Clash.31
* Marty Ehrlich, American saxophonist, clarinetist, and flautist.
* Tommy Emmanuel, Australian guitarist, songwriter, and singer.

; June4 – 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.

; July5 – 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.

; August3 – 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.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.
; September1

* Andrzej Łukasik, Polish upright bassist.
* Wayne Horvitz, American composer, keyboardist and record producer.9 – Ivan Smirnov, Russian guitarist.11
* Hiram Bullock, American guitarist.
* 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.25 – Steve Byrd, English guitarist, Gillan and Kim Wilde .28 – Kenny Kirkland, American pianist/keyboardist.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 bassist25 – Robin Eubanks, American trombonist.

; November7 – 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.
; December4 – Cassandra Wilson, American vocalist and songwriter.7 – Chuck Loeb, American guitarist, Steps Ahead and Fourplay.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.