1976 in jazz


This is a timeline documenting events of Jazz in the year 1976.

Events

April

9 – The 3rd Vossajazz started in Vossavangen, Norway.

May

19 – The 4th Nattjazz started in Bergen, Norway.

June

4 – The 5th Moers Festival started in Moers, Germany.25

July

16 – The very first North Sea Jazz Festival started in The Hague, Netherlands.

September

17 – The 19th Monterey Jazz Festival started in Monterey, California.

Album releases

Deaths

; January14 – Juan d'Arienzo, Argentine tango violinist, band leader, and composer.24 – Gösta Theselius, Swedish arranger, composer, film scorer, pianist, and saxophonist.28 – Ray Nance, American trumpeter, violinist and singer.
; February5 – Rudy Pompilli, American tenor saxophonist, Bill Haley and His Comets.6 – Vince Guaraldi, American pianist.12 – Skip Martin, American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and music arranger.
; March14 – Junior Collins, American French horn player.18 – Jim McCartney, English trumpeter and pianist.19 – Paul Kossoff, English guitarist, Free.26 – Duster Bennett, British singer and guitarist, Fleetwood Mac.
; May14 – Keith Relf, English singer, The Yardbirds.17 – Lars Gullin, Swedish saxophonist.29 – Willie Maiden, American saxophonist and arranger.30 – Rube Bloom, Jewish-American songwriter, pianist, arranger, band leader, singer, and author.
; April7 – Jimmy Garrison, American upright bassist.12 – Ted Buckner, American saxophonist.
; June7 – Bobby Hackett, American trumpeter, cornetist, and guitarist.
; July10 – Mike Pratt, English actor, musician, songwriter, and screenwriter.12 – Buddy Featherstonhaugh, English saxophonist.
; September8 – August Agbola O'Browne, Nigerian-Polish drummer.
; October 3
; December4 – Tommy Bolin, American guitarist, Deep Purple.28 – Freddie King, American guitarist and singer.

Births

; January10 – Freddy Wike, Norwegian drummer.23 – Harmen Fraanje, Dutch pianist and composer.
; February11 – Gretchen Parlato, American singer.20 – Ben Wendel, Canadian-American saxophonist, composer, bassoonist, and pianist, Kneebody.22 – Julia Biel, British singer, songwriter, pianist, and multi-instrumentalist.26 – Karl Strømme, Norwegian trumpeter.
; March1 – Andreas Mjøs, Norwegian vibraphonist, percussionist, guitarist, record producer, and composer, Jaga Jazzist.10 – Ane Brun, singer and songwriter.16 – Erlend Jentoft, Norwegian saxophonist and composer.27 – Tia Fuller, American saxophonist, composer, and educator.
; April10 – Jan Werner Danielsen, Norwegian singer.17 – Kjetil Steensnæs, Norwegian guitarist.30 – Radek Nowicki, Polish saxophonist.
; May10 – Torbjörn Zetterberg, Swedish upright bassist and composer.20 – Ferenc Nemeth, Hungarian drummer and composer.
; June3
; July7
; August6 – Jonas Westergaard, Danish upright bassist.
; September4 – Alex Pangman, Canadian singer.15 – Femi Temowo, Nigerian-born British jazz guitarist, musical director, producer and broadcaster.
; October1 – Ivar Grydeland, Norwegian guitarist and composer.7 – Pekka Kuusisto, Finnish violinist.19 – Jostein Gulbrandsen, Norwegian guitarist and composer.28 – Emma Salokoski, Finnish singer, composer, and writer.
; November8 – Eric Harland, American drummer.
; December6 – Ole Børud, Norwegian singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist.7 – Kresten Osgood, Danish drummer.17 – Andreas Schaerer, Swiss vocalist and composer.30 – Miguel Zenón, Puerto Rican alto saxophonist, composer, band leader, music producer, and educator.
; Unknown date
  • Daniel Fredriksson, Swedish drummer.
  • Jakob Høyer, Danish drummer.
  • Tamar Halperin, Israeli harpsichordist, pianist, and musicologist.
  • Yasuyuki "Yaz" Takagi, Japanese saxophonist.