1973 in jazz
This is a timeline documenting events of Jazz in the year 1973.
Events
May
23 – The very first Nattjazz started in Bergen, Norway.June
9 – The 2nd Moers Festival started in Moers, Germany.29- * The 20th Newport Jazz Festival started in New York, New York for its second year there..
- * The 7th Montreux Jazz Festival started in Montreux, Switzerland.
September
21 – The 16th Monterey Jazz Festival started in Monterey, California.Album releases
- Art Ensemble of Chicago: Fanfare For The Warriors
- Gato Barbieri: Chapter One: Latin America
- Paul Bley
- *Paul Bley & Scorpio
- *Paul Bley/NHØP
- Dollar Brand
- *African Portraits
- *African Space Program
- *Sangoma
- Marion Brown: Geechee Recollections
- Betty Carter: Album (Betty Carter album)
- Don Cherry: Relativity Suite
- Billy Cobham Spectrum
- Charles Earland: Charles III (album)
- Michael Franks: Michael Franks
- Hal Galper: Inner Journey
- Herbie Hancock
- *Head Hunters
- *Sextant
- Keith Jarrett: Solo Concerts: Bremen/Lausanne
- Roland Kirk: Prepare Thyself To Deal With A Miracle
- David Liebman: First Visit
- Frank Lowe: Black Beings
- Mahavishnu OrchestraBirds of Fire
- Michael Mantler: No Answer
- Paul Motian: Conception Vessel
- Oregon: Distant Hills
- Joe Pass: Virtuoso (Joe Pass album)
- Oscar Peterson: The Trio
- Flora Purim: Butterfly Dreams
- Dewey Redman: The Ear of the Behearer
- Sam Rivers: Streams
- Roswell Rudd: Numatik Swing Band
- Spontaneous Music Ensemble: Mouthpiece
- John Surman: Morning Glory
- Cecil Taylor: Solo
- Cecil Taylor: Spring of Two Blue J's
- Ralph Towner: Diary
- McCoy Tyner: Enlightenment
- Mal Waldron: Up Popped the Devil
- Weather Report: Sweetnighter
- Eberhard Weber: The Colours of Chloë
- Frank Wright: ''Church Number Nine''
Deaths
; January2 – Joe Harriott, Jamaican saxophonist and composer.3 – Wilbur de Paris, American trombonist and bandleader.23 – Kid Ory, American trombonist and bandleader.; February3 – Andy Razaf, African-American poet, composer, and lyricist.19 – Leon Washington, American tenor saxophonist .
; March2 – Spanky DeBrest, American upright bassist.
; April18 – Willie "The Lion" Smith, American pianist.
; May14 – Elmer Snowden, American banjo and guitar player.24 – Sid Phillips, English clarinettist, bandleader, and arranger.
; June8 – Tubby Hayes, English saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist.
;August4 – Eddie Condon, American banjoist, guitarist, and bandleader.21 – Bill Harris, American trombonist.
; September20 – Ben Webster, American tenor saxophonist.26 – Bernard Etté, German violinist and conductor.
; October16 – Gene Krupa, American drummer, band leader, actor, and composer.
; December3 – Emile Christian, American trombonist.
Births
; January4- * Bartlomiej Oles, Polish drummer, composer, and record producer.
- * Marcin Oles, Polish bassist, composer and record producer.12 – Brian Culbertson, American keyboardist and trombonist.31 – Petr Kroutil, Czech clarinettist, saxophonist, bansuri player, vocalist, composer, and arranger.
; March23 – Stefon Harris, American vibraphonist.
; April17 – Moses Taiwa Molelekwa, South African pianist.30 – Frédéric Yonnet, French harmonica player and producer.
; May14 – Clare Teal, English singer.23 – Nikki Yeoh, British pianist and composer.24 – Hallgeir Pedersen, Norwegian guitarist and composer.
; June3 – Ebru Aydın, Turkish singer and songwriter.4
- * Gunhild Seim, Norwegian trumpeter and composer.
- * Scott Hammond, English drummer, Jethro Tull.
; August9 – Meg Okura, American violinist, ehru player, and composer.11 – Torbjørn Sletta Jacobsen, Norwegian saxophonist and composer.
; September3 – Norihiko Hibino, Japanese video game composer and saxophonist.4 – Wetle Holte, Norwegian drummer and composer.7 – Thomas T. Dahl, Norwegian guitarist and composer, Krøyt and Dingobats.9 – John Blackwell American drummer, Prince.12 – Dorota Miśkiewicz, Polish singer, songwriter, composer, and violinist.21 – Fredrik Wallumrød, Norwegian drummer and composer.26
- * Nelson Williams, American trumpeter.
- * Nicholas Payton, American trumpeter and multi-instrumentalist.
- * Eirik Hegdal, Norwegian saxophonist, composer, and arranger.
- * Marius Reksjø, Norwegian upright bassist.
; December18 – Christian Jaksjø, Norwegian trombone and euphonium player.29 – Kalle Kalima, Finnish guitarist and composer.
; Unknown date
- Ben Castle, British clarinettist and saxophonist.
- Eivind Opsvik, Norwegian upright bassist and composer.
- Janne Mark, Danish vocalist and composer.
- Kate Dimbleby, English cabaret singer and songwriter.
- Maria Markesini, Greek singer and pianist.
- Özay Fecht, Turkish-German actress and singer.
- Titilayo Adedokun, Nigerian-American singer.